At its 2021 Virtual National Land Conference on March 17, the REALTORS® Land Institute announced its 2020 APEX award winners.

The APEX Awards Program, sponsored by RLI’s magazine and website The Land Report, recognizes RLI members for their excellence and performance. 

Applications for the APEX Awards were up 32% in 2020, compared with 2019, reflecting the year’s robust land sales, which were amplified by COVID-19. The awards program also saw the largest number of female applicants since its inception. 

This year’s applications offer insight into performance across property types. Compared to 2019, 2020 applications showed increases in dollar volume and transaction sides in these areas:

• Agricultural land, crops: 40% increase in dollar volume, 29% increase in transaction sides
• Agricultural land, ranches: 27% increase in dollar volume, 68% increase in transaction sides
• Recreational land: 110% increase in dollar volume, 236% increase in transaction sides
• Residential land: 15% increase in dollar volume, 23% increase in transaction sides

Not all land types saw increases, however. According to the APEX applications, commercial land sales decreased 13% in dollar volume and 6% in transaction sides, while timberland sales decreased 51% in dollar volume and 10% in transaction sides. 

The APEX Awards recognize: 

• Highest qualifying transaction volume
• Largest number of transaction sides closed during the year
• Broker of the year by transaction volume according to land type
• Largest transaction between two accredited land consultants
• Top 20 national producers by transaction volume

The 138 applications for the 2020 APEX Awards represented 5,245 transaction sides and more than $3.4 billion in production. Sixty-two percent of applicants hold the Accredited Land Consultant designation.

Find winner names and award categories at www.rliland.com.