Coldwell Banker, led by “The Jills,” tops Miami Beach luxury market

Coldwell Banker is at the top of the Miami Beach food chain with respect to listings at $5 million and above, boasting 25 listings valued at $282 million, according to data compiled by The Real Deal (see the full rankings below).

EWM came in second with 18 listings of $5 million or more, together totaling $211 million. Third on the rankings is One Sotheby’s, with 15 listings totaling $113 million.

The rankings, based on Florida MLS data, cover the entire area from the south of the barrier island of Miami Beach up to Bal Harbour, and include Fisher Island and the islands that are part of the city of Miami Beach. The figures show who has the most business in relation to other firms. Listings were used in lieu of closed sales data, since brokerage data for closed sales is not publicly available.

Coldwell Banker’s success comes largely due to the work of brokerage “The Jills,” whose team is led by Jill Eber and Jill Hertzberg, which has been Coldwell’s number-one performing team in recent years. The names of the agents were not available for all listings.

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“This year, in the high-end market, a lot of properties started selling,” Hertzberg said. “It’s mainly because people saw it as an opportunity — there is very good value now. So from last year, people who were waiting are now starting to go.”

Nelson Gonzalez, who has been the top producer for EWM for the last five years, said his listings had gone up in part because so many realtors had gotten out of the market during the downturn. He said he personally has about half of his company’s 18 listings.


“I guess sellers in a time of need, went to the veterans — and that was the reason I was able to get a lot more listings in the high end,” he said.

Gonzalez said he, too, had seen increased activity on the high end.

“There are a lot of European buyers, but equally as many American buyers coming here looking for opportunities,” he said. “I think things are definitely moving in the right direction. They’re not at the levels they were at in 2005, but they’re doing well. As far as having the listings, if you have the listings, you control the market.”

Rounding out the top five companies were Portell, with six listings, and Island Insiders, which deals exclusively with Fisher Island real estate.