CBRE tops Eastdil for highest commercial deal total nationwide

CBRE’s commercial brokerage unit took the top spot with more commercial deals nationwide than any other brokerage in 2017, beating out perennial frontrunner Eastdil Secured. The number of larger deals declined last year, — those deals are Eastdil’s specialty — allowing CBRE to overtake its rival.

In total, $244.2 billion of properties that were worth $25 million or more traded across the country last year, according to Real Estate Alert, which tabulated the rankings. That represents a 10 percent drop from $271.2 billion in 2016. The retail sector suffered the most, while industrial posted a 33 percent gain.

For the first time since 2013, CBRE snagged the No. 1 spot with $53.9 billion in deals. It upped its market share of transactions, from 23.7 percent to 24.7 percent.

That was more than enough to beat out Eastdil Secured, which handled $40.7 billion in trades last year. Its 26 percent drop from 2016 was largely due to a dramatic fall in New York office sales, which plummeted 83 percent.

The departure of top-producers Douglas Harmon and Adam Spies to Cushman and Wakefield in late 2016 contributed to the decline.

Eastdil’s market share also dipped to 18.7 percent from 23.9 percent. The firm specializes in brokering deals in the $100 million-plus market. That sector that fell 16 percent last year, while deals in the $25 million to $100 million range only dipped 4 percent.

Third on the list was HFF, which handled $30.3 billion in sales in 2017. Rounding out the top five were Newmark Knight Frank with $23.4 billion and Cushman with $21 billion. [REAlert] — Natalie Hoberman