Las Vegas realtors place high in luxury rankings

Las Vegas luxury Realtors have placed prominently in the 2022 national rankings of the top agents and their teams.

This year’s list that measures transactions in 2021 as released by RealTrends and Tom Ferry International, lists Henderson agent George Kypreos, the broker/owner of GK Properties in Henderson as No. 19 in the nation with $465.4 million in transactions. He works in partnership with Zillow in the Las Vegas market, which provides for a large volume of deals and is different from how most Realtors do business.

Kypreos ranked No. 1 in the state for most sales at 1,293 and in dollar amount.

Luxury Realtor Kristen Routh-Silberman, a partner with Corcoran Global Living, amassed $228 million in transactions, ranking No. 96 in the nation and second in Southern Nevada and first among luxury Realtors. She was No. 7 in the state with 90 transactions.

Routh-Silberman said that’s her highest-mark ever, beating 2021 when she was just under $200 million. Despite a slowdown in the Las Vegas market this summer in luxury sales overall, Routh-Silberman said she hasn’t felt that, except for clients taking summer vacations, and expects 2022 to be on pace with a year ago.

“This was my best year ever, and I almost don’t even remember it because it was such a blur,” Routh-Silberman said. “You have to rise to the occasion, and I’m happy that I did it and (went) through it. That’s the year I sold the $25 million home in MacDonald Highlands and represented the buyer and the seller, a career milestone and milestone for the city. Las Vegas and I did it together. And I think there’s greater things to come.”

Routh-Silberman said Realtors needed to work together to get as many people as possible so they didn’t go to Texas and Florida. The new luxury residents will add a lot to the city.

“All the clients I brought are hands down awesome and are going to contribute and help our city grow and keep moving forward in a good direction,” Routh-Silberman said. “Everything has to come together, the right developer, the right houses and right buyer to make a city great, and all the stars lined up for 2021. We were lucky to have a ton of people in Las Vegas in 2020 and 2021 because they couldn’t go anyplace else. Now they can go to the Mediterranean and elsewhere.”

Kypreos and Routh-Silberman were far removed from the top Realtor in the nation, Bob Caballero of Dallas with $1.97 billion in transactions. Jean Markelbach with Engel & Volker Lake Tahoe, was No. 18 in the nation and the top agent in Nevada with $488.2 million in transactions.

The Ivan Sher Group with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Nevada Properties ranked No. 31 in the nation and first in Nevada among mega groups, those with 21 agents and higher with $700.2 million. It did 359 transactions. Sher said he’s reaching out to the rankings firm to let them know that his volume was a record $759 million instead, which would move him up in the rankings to No. 25.

Sher said he should fall into the large category of 11 to 20 agents but the rankings count his administrative staff, which is licensed, even though they don’t do transactions. That would place him No. 5 in that category, nationally.

The $759 million is a 71 percent increase from the $444 million Sher said he did in 2020, a then record. He did $320 million in 2019.

“It was a hell of a year,” Sher said. “It’s a privilege (to be highly ranked), and it’s more than one person. You surround yourself with great people and greatness happens. We’re excited for the end of this year and next year. I’m optimistic about where 2023 is going to go.”

Sher said this year won’t match 2021 because of the slowdown in the market as luxury buyers monitor the stock market decline, but activity is starting to pick up and more homes are going into escrow.

“It was dead silent for a couple of months, but now we are transacting again,” Sher said. “High-value homes are still going to get the same amount as they did six months ago. I am a believer in Las Vegas and the market.”

No Southern Nevada large teams of 11 to 20 agents or medium teams of six to 10 agents officially made the national list for dollar transactions.

In terms of number of transactions, the Craig Tann Group with Huntington & Ellis in Las Vegas ranked No. 53 in the nation in the large group category with 448 transactions.

In the medium category, the Brenkus Team with Keller Williams in Henderson had 346 transactions to rank No. 42 in the nation.

In breaking down Southern Nevada rankings after Kypreos and Routh-Silberman for individual Realtors, Randy Char of Las Vegas Sotheby’s International Realty had $107.1 million. He was tied with Routh-Silberman at 90 transactions.

Char was followed by Zar Zanganeh with The Agency in Las Vegas with $81.8 million in transactions.

Emily Sherwood of Corcoran Global Living in Henderson rounded out the top five with $67.7 million.

No. 6 was Gene Northup with Las Vegas Sotheby’s International Realty at $61.2 million.

No. 7 was Falisha Rexford of NextHome Community Real Estate in Las Vegas with $56 million. She was No. 2 in the state in transactions with 125.

No. 8 was Pete Torsiello of NextHome Community Real Estate in Las Vegas with $42.3 million.

No. 9 was Cristine Lefkowitz of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Nevada Properties with $38.9 million.

Rounding out the top 10 in the Southern Nevada individual category was Jason Schlelke with Keller Williams Las Vegas Summerlin with $36.5 million.

Among mega teams in Southern Nevada following the No. 1 ranking by the Ivan Sher Group, the Mullin Group of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in Henderson had $140.2 million in transactions.

The Brodkin Group of Realty One Group in Las Vegas was No. 3 with $134.4 million in transactions.

The Tonnesen Team at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in Henderson had $118.7 million in transactions.

In large groups following the top ranking of the Craig Tann Group, the Frank Napoli Group with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in Las Vegas was second with $117.5 million.

The Bahalla Group with Signature Realty Group was third with $68 million.

In the fourth spot, the Blankfeld Group with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in Las Vegas had $64.7 million.

The Brian Burrows Group with Keller Williams Centennial Hills/Las Vegas ranked fifth at $33.7 million.

In the medium category, the Brenkus Team was No. 1 with $138.4 million. It had 346 transactions.

The Carver Team with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in Henderson was second with $102.7 million.

The Li Team with Keller Williams Las Vegas Green Valley was third with $89 million.

The Smith King Team with Keller Williams Las Vegas Summerlin was fourth with $69.1 million.

The Matt Suiter Group with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services in Las Vegas had $66.9 million.

Among small groups, the Larson Risinger Team with Re/Max Ridge Realty in Mesquite was No. 1 with $84.7 million.

The Ellen Fahr Group with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in Henderson ranked second with $78.5 million.

At No. 3, Team Driven Real Estate of Keller Williams Centennial Hills/Las Vegas had $63.8 million.

The Nora Aguirre Team with Century 21 Americana was No. 4 at $61.3 million.

Mason Harvey with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services in Las Vegas was fifth with $59 million.

Top Realtors take on local market/industry

The level of service is important for luxury agents who need to be experts in that area of residential real estate, Char said. He said he’s entrenched into the Las Vegas lifestyle and bought into what the brand of the city is and what it has to offer in luxury from food and entertainment, shopping and golf.

Char said he’s seeing a lot more inventory come on the market, which he added is healthy because there’s been a shortage. He remains bullish on luxury real estate because of the people moving to the city for taxes and enhancing their lifestyle.

“I think right now people are definitely taking a breather but that’s a different mode than people running,” Char said. “There’s still a tremendous amount of wealth out there in businesses because of the run that they had. They are observing and if that’s what they really want they are going after that. If not, they are being more patient and waiting for the right opportunity and what’s to come. But there’s still a lot of activity out there in the luxury market.

“We sold one of the highest priced penthouses in the Martin for that building at more than $1,100 a square foot. That’s rarified air for this city that recently in that category. It is a testament for people who want and can afford exceptional properties.”

As for the expectations going forward, Char said his brokerage is anticipating the competition of its new 12,000-square-foot office in the Uncommons in the southwest valley.

“We wouldn’t invest here if we didn’t believe in the future,” Char said.

Zanganeh said the market is much different from last year, which he called a buying frenzy. He said there hasn’t been a slowdown in the ultra-luxury market of $5 million and above but those deals $3 million and under are struggling right now.

“The majority of people in that price point require a mortgage,” Zanganeh said. “We noticed anybody that requires a mortgage is having a harder time qualifying for a mortgage and with the rates going up their buying power has shrunk. That’s the issue we are dealing with in the $1 million to $3 million price point.”

Zanganeh said those buyers at the higher end are pulling assets out of the stock market and investments that have declined sharply such as cryptocurrency and instead putting it into real estate. Many are completing transactions in cash.

“Even if the market drops another 10 percent, your home is still going to be there,” Zanganeh said. “It could be a rental or primary home.”

The luxury marketplace has been competitive with more brokerage moving into Las Vegas, including the Agency. Zanganeh said real estate agents who have done well the last two years are trying to get market share that has been previously shared by the top five to 10 luxury brokers in Las Vegas.

“It’s always been a competitive market but the last couple of years has been even more competitive,” Zanganeh said.

Zanganeh said he remains optimistic about the market because Las Vegas has strong demand and limited supply. People continue to move here for political or tax reasons and enjoy the business-friendly environment, he said.

“We’re still seeing a healthy buyer pool coming to Vegas,” Zanganeh said.

Sherwood said 2021 was one of the strongest she’s had in the luxury segment and as long as homes are priced appropriately the market is still good. Sellers need to be realistic to attract buyers and get those homes sold, she said.

“I have always been in the luxury market and enjoying the frothiness of the market that we had and clients we have met along the way,” Sherwood said.