‘They’re off’: $962m man’s look into real estate woes

Australia’s newly crowned best-selling property agent has revealed an eye-opening look into what really happens behind the scenes when it comes to selling and buying our homes.

Alexander Phillips, Australia’s top real estate agent for the 10th consecutive year after topping the Real Estate Business (REB) industry website rankings, doesn’t have a secret winning approach.

He reveals everything about his powerhouse sales method, in appearances on the weekly High Performance industry podcast, for any agent tuning in.

Phillips, of Phillips Pantzer Donnelley, and his support staff, topped the latest rankings when securing a $962 million annual tally from 196 sales across Sydney’s coastal east in 2024.

The huge $962 million record is more than some countries make in a year as part of their gross domestic profit - Donnelley sold homes worth more than countries like Tonga and Nauru generate in a year.

Phillips, with 24 years’ experience, first hit the REB list in 2014 when he ranked second with 108 sales yielding $200m. It was to an agent from Toorak.

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Alexander Phillips, Australia’s top real estate agent for the 10th consecutive year after topping the Real Estate Business (REB) industry website rankings. Picture: Julian Andrews.

His average price sale has risen over the period from $1.85m to $4.9m in 2024, which compares to an average of $2.89m across the top 50 NSW agents on the CommBank-sponsored list.

Phillips also ranks among the quickest agents, selling homes in an average of 21 days, although this rose from 19 days in the prior year.

The son of an acclaimed car salesman credits his success to “good relationships and good processes”.

Of course sales success leads to continued momentum.

Significantly, while he represents vendors like all agents, Phillips displays an acute sense of buyer placement as soon as a listing comes into view, and then from the innovative photo shoot open house.

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Phillips has made a name for himself in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

The ongoing momentum, and self promotion amid the many neighbourhoods of his sales success, ensures he is top of mind when prospective vendors are making their decision.

Recent analysis of 35,000 active listing agents across the residential market in 2024 suggests that the top 20 per cent of agents listed more than 60 per cent of all properties.

Phillips’s nearest challenger, Michael Clarke, had an $871m tally from 221 sales across the harbour at Manly.

While they don’t compete, the tally reflects a slight narrowing in the gap to $91m for Clarke. Clarke had $814m in 202 sales in 2023 when the gap was $159m. Clarke was also a new entrant in 2014 with 97 sales, yielding a $139m tally.

Entry on to the REB list published by Momentum Media is voluntary, and self nominating, with the data overseen by Agile Market Intelligence.

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Agent Michael Clarke with Vendor Mary Carter.

Numerous agents have ceased declaring their sales tally, since the reveal will show that they are way behind their perceived rivals.

The 45-year-old Phillips wakes weekdays at 4am, has a hot bath, manifests, and trains on gym equipment, before grabbing a coffee and getting to the office by 6am.

“Getting up early gives me two hours where I’m not bothered to plan the day because by 6.30am my phone is ringing,” he recently told the podcast. He’s not had a weekday client lunch for a decade.

Describing the current market as “challenging”, Phillips notes “volumes are down, sales are down and agents are off”.

“There’s stress out there,” he says.

Originally published as ‘They’re off’: $962m man’s look into real estate woes