Serhant got an early start to its Christmas haul, adding a bundle of new agents just before the holiday.
Among the new arrivals is Corcoran’s Peter Zaitzeff, who RealTrends ranks 54th among New York individual agents with $82 million in self-reported volume last year.
Zaitzeff didn’t comment on whether he’s bringing any new development projects with him. His past projects include Related Companies’ 70 Vestry and Steve Witkoff’s 150 Charles, where he had the listing for a penthouse that traded in August for $38.5 million, or $8,350 per square foot.
Zaitzeff, who is ending a six-year stint at Corcoran and previously spent six years at Douglas Elliman, said he wasn’t planning on switching firms until he was personally recruited by founder Ryan Serhant.
The other seven Corcoran agents that joined Serhant this week include Alexandra Newman, MaryElizabeth Smith and Amit Golriz, along with three other agents to form the Luxury Alliance Team.
Corcoran finished first in The Real Deal’s ranking of Manhattan’s top residential brokerages by closed sales in 2022 with nearly $6.7 billion in sales, up from $6.5 billion in 2021. Serhant finished sixth in the borough with $542 million — nearly doubling its 2021 volume.
In a statement on the agents’ departure, Corcoran president & CEO Pamela Liebman pointed to her firm’s status atop New York City’s residential brokerages.
“Coming out of a challenging year, I definitely know where I’d want to be,” she said. “I hope this move gives these agents what they are looking for and I wish them well.”
It’s yet to be seen if Serhant will continue its rise through TRD’s ranking, but the brokerage has had an eventful year.
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Serhant Ventures, the firm’s educational arm, kicked the year off by antagonizing Brown Harris Stevens CEO Bess Freedman with an offer to coach her agents. In February, Serhant abruptly terminated star agent Tamir Shemesh for reasons unclear, marking the broker’s third abrupt exit in recent memory.
Serhant in the spring expanded to six East Coast states, a push that prompted lawsuits from local firms in Pennsylvania, Florida and most recently Connecticut. It also opened a second New York City office for executives and staff.
Serhant has also seen some notable departures this year, including top luxury agent Loy Carlos, who left in September for Nest Seekers.