Howard Hanna Real Estate Services is expanding into Alabama through a partnership with ARC Realty and Capstone Realty. Operating under those two brands, the combined brokerage has 875 agents in 12 offices across Birmingham, Montgomery and Huntsville, Ala. The Pittsburgh-founded company announced the deal on Oct. 28, 2026. It describes itself as the nation’s largest independently owned and operated real estate brokerage.
The release calls ARC and Capstone the state’s largest real estate brokerage. It says the two brands closed about 6,000 transactions in 2025 for $2.8 billion in sales volume. The release does not disclose financial terms, and it calls the deal a partnership rather than an acquisition.
Two regional firms, one Alabama footprint
Both Alabama firms are established brands in their regions:
- ARC Realty, whose name stands for “A Relationship Company,” has built its presence across Central Alabama since 2012 and is based in Birmingham.
- Capstone Realty was founded in 2009 by a small group of agents and grew into what it calls North Alabama’s top residential brokerage. It has more than 200 agents serving Huntsville, Madison, Athens and the surrounding area.
The two firms joined forces in 2022. According to the release, the combination created one of Alabama’s largest independent brokerage networks and took the No. 1 position in the Greater Alabama MLS.
Under the new arrangement, ARC Realty and Capstone Realty keep their local leadership and team cultures. Howard Hanna said agents will get access to its proprietary technology, digital tools, marketing support and national referral network, along with integrated mortgage, title and insurance services. It will also bring its Money Back Guarantee and other consumer programs into the state.
“ARC and Capstone have built exceptional businesses with strong leadership, deep local relationships and a track record of success. That’s exactly the kind of foundation we look for as Howard Hanna continues to grow,” said Howard “Hoby” Hanna IV, CEO of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services.
The leaders of the two Alabama brands stressed what stays the same. “Keeping our local leadership and regional relationships intact was essential, and Howard Hanna gives us the tools, technology and national scale to empower our agents like never before,” said Beau Bevis, CEO of ARC Realty. Darrin Hasley, CEO of Capstone Realty, said the partnership “allows us to put greater resources directly into our agents’ hands while preserving the local commitment and agile mindset that got us here.”
Another step south for the largest family-owned brokerage
Howard Hanna was founded in Pittsburgh in 1957 and has corporate offices in Cleveland. It says it is the largest family-owned and -operated real estate brokerage in the U.S., with more than 500 offices and 15,000 sales associates and staff. It provides real estate, mortgage, title and insurance services across 19 states.
The company has grown by bringing in large independent firms that keep their local names and leaders. In July it added Maine’s top independent brokerage, Portside Real Estate Group, which gave it its first offices in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The Alabama deal follows the same playbook in a Southeastern market. The release describes the move as establishing “a significant foothold for Howard Hanna in one of the Southeast’s rapidly growing real estate markets.”
To support that case, the company cites Alabama’s growth. According to the release, the state saw positive domestic migration and more housing market activity in 2025, and it drew what the release calls a record $14.6 billion in new and expanding industry investment that year.
The release also frames the deal as part of a broader trend: “As consolidation continues to reshape the real estate industry, Howard Hanna is building its national presence by bringing together successful, locally led brokerages,” it says. That consolidation has taken several forms this year, from mergers among large franchisors to the HomeSmart and NorthGroup combination that added nearly 2,000 Southeast agents.
On our reading, Howard Hanna’s version is the one in which local brands survive. The company buys or partners with the market leader and keeps its name and executives in place, rather than rebranding agents overnight. For agents at ARC and Capstone, the release promises new back-office services and a national referral network without a change in who they report to locally. More brokerage deals are tracked in our Agents & Brokerages coverage.
