By Megan Montemarano
Sotheby’s International Realty® continues to go above and beyond, upholding its preeminent reputation across the globe year in and year out. This year, however, the brand saw its highest annual sales volume performance yet, achieving a total of $95 billion in global sales, driven largely by a record of over 127,000 transactions.
Coinciding with these outstanding numbers, growth also occurred across the Sotheby’s International Realty® global network, which now encompasses nearly 70 countries and territories worldwide. With over 20,000 sales associates and a total of 880 offices as of the close of 2016, the brand is simply unstoppable—an indisputable leader in the real estate industry.
Beyond the United States, Sotheby’s International Realty achieved $10 billion in sales volume in 2016 and continued to expand into key markets. The brand saw sustained growth in Europe, entering the countries of Austria, Croatia, Slovakia, Slovenia and Montenegro. The brand also expanded in the Asia-Pacific region through 
affiliations in Fiji and Shanghai and continued to grow in Hong Kong and greater Thailand. Finally, the brand expanded its presence in the Caribbean with the addition of affiliates in Roatan and St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
At home in the United States, the Sotheby’s International Realty brand achieved $85 billion in sales volume in 2016, with the addition of seven independently owned and operated residential real estate firms. 45 new offices were also added to its network across the country. This past year witnessed continued significant growth by existing affiliate companies through talent attraction and mergers and acquisitions, most notably increasing the brand’s market presence in Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, throughout southern Rhode Island and on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. The brand also entered several key new markets last year, namely: Gulf Shores, Alabama; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Virginia Beach, Virginia.
“Sotheby’s International Realty’s growth, capabilities, network and services are simply unparalleled in the luxury residential real estate industry,” said Paul Breunich, President and CEO of our firm. “We are proud to be part of this network of extraordinary professionals, and to represent this fine brand in Connecticut, Westchester County, N.Y. and the Berkshires, Mass.”
In terms of innovation, our brand stands at the forefront of interactive technology for the year, through the introduction of 3D Tours with Virtual Reality capability on sothebysrealty.com. The site also saw the most traffic in its history, experiencing a 54% increase year-over-year with nearly 22 million visits. Sotheby’s International Realty additionally now offers a chance to explore the world’s best addresses right on your own TV, with the recent launch of yet another pioneering tool—the first-ever luxury real estate app for Apple TV. Available on all 4th generation Apple TV devices, the app features nearly 50,000 properties currently represented by our brand across the globe, with opportunities to explore homes on a larger scale than ever before. In an effort to expand the brand’s reach in China, a syndication partnership with Juwai.com was launched in 2016. As one of China’s premier real estate portals, Juwai.com has over 2 million monthly visitors and more indexed pages than all other portals combined on Baidu—China’s largest search engine. Sotheby’s International Realty has the most global representation on Juwai.com, displaying luxury listings from 66 countries and territories.
Sotheby’s International Realty was the No. 1 real estate company represented in two of the six categories that comprise the annual REAL Trends/The Wall Street Journal “Top Thousand” report. The brand also claimed 45 of the top 250 sales associates in the Individual Sales Volume category, more than any other real estate company, and also had the highest combined individual sales volume from sales associates in the same category. In addition, the Sotheby’s International Realty brand had the most individuals represented in the Individual Average Sales Price category, holding 17 of the top 50 spots (34%), further establishing our strength as the leader in luxury real estate sales.
As the largest affiliate of this incredible brand, our company offers exclusive Sotheby’s International Realty marketing, advertising and referral services designed to attract well-qualified buyers to property listings. In addition, dedicated team members and clients benefit from an association with the Sotheby’s auction house, which promotes real estate referral opportunities with auction house clientele. Property listings from William Pitt and Julia B. Fee Sotheby’s International Realty also are marketed on the sothebysrealty.com global website, as well as on our company’s local website, williampitt.com.
We are proud to be a part of this especially extraordinary year—2017, here we come!
