Robby Browne is addicted to buying houses

Corcoran Group agent Robby Browne has brokered hundreds of sales during his 30-year career. And 22 of those deals were for his own homes.

Browne, who owns apartments at 15 Central Park West and 25 Central Park West, is among a group of home buyers dubbed “house addicts,” according to the Wall Street Journal. The actor and economist Ben Stein, who owns multiple homes in California and Washington, D.C., is another.

Browne owns at least three pads on Central Park West — split between 25 CPW and 15 CPW. The Corcoran Group [TRDataCustom] agent also has an apartment in the West Village that’s on the market for $5.35 million. (The Journal noted, however, that he’s also in contract on a $6.5 million pad in the neighborhood.) Last year, Browne paid $1.5 million to build a house in Bridgehampton. 

Browne said of the 22 properties he’s bought and sold, he’s almost always made money on his own deals. In 2008, Browne purchased a $2.7 million apartment at 15 CPW that’s now worth multiples of that amount. He makes at least $18,000 a month renting out one of his apartments, though it’s unclear which one.

Ultra wealthy individuals with at least $30 million in assets own an average of 2.9 properties, according to research firm Wealth-X and Sotheby’s International Realty. In the U.S., a 2013 survey found that just under 40 percent of respondents in the highest income bracket own at least one second-home. [WSJ] — E.B. Solomont