Sydney and NSW’s top 50 real estate agents ranked by average sale price
The estate agents who inked Sydney and NSW’s biggest property deals have been revealed in an exclusive new study, with many making more money than ever before. See the top 50 ranking.
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Home prices may have been falling over much of the past year, but an elite group of high flying agents have actually been making more money than ever before due to surging demand for luxe homes.
Exclusive realestate.com.au data has revealed Sydney and NSW’s top agents by average sale price, with many achieving average sale prices of over $7m per property.
SEE BELOW FOR PROFILES OF THE TOP AGENTS
It comes as housing experts revealed Sydney’s prestige property market has been firing over the past year as cashed up expats and foreign buyers return to Australia following nearly two years of Covid restrictions.
There has also been a resurgence in demand from wealthy local buyers, often business owners who have made a motser from online technology.
They’ve streamed into the Sydney housing market hungry for Harbour side mansions and glitzy city penthouses at a time when housing supply remains severely stretched.
PropTrack figures showed new listings have dropped by about 28 per cent over the past year, but the supply of available homes in exclusive Harbour locales has been even more strained.
It’s an environment that’s sent prices for luxury homes skyward – and behind each deal has been an ambitious agent pulling the strings.
Sydney’s top agent ranked by average sale price was Atlas Lower North Shore principal Michael Coombs.
His average price was $14.4m, according to the realestate.com.au data, which was based on declared results on the property site over the year to March.
He was joined by two other agents with average sale prices above $10m – Highland Double Bay agent Bill Malouf and Ray White Double Bay agent Ashley Bierman.
The data did not include off market sales, private deals or instances where the date of the sale was unknown. Only properties where the agent was the lead seller were considered. Agents with only a handful of sales were also excluded.
Among Sydney’s most recent top sales was the $33m paid for the Bellevue Hill home of the late Tom Breuer and art dealer wife Eva earlier this month.
A home on nearby Victoria Rd, owned by Valiant Hire’s Michael Sternberge, sold for $33.5m a week prior, along with a Vaucluse home on Wentworth Rd for over $25m.
Then last week, car dealer Terry Mullins finally sold a home known as Jenner House in Potts Point. The exact price has yet to be disclosed, but it’s understood to have been circa $30m.
TOP AGENTS RANKED BY AVERAGE SALE PRICE
1. Michael Coombs, Atlas Lower North Shore, $14.4m
A high school teacher once told Michael Coombs he’d be a lousy real estate agent. His numbers would suggest the opposite.
The director of Atlas by LJ Hooker on the lower north shore, who is set to open a new office in Byron Bay next month, is the country’s top agent by average sale price on realestate.com.au.
Mr Coombs, 44, credited his high sales to a strong prestige market and an intricate network of buyers from around the world. It’s taken him 20 years to build that network.
“Confidence has dropped in the property market over the past 12 months but there are still plenty of buyers with deep pockets. You just have to get them off the fence,” he said.
“Technology has also really put Sydney on the world stage. We’re attracting people from all over. They’re lifestyle focused. A lot of them are new money, tech money. Or it’s smart investors or developers.”
2. Ashley Bierman, Ray White Double Bay, $10.6m
Ray White Double Bay director Ashley Bierman’s discreet style is what sets him apart, he says.
Ms Bierman has been with Ray White for the past 15 years, having previously worked in the fashion industry in New York.
He has enjoyed remarkable success over the years including a recent $40m sale in Bellevue Hill. “I really enjoy the advisory role and being entrusted with a sale is a real privilege,” he said.
3. Bill Malouf, Highland Double Bay, $10m
The legendary Bill Malouf, the former publican who set up his LJ Hooker Double Bay office 37 years ago before rebranding to Highland Double Bay, has been a mainstay in Sydney’s ultra-prestige suburbs such as Point Piper. He has set numerous real estate records over his decades in the industry.
4. Geoff Smith, Ray White Lower North Shore, $9.8m
Originally from the country, Geoff Smith has been in real estate on the lower north shore of Sydney for more than 30 years.
The co-founder and director of Ray White Lower North Shore Group, who is also a keen surfer and golfer, said he treated every home as if it was his own.
“I have an awesome team who strive to provide an outstanding experience – and I really enjoy seeing them successfully progress through our company,” he said.
5. Elliott Placks, Ray White Double Bay, $9.6m
It was Elliott Placks’ mother who inspired him to join real estate more than 20 year ago.
The managing director of Ray White Double Bay said it was “a right of passage” and he enjoyed a career that allowed him to be creative in looking at ways to bring deals together.
“I also enjoy meeting interesting people along the way,” he said.
Over the past 12 months Mr Placks, who works across the eastern suburbs, recorded a sale of $68m in Point Piper.
6. Stefon Bertram, Pello Lower North Shore, $9.2m
Stefon Bertram started his career in real estate at the age of 17. Four years later he started his first real estate business which he sold to a major franchise.
The founder and managing partner of Pello works and lives across the lower north shore of Sydney.
“When everyone is looking at the auctioneer when the hammer is about to fall, I am always looking at the buyer because they have just had six months of property searches come to fruition and that’s what I love about real estate,” he said.
7. David Edwards, LJ Hooker Palm Beach, $8.8m
When David Edwards, a former high school teacher, had his house valued back in the 1980s he thought to himself “I can do better than that”.
Soon after he started his career as an agent and it took three years for him to become the number one selling agent in the country.
The licensee of LJ Hooker Palm Beach said he loved selling property in “God’s country”.
“My office is the prettiest in the world, if that doesn’t motivate you, nothing will,” he said.
Mr Edwards’ highest sale price over the last 12 months was $40m in Palm Beach.
8. Darren Curtis, Christie’s International, $8.7m
Darren Curtis is the director of Christie’s International and claims to hold 21 suburb price records – mostly for luxury properties.
He said the top-end of the market has been stable over the past year. “The weaker Australian dollar has meant more demand from overseas, especially from mainland China,” he said.
Mr Curtis added that a lot has changed in his 16 years working the Australian property market. “The main difference since I started is that Australia was previously seen as far away, but now its position is an advantage,” he said. “Australia is seen as a safe, blue chip destination. It’s garnered much more attention from overseas and that’s had an effect on price.”
9. Steven Chen, The Agency, $8.6m
Steven Chen heads The Agency Projects division. He has been in the industry for more than 20 years. Most the properties he has sold were within Sydney’s eastern suburbs. Through The Agency Projects division, he leads a specialist national team for local and international clients.
10. BJ Edwards, LJ Hooker Palm Beach, $7.9m
Former professional rugby player BJ Edwards likened the competitive nature of rugby to real estate. The LJ Hooker Palm Beach agent, who played professional rugby for the Waratahs as well as overseas in the UK, hung up his boots to join the family business.
“I decided to throw my hat in the ring, real estate is more competitive than professional sport,” he said.
Mr Edwards said he enjoyed every day being different, the emotion involved in sales and the satisfaction from a good, successful negotiation.
RELATED: Interest rate rises fail to curb rising house prices - PropTrack data
11. Ben Collier, The Agency, $7.9m
Co-founder of The Agency Ben Collier has been selling real estate for more than a quarter of a century. Some of his career highlights include selling the historic mansion Rona in Bellevue Hill for $58m in 2018.
He told The Daily Telegraph last year that competing in the industry required “a lot of hard work”.
12. Richard Simeon, Simeon Partners Mosman, $7.7m
In 2022, Richard Simeon sold a Mosman home for a suburb record of $33m – $11m higher than the previous record sale for a single residence.
During his 20-year career, Mr Simeon has sold around $2.5bn in local property. He founded Simeon Partners in January 2014, and primarily sells homes on the Lower North Shore.
13. Ben Cohen, Ray White Upper North Shore, $7.9m
Ben Cohen is an agent primarily on the upper north shore and holds a number of price records. Notable past sales included Killarney Castle, a landmark estate in Gordon sold for about $6m in a hush-hush deal.
14. Tim Fraser, DiJones Wahroonga, $7.6m
Specialising in properties located on Sydney’s upper north shore, Tim Fraser has transacted an average value of $7.607m over the past year.
Mr Fraser said the past 12 months has seen an ‘extraordinary’ level of sales transactions.
“We’ve seen a number of suburb records being broken with sales over $11m being
transacted … the return of international buyers and local buyers migrated from the eastern
suburbs has driven up prices significantly.
“High end properties in general have been taking off due to a lack of available stock, and
buyers in this price range don’t usually take notice of factors like interest rate rises.”
15. Matthew Ward, Ward Partners, $7.3m
Since kickstarting his career as an agent about 25 years ago, Matthew Ward has sold properties surrounding the shores of the Parramatta and Lane Cove Rivers.
Mr Ward said many of the properties that he has recently sold are tightly held waterfront
properties that are often selling for the first time in a number of years.
“My high average sale price is due to the large number of waterfront sales. Our most recent
waterfront sale was $12m at 25 Hezlet St, Chiswick.
“Desirability and demand to live on the waterfront is at an all-time high. Waterfront is tightly
held now more than ever which has resulted in record prices being achieved in many
waterfront suburbs surrounding Hunters Hill over the past few years.”
16. Di Baker, Di Baker Prestige Properties, $7m
Prior to becoming an agent, Di Baker worked in business, retail, design and the arts.
She got her start alongside her father Paul Baker in 1988, when she ran the Woollahra
Antiques Centre for a number of years prior to its development into a penthouse.
During her career, she has worked with McGrath Real Estate, Place Estate Agents and
Network Real Estate, and currently sells properties via her prestige agency across Sydney.
17. D’Leanne Lewis, Laing and Simmons, $6.9m
Principal of Laing and Simmons Double Bay and the star of the recent Prime Video series Luxe Listings, D’Leanne Lewis was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and moved to the Blacktown area of Sydney when she was 10.
She got her start in real estate as the PA for a sales director at Laing and Simmons before moving into sales. She’s now one of the country’s top agents.
18. Nic Yates, The Agency – North, $6.7m
Nic Yates has lived and operated in the lower north shore for over 25 years.
Primarily selling in Mosman, his most recent sale was at 26 Redan St where he sold a four
bedroom home for $13m.
“Mosman is always in high demand and has been for decades because it is sought after from a large pool of buyers. It has vibrant village, beautiful beaches, a blend of contemporary homes, all while being family orientated. It has been a large attraction for expats and off shore buyers who are spending pounds and US dollars.”
19. Milton Drever, Keith Wiseman Real Estate, $6.5m
With over three decades of experience as an agent, Milton Drever has sold properties
across Sydney’s northern suburbs and the north shore.
Over the last year, the Keith Wiseman agent has achieved an average value of $6.553m for
property sales.
Mr Drever said buyers are often driven to the lifestyle opportunities and school catchments
of the suburbs he operates in.
20. Julian Hasemer, 1st City Double Bay, $6.5m
Julian Hasemer founded and developed 1st CITY Group with three offices in the Eastern
Suburbs in 1998.
Since then, Mr Hasemer has at various time held records for the highest apartment prices in Darling Point, Edgecliff, Point Piper and Bellevue Hill.
“I am not seeing a significant drop in the number of genuine buyers in the market to purchase. I am seeing a particular spike in inquiry for properties with harbour views, proximity to shops, villages and schools,” he said.
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