Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Gains Top Market Share in D/FW Metroplex and Texas

    DALLAS, May 18 /PRNewswire/ -- The real estate industry's top analyst said
 today the newest residential real estate firm in the Dallas/Fort Worth
 Metroplex also is the biggest in its market area as well as the biggest in
 Texas.
     "This is a Texas-size operation in every sense of the word," said Steve
 Murray, publisher of "REALTrends", an industry trade publication and publisher
 of the annual Big Brokers Report.  "The new alliance places Coldwell Banker
 Residential Brokerage ahead of former leader Ebby Halliday, Realtors, by about
 650 closed transactions.
     "Coldwell Banker Paula Stringer, Realtors' merger last week with Wm. Rigg,
 Realtors, was closely followed by the joint entity's acquisition by NRT
 Incorporated, and places the company in the lead for both the Dallas/Fort
 Worth area and the state."
     "REALTrends" is a publication that measures and analyzes market position
 for brokers across the country.  Murray frequently is quoted as a prophet for
 changing trends in real estate.
     Coldwell Banker Paula Stringer and Rigg closed transactions in 1998
 totaling 16,836, Mr. Murray said, placing the merged company ahead of the Ebby
 Halliday firm, Dallas' largest independent broker, which logged 16,186.
 Combined closed sales volume for the newly merged companies in 1998 was
 $2.6 billion, a figure disclosed last week at the announcement events held for
 the media and the two firms' 1,100 professional associates.  The combined
 gross production was generated by sale of 18,041 units and 11,236 listings.
 Those closed transaction totals, which most industry experts use as a
 measuring tool for comparing sizes of brokerages, were not available until
 this week.
     "This is the first of many exciting announcements signaling our new
 company's achievements and leading-edge status," says Susan Dunn Arnold,
 president of the Dallas division of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.
 "Our sales associates are very pleased to have the expanded coverage of the
 Metroplex as well as the alliance with the former Wm. Rigg associates, many of
 whom they have known and worked with for many years.  Ms. Arnold and Charles
 Rogers, president of the Fort Worth division, continue as leaders of the newly
 merged company.
     Mr. Rogers said his company's leap from an independently owned Fort Worth-
 based brokerage to top position in the Metroplex and the state was cause for
 celebration among the former Rigg associates.  "We are delighted to offer our
 buyers and sellers the advantages of a world-class operation like Coldwell
 Banker," he said.  "High technology, international networking and the best
 training and educational programs in the industry are superb reasons for the
 move we've just made."
     Last week's merger/acquisition was described by area industry gurus as
 perhaps the most significant growth move in Texas real estate history,
 combining resources of more than 1,100 professional associates and
 35 locations and instantly moving the company into a leadership position in
 the market place.
     NRT, the nation's leading residential real estate brokerage company, was
 founded 18 months ago and has added 19 major market brokers to its operations
 in high-profile cities throughout the nation.
     Buyers and sellers may contact any Coldwell Banker Paula Stringer or Wm.
 Rigg office, all of which have been newly bannered with Coldwell Banker
 Residential Brokerage.
 
 

SOURCE  Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage