UPDATED, March 14, 1:40 p.m.: Sotheby’s International Realty sold a record $108 billion worth of real estate in 2017 — a 14 percent jump from the year prior, the company said.
In the U.S., sales rose from $85 billion in 2016 to $96 billion last year. International sales increased from $10 billion to $12 billion.
“The U.S. business grew faster than the overall market partly due to pent-up demand in the luxury space and some very strong operating franchisees,” CEO Phillip White told Inman.
Realogy — the parent company of the Corcoran Group and Citi Habitats — bought the right to license Sotheby’s name from the auction house in 2004. Sotheby’s sales volume has skyrocketed since 2005, when it closed $4 billion in sales.
Sotheby’s franchisees currently operate 950 offices worldwide. The New York City and Hamptons offices, however, are company-owned.
Sotheby’s is one of the city’s residential top firms, according to The Real Deal‘s 2018 ranking of Manhattan brokerages. The 286-agent company closed $1.35 billion worth of sell-side deals in 2017, up 59 percent from 2016. It also has a significant presence in the outer boroughs via franchisees. [Inman] — E.B. Solomont