Mauricio Umansky has served at the helm of The Agency for 15 years now.

The luxury brokerage founder and CEO has been through all kinds of markets, had stints on reality TV, and is now a co-founder of a budding professional association, the American Real Estate Association.

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But things in the industry — and the world at large — still surprise him, he told Inman, musing, “Who knows what’s going to happen in all of this world?”

At least one thing is certain: Attendees at Inman Connect New York can count on seeing Umansky’s vibrant personality light up the stage when he speaks at the event on Feb. 3, 2026 at the New York Hilton Midtown.

In advance of his appearance at ICNY, Umansky spoke with Inman about some of the latest headlines and what attendees should prepare for in New York. Here’s what he had to say, edited for brevity and clarity.

Inman: The big Compass and Anywhere merger just closed. Were you surprised at all that the deal went through? What are your thoughts?

Umansky: I’m not necessarily surprised that it went through. I’m surprised how easily, and how there was zero request to get rid of any particular spots in any market. Like the market power…. I mean, they made them sell off a couple of locations when they did the @properties deal. But then, they didn’t do that to them during this deal, the feds. So that was a little bit shocking. But, was I shocked it went through? No.

I’m curious if you think that deal and its impact will change the greater M&A landscape in the industry at all this year?

I think it will. I think that you’re going to start seeing a lot more M&A. But, by the same token, I would have to imagine that Compass and Anywhere are pretty much done with M&A, which kind of opens up opportunities for everybody else. I mean, I can’t imagine that they would have the opportunity to do anything much more sizable. And they have a lot of work on their hands to just operate. And even from a size perspective, I think that takes them out of the market.

So, you know, I think that will create other opportunities amongst other brokerage firms. I also think a lot of the other brokerage firms really, really need to consolidate and collaborate, you know, even if it’s not in a true M&A type of situation. We do need to collaborate from the perspective of just having market strength and market power together. Because that is such a strong market power that we all need to get together to make sure that we’re able to defend ourselves [against it].

Is that something you’ve been thinking about for The Agency, specifically?

Yes.

We’ll have to keep an eye out for that then. Thinking more about how the 2026 market may play out more generally, what do you think will be the main themes in 2026?

We’re still super low on transaction volumes. We need to improve that.

Interest rates are compressing, but they need to compress a little bit further in order to start purchasing. We still need to fix affordable housing in this country.

I think consolidation is going to be critical.

I think there’s going to be a lot of stuff happening with NAR, Compass, Zillow, lots of changes in that world, from the perspective of market strength, people getting together. What’s going to happen with these exclusive listings, off-market listings? NAR’s got a lot of things to fix and a lot of things to do.

Between Zillow, and now with the market strength that Compass has, it will be an interesting thing to see what happens there. So data, inventory, is going to be critical.

You’re going to start seeing a lot more brokerage firms get into much more aggressive ancillary businesses. Mortgage, title, escrow, all that stuff.

The competitive marketplace that has been created, primarily by Compass, over the last 10 years has really compressed agent splits. So brokerage firms are, with agent splits compressing and low transaction volume, brokerage firms are going to be … they’re three years into a struggle, right? Valuations are still low. So that gives opportunities. I think that’s a lot I just gave you [laughs].

Yes, definitely lots to think about. Let’s talk a bit about the American Real Estate Association too. It sounds like you all are building up member ranks and the organization more generally. What’s the latest?

I think we’re close to 30,000 members, which is solid. And as you know, we’ve hired Mary-Frances [Coleman] to run it. We’re making some really great partnerships with a couple of different companies and what we want to offer real estate agents, from advocacy to benefits, to all different kinds of things. And I think 2026 will be an important year for us to really have a strong outcome by 2027. 2026 will definitely be a continuation of a build year.

And who knows what’s going to happen in all of this world? I don’t know.

Yes, thinking about the global uncertainty at hand, I wanted to ask since it’s everywhere in the headlines — there’s a lot of rhetoric surrounding Greenland right now. And I know that The Agency is very much a global brokerage today. Are you concerned about that rhetoric and how it might impact your business or relationships in other countries?

I mean, [The Agency is] not in Greenland yet. I don’t know how [large] the population is there. But look, the world’s a mess right now. It’s just all over the place. And thank God, we’re very connected. We’re opening up in Saudi [Arabia] this year. We’re very excited about that. We’ve got a couple other things that we haven’t announced yet, but are on the way. And we continue to grow as a global company.

There are some areas that are just booming and there are some that are not. But, we’re looking forward to our growth and surviving.

Well, that’s good to hear. So, transitioning here, as we prepare for Inman Connect New York in a few weeks, is there anything you’d like to tell people who are attending the event?

The timing for this event is fantastic. I like that it’s at the beginning of the year.

I think agents that are going there and spending time, I think AI is a critical piece. The old-time agents, the veterans that have been around forever, just have to embrace the new technologies in order to continue to be relevant as time goes on. They all have their relationships and they will always have those relationships, but if they want to build new relationships, their business is going to compress unless they get relevant and take advantage of that.

Because you’ve got all the new agents that are using all these tools. So the older agents have to adapt and use the tools because the newer agents are going to be super efficient, because they’re born with all these tools, right? It’s part of their generation.

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Aussie retailers are reinventing themselves with Instagram-worthy experiences in a bid to revive in-store shopping amid rising online sales.

The move is seeing retailers go above and beyond to creatively lure in customers, particularly Gen Z, offering in-store experiences from rooftop basketball and rock climbing to novel selfie opportunities and all-day services.

Aussie stores that have recently revealed plans to revolutionise for the future include Sass&Bide. It announced all stand-alone boutiques and department store concessions would close by the end of January while the company rebranded. Online sales would close at the end of February.

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Mecca Bourke Street experiential beauty destination opened August 2025. Picture: @meccabeauty Instagram

The in-store florist. Picture: @meccabeauty Instagram

“While we’re offline, we’ll be re-imagining what Sass&Bide can and should look like,” Sass & Bide said in a statement.

Kmart Group managing director Aleks Spaseska last year also revealed the retail giant’s aim to grow to $20 billion in turnover, expanding in the face of increasing competition and working to appeal to younger buyers.

According to Ray White head of research Vanessa Rader, certain stores are opting for a reduced amount of locations instead with creative in-store experiences forming brand awareness and loyalty paired with online buying opportunity.

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Rebel sport Melbourne rooftop basketball court. Picture: @whatsonmelb Instagram

Rebel Sport Rundle Mall basketball court. Picture: Naomi Jellicoe

“It’s not all about the volume of stores, it’s more about these handful of stores that have a different point of view,” she said.

“There’s definitely no doubt that the Instagram-worthiness of a store or even just the common areas of a centre – is actually really really important.

“Melbourne central is a really good example – the Rebel store there, and the same sort of theory has happened to a lot of rebel stores in Sydney, they have the basketball facility.

“How many people are always wandering through Mecca and Sephora, they aren’t necessarily buying things there but there’s a lot of activations that make people excited to go back.

“Look at PopMart, there’s a big online following as well.”

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David Jones Bourke Street colour-changing selfie suite. Picture: David Jones, Tik Tok

Inside the Selfie Suite in the Bourke Street store. Picture: David Jones, Tik Tok

Ms Rader said savvy shopping centre operators are also maximising opportunity by treating every space as potential for experience creation, with traditional entertainment anchors like cinemas no longer sufficient.

Consumers are seeking interactive experiences ranging from immersive entertainment venues to affordable, luxurious dining destinations, she said.

“A lot of the big shopping centre owners have really identified this, this is not a new thing, this has been happening since Covid,” Ms Rader said.

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The beauty station outside of its selfie suite. Picture: David Jones, Tik Tok

“It could be rock climbing or e-gaming, there’s lots of different things people are doing in centres that aren’t necessarily shopping.

“They are just being more creative getting people back into the shopping centres, it’s not necessarily about buying but it’s just about providing a really good experience so that they can increase their dwell time and stay in that centre for a longer period of time.”

According to Ms Rader, this also includes department stores.

“We have seen that with the continual closures of David Jones and Myer over the last however many years,” she said.

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Inside the three-level Mecca Bourke Street store. Picture: @meccabeauty Instagram

Ms Rader said this reinvention is needed for stores to survive, particularly for the clothing and soft goods segment.

“That’s the part that has been continuously declining in terms of retail spend,” she said.

“There is the fast fashion on offer, the Temu and Shein affect even Kmart that can do dupes of things.

“A lot of the clothing retailers have collapsed over the last number of years, they’re having to really reinvent themselves to make themselves relevant.”

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