The company traces its roots to AmerUs Home Services Inc.
In 1998, AmerUs Home Services was acquired by MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company.[1][2][3]
In 1999, MidAmerican renamed its brokerage business HomeServices and acquired Semonin Realtors, operating in Louisville, and Long Realty, operating in Arizona.[4][5]
In 2006, the company acquired Atlanta-based real estate brokerage Harry Norman Realtors.[8][9]
In 2012, the company acquired real estate brokerage firms from Prudential and Real Living and rebranded Prudential Real Estate to Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.[10][11]
In August 2013, the company acquired Prudential Fox & Roach, Realtors®/Trident Group.[12][13][14]
In November 2013, the company acquired Prudential Rubloff Properties, operating in the
Chicago area.[15]
In July 2015, the company acquired Prudential Centennial Realty, operating in Westchester County,[19] and First Weber, the largest residential brokerage in
Wisconsin.[20][21]
In January 2017, the company acquired Houlihan Lawrence, the largest residential brokerage in
Westchester County.[22][23]
In April 2017, the company acquired Gloria Nilson & Co. Real Estate, a residential brokerage in
New Jersey.[24][25] The company also formed a strategic alliance with
Juwai.com, China's largest
overseas property portal, offering access to
high-net-worth individual Chinese buyers looking to purchase homes.[26][27]
In June 2017, Robert Moline, president of the company, retired.[28]
On November 1, 2023, a federal jury in Kansas City, Missouri, found Berkshire Hathaway and the National Association of Realtors liable to pay $1.78 billion in damages.[35][36][37] The verdict came as the Warren Buffett-led brand, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, along with the
National Association of Realtors, were found guilty of manipulating and artificially inflating the commissions on numerous home sales.[38][39][37]
According to the jury in Kansas City, the manipulation resulting in inflated commissions caused an artificial rise in mortgage rates and property prices in the housing market.[37][40]
The number of plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit included sellers of over 260,000 homes in Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas.[37][41] They raised concerns about the high commissions they were obligated to pay to the home buyers' brokers between 2015 and 2022.[41] The trial lasted two weeks, after which the jury awarded the plaintiffs $1.78 billion in damages.[35] The defendants in the lawsuit included Berkshire-owned HomeServices of America and its two subsidiaries, along with
Keller Williams Realty.[35][42]