Corcoran Group is expanding its Northern California presence, saying Monday that it is absorbing Discovery Bay Properties in Contra Costa County. The acquired firm, formerly an affiliate of Berkshire Hathaway’s Intero franchise, will become part of Corcoran’s “Corcoran Global Living” California brand, said Michael Mahon, CEO of Corcoran Global Living.
Discovery Bay Properties has 100 agents, Mahon said, and nine employees. He declined to specify financial terms of the deal, or discuss what Discovery Bay agents have done in 2020 sales volume.
The move comes five months after Corcoran, a subsidiary of Realogy Inc., acquired Zephyr Real Estate, a San Francisco outfit with 450 agents.
That move was Corcoran’s first foray into California luxury real estate. What Discovery Bay Properties adds to the Corcoran portfolio may be strength in the specific sub-market of Contra Costa County, a suburban area of just over 1 million people east of San Francisco.
Discovery Bay is a community of 13,000 people 60 miles east of San Francisco and surrounded by a man-made waterfront. Besides an office in Discovery Bay, the brokerage has two offices in neighboring Brentwood, a city of 51,000 people.
Sources in the San Francisco brokerage world reached Monday said that Discovery Bay Properties has a solid reputation for selling properties in the less densely populated regions east and north of San Francisco.
Mahon said Discovery Bay Properties has the “no. 1 market share in Contra Costa County,” specializing in high-end properties in the area that go for between $3 million and $5 million.
According to an Intero website, Discovery Bay Properties has 64 active listings and sold 14 homes in the last month.
A message left with an Intero spokesperson Monday was not immediately returned.
The move is Corcoran’s first announced West Coast move since a coronavirus pandemic that has led to furloughs and reduced pay for Realogy staffers.
Corcoran announced in 2018 that its brand would be franchised in “global-mega cities” and leisure markets. The brokerage’s subsequent expansion has included South Florida and Chicago. It does not yet have a presence in Southern California.