The Agency is setting up shop in Fire Island.
The California-born brokerage opened an office in the beachfront destination on Tuesday, with plans to kick off its foray with around five local agents focused on sales and rentals, according to managing director Nicholas Campasano.
Among the new recruits is Emily LaRocca, a former Douglas Elliman agent who Campasano described as having Fire Island “in her veins.” LaRocca’s listings include a three-bedroom Fair Harbor abode asking $25,500 a month and a Kismet home asking $900,000.
The firm is turning to local agents like LaRocca to give it an edge as it competes with the mom-and-pop brokerages that dominate the area, he said.
Competition for listings is also fierce, as demand for homes on the island far outpaces supply.
“The towns and villages are small in and of themselves, and you don’t see the houses change hands all that often,” Campasano said. “It’s pretty common for a house to stay in the family for many generations.”
Prices for Fire Island residential properties — largely second homes occupied in the summer months —- were up 350 percent year-over-year in March and counted a median listing price of $1.7 million, according to Redfin.
The Agency’s Ricardo Pena will head up the new outpost alongside Campasano. Michael Smith and Donald Mastroianni, who lead the firm’s Long Island and New Canaan offices, will serve as managing partners.
The announcement comes about a year after former “Million Dollar Listing” star Tyler Whitman and longtime Sotheby’s broker Dana Trotter opened The Agency’s first franchise in the Hamptons. The duo announced the brokerage’s arrival Out East with a splashy launch party and title sponsorship at The Hamptons Classic Horse Show.
Since its founding, the franchise has scored a number of pricey listings, including a Bridgehampton estate asking just under $80 million and a home at 36 Hedges Lane asking $12.5 million.
The company’s Fire Island office marks its sixth location in New York, including its Manhattan headquarters at 88 University Place and other offices in Long Island’s North Shore, South Shore and Gold Coast.
The latest foothold, located at 937 Bay Walk in Ocean Beach, follows a national period of expansion for the firm, which opened 12 offices in the first quarter, according to a press release.
Brokerage founder and CEO Mauricio Umansky and Compass agent Jason Haber are also spearheading a new trade group to challenge the National Association of Realtors, as the industry’s leading organization grapples with antitrust scrutiny and leadership scandals.
The pair launched the group, called the American Real Estate Association, in January. Three months later, the organization landed its first major brokerage member, R New York, which added 800 agents to its 3,000-member total.
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