National report announces top 2022 Vegas Realtors

A national report has listed the top Las Vegas Realtors for transactions handled in 2022 — a year in which high-end sales declined sharply over concerns of higher interest rates and a potential recession and are on track to do so again.

1. The newly released list, which measures transactions in 2022 as reported by RealTrends and Tom Ferry International, names Cheryl Kypreos, a Realtor with GK Properties Real Estate, as handling the most transactions and volume in 2022. She handles general transactions and is not a luxury agent.

Kypreos, who works with several investors and does a volume business, recorded 995 transactions in 2022 with a volume of $409.6 million, far distancing other individual Realtors in Las Vegas. George Kypreos, broker/owner of GK Properties, was No. 1 in the state a year ago in volume.

2. Kristen Routh-Silberman, who is with Douglas Elliman Nevada after transitioning from other brokerages, was the top local luxury Realtor. She reported $145.5 million in volume in 2022. She is also the broker of MacDonald Highlands. She had $228 million in transactions in 2021 when the luxury market was heated coming out of the pandemic, meaning a 36 percent drop year-over-year.

RealTrends recognized Routh-Silberman as being in the top 0.0098 percent of agents in the U.S. for residential sales volume, with a rank of 155 on the 2023 RealTrends + Tom Ferry The Thousand. Routh-Silberman had a total of 49 transaction sides, which earned the No. 28 rank in Nevada for transactions.

3. Zar Zanganeh of The Agency Las Vegas had $112.7 million in transaction volume.

4. Randy Char with Las Vegas Sotheby’s International Realty was next with $64.1 million.

5. Gene Northup with Las Vegas Sotheby’s was next with $41.2 million.

6. Brian Kruger was sixth in Las Vegas with $40.7 million.

7. Avi-Dan-Goor with Douglas Elliman was seventh with $32.4 million.

8. Diane Varney with Coldwell Banker Premier Realty was next with $30.9 million.

9. Michelle Sullivan with Douglas Elliman was ninth with $30.8 million.

10. Randy Hatada with xPand Realty &Property Management was 10th at $30.6 million.

1. Among teams classified as small of five agents or less, RealTrends ranked No. 1 as the Ellen Fahr Group with Berkshire Hathaway Nevada Properties with $64.7 million.

2. Nora Aguirre Team with Century 21 Americana Las Vegas was next at $56.5 million in transaction volume.

3. The Crampton Team at Berkshire Hathaway Nevada Properties had $50.6 million.

4. The Trish Nash Team with Douglas Elliman was next with $43.1 million.

5. The Margita Team with Nevada Properties Las Vegas followed with $41.1 million.

6. Team Little with RE/Max Advantage in Henderson was next with $39.5 million.

7. Mason Harvey with Berkshire Hathaway Nevada Properties Las Vegas followed with $39.3 million.

8. Team Lenzie with Re/Max Advantage Las Vegas was next at $31.9 million.

9. The Kaori Guerra Team at Coldwell Banker Premier Realty Las Vegas was next at $31 million.

1. Among medium-sized teams of six to 10 agents, the Carver Team with Berkshire Hathaway Nevada Properties had $64.1 million.

2. That was followed by the Angarola Minucci Group with Nevada Properties at $50.2 million.

3. They were followed by The Mendez Team at Keller Williams Realty Las Vegas at $48.9 million.

4. The Brooks Team at eXp Realty was next at $48.4 million.

5. Next was the Matt Sulter Group with Berkshire Hathaway Nevada Properties at $35 million.

6. The Saab Team with Berkshire Hathaway Nevada Properties was next at $24.9 million.

7. They were followed by the Jack Woodcock Group at Berkshire Hathaway Nevada Properties with $24.6 million.

1. Among large groups of 11 to 20 agents, the Craig Tann Group with Huntington &Ellis was first with $261.3 million.

2. The Napoli Group with Berkshire Hathaway Nevada Properties Las Vegas was next with $100.5 million.

3. They were followed by the Li Team at Keller Williams Realty The Marketplace at $86.5 million.

4. Next was the Juan Lopez Team at Keller Williams Realty The Marketplace with $48.8 million.

5. The Blankfield Group with Berkshire Hathaway Nevada Properties was next at $46.6 million.

6. They were followed by Team Driven Real Estate with Keller Williams VIP Las Vegas with $40.1 million.

7. They were followed by the Brian Burrows Group with Keller Williams VIP Las Vegas at $36.5 million.

8. The Mark Wiley Realty Group with Keller Williams Realty Southwest Las Vegas was next at $36.2 million.

1. Under the mega-group category of 21 agents and higher, the Mullin Group with Berkshire Hathaway Nevada Properties was first at $112.6 million.

2. They were followed by the Brenkus Team at Keller Williams Realty the Marketplace at $105.7 million.

3. Next was The Tonnesen Team with Berkshire Hathaway Nevada Properties at $92 million.

This year’s list did not include the Ivan Sher Group, which a year ago ranked at No. 31 in the nation and first in Nevada among mega groups with $700.2 million — a number Sher said was undercounted from $759 million that would place him at No. 25 in the nation.

Sher, who started his own brokerage in October after spending years at Berkshire Hathaway, said his firm didn’t submit the data. He said he did $477.9 million in transaction volume in 2022, a 37 percent drop from 2021 but the second-highest recorded by his team, which has 19 agents.

The $759 million in 2021 was a 71 percent increase from the $444 million Sher said he transacted in 2020, a then-record. He did $320 million in 2019.

Sher said his team is on pace for $350 million by the end of June if transactions they have in place close. That could put them in the $700 million range by the end of 2023.

The decline in 2022 is a “privilege drop” Sher said in pointing out it’s their second-best year in history and in line with what other luxury brokerages encountered.

“The luxury market took a pause from summer onward last year,” Sher said. “People were scared about the stock market, volatility, interest rates and a recession and all sorts of things and felt out of control. As a result of that, people sat back and watched. And as of January of this year, people made the decision they are not going to let their environment dictate whether or not they would buy a house. They went back to business as usual, and that’s why our market picked up. We’re optimistic and excited, and it’s looking to be a record-breaking year for sure.”

That prediction, however, comes as luxury sales of $1 million and higher are down 34 percent for the first five months compared with 2022.

Routh-Silberman said there are issues in the continued relocation of wealthy Californians to Nevada that have fueled the surge in luxury sales. She cited a story on Yahoo Finance that said there are 400 available listings in Los Angeles in excess of $5 million, representing 18 percent of the total inventory of 2,200 homes.

The problem, the story said, is there are a lot fewer buyers in that price range because a $5 million home requires buyers to earn about $850,000 a year, the story said.

Yahoo Finance reported that luxury acquisitions slowed in April after Los Angeles imposed a mansion tax to fund homelessness solutions. That adds 4 percent in tax for properties sold in excess of $5 million and 5.5 percent on properties sold in excess of $10 million. That’s in addition to a transfer tax. Yahoo reported that in April only two properties sold in Los Angeles in excess of $5 million compared with 126 in March.

“On the one hand, you think it’s great that it would push more people to Las Vegas, but it is also a way of keeping people in California because they make it so hard to sell their homes,” Routh-Silberman said.

“They want to keep their tax base. They don’t want people to sell and move. That’s our real estate supply chain that’s blocked and why the number of sales are down in Las Vegas. Those guys are stuck and can’t move because it costs too much to sell their house. They pay less taxes by staying there than if they sell. We need that spigot to continue to flow, but they’re putting things in place to try to stop people from selling their house and moving.”

Routh-Silberman said she expects to do a lower transaction volume in 2023 compared with 2022 because so many people made a move since the pandemic and by what has been happening in California. She said the pace of 2023 is slower than 2022 so far.

Some luxury Realtors have pointed to a lack of updated inventory of homes the wealthy are seeking for contributing to any slowdown and lack of inventory overall because people are reluctant to move amid higher interest rates.

“Every single Realtor had their best year in 2021 because of COVID,” Routh-Silberman said. “We had people decide to move all at once. Real estate is cyclical, and most people move every seven years. With that amount moving in 2021, you will start to see people moving again in 2028 to 2030. Everybody is hunkered in and has their houses and second homes, and is set.”

Zanganeh said 2023 is off to a great start compared to last year for him with stronger sales and bigger price points, especially for new construction. He said this is one of his best rankings ever and credits the market power of Beverly Hills-based The Agency, which opened an office in Las Vegas in 2021.

“It’s been very helpful that we have such a strong following in California and the attention they get in the process and with the TV shows that they have, which rubs off on us here in Vegas,” Zanganeh said. “With the majority of our clientele being California based, a lot of that attention comes here to Las Vegas.”

Kypreos said that she works with several investment groups and with ibuyers too and that it’s exciting to be at the top of the ranking. She also works with commercial real estate.

“I’m just keeping my head down, and I’m working,” Kypreos said. “I dabble in everything.”

Kypreos said she’s optimistic about the Las Vegas real estate outlook because of the strength in the community, which makes investors continue to have interest and be bullish on the market though some have toned it down with their purchases.

“Even with new sales with the homebuilders have been strong lately,” Kypreos said. “I don’t expect that to change.”