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Tuesday, May 5, 2026

The top residential brokers, commercial brokers and property managers



RESIDENTIAL BROKERS


CANADAY HITS FOR AVERAGE, KERR TOPS IN VOLUME, AGAIN

Barbara Kerr of Realty Executives Premier in Fullerton sold 870 residential units last year, the most for any agent in the county. Even if Kerr worked all 365 days of 2000 that calculates to nearly 2.5 sales a day, every day.

Some would quibble with Kerr’s claim to fame,the majority of her sales come from HUD contract work and she has a team of people assisting her. But no one can quibble with the numbers: those 870 deals totaled $103.3 million.

Kerr was No.1 in units sold in 1999 as well, ringing in 633 deals worth $69.5 million.

Meanwhile, Lee Ann Canaday of Prudential California Realty’s Monarch Beach office came in with the highest average sales price among residential agents in 2000. Canaday sold 13 units at an average of $1.57 million per home. That lofty number placed Canaday in the top 10 nationally for Prudential, according to Greg Carruthers, Prudential California Realty’s Monarch Beach business manager.

Real Data Strategies Inc. of Fullerton tracks the numbers for individual residential deals in Orange County. Patrick Veling, an industry analyst, consultant and president of Real Data said it’s important to make a distinction in the numbers he provides.

“In our methodology, we use two Orange County multiple listings lists, then we fix the aggregated data, clean it up,” Veling said.

The numbers Real Data compiled include only the listing side (sellers represented) of closed transactions. According to Veling, the buyer-agency relationships are often reported incorrectly, so Real Data didn’t provide them for this report.

Also, in compiling the top earners in average sales price, Real Data only looked at agents with at least 12 deals, which, in the booming market, was not an uncommon feat.

Kerr and Canaday rode the wave of a record year for residential deals in Orange County. Last year, the residential market in Orange County “is best described as white hot,” according to John Burns, vice president of The Meyers Group.

“The big success of the year was the Crystal Cove project,” Burns said. Agents moved more than 100 units with a starting price in the $900,000s.

“They had sellouts in virtually every phase,” said Burns.

Burns did not have the exact number of sales of homes priced at $1 million and up in Orange County, but said he was certain that it rose along with the rest of the bullish market.

New homes sold by builders in Ladera Ranch and Talega witnessed similar success stories, Burns added. “They had phenomenal success. Really, there’s not much bad news.”

The market thought it had bad news on its hands during the fourth quarter. Market watchers became nervous after listening to reports of a dipping national economy. And although new home sales fell 3% in the fourth quarter, that number is much smaller than the typical 23% dip due to seasonality, according to The Meyers Group.

The only other blip on the horizon was the lack of supply on The Irvine Ranch, but that was planned rather than demand-related. With communities selling out at Crystal Cove, Talega and Crystal Cove, The Irvine Company is lying in wait before developing some of its new communities, according to Burns. n


COMMERCIAL BROKERS


CB OFFICES SWITCH AT TOP OF LIST

In 1999, CB Richard Ellis merged its Laguna Hills office with its office in Newport Beach, earning the office bragging right for that year. In 2000, CB Richard Ellis’ Anaheim office turned the tables, topping the list of commercial brokers and more than doubling the dollar figure of its deals. The Anaheim office increased its sales from $719 million in 1999 to $1.58 billion last year.

“Integration of various services that met clients’ needs,” played a big part in CB Richard Ellis’ success, according to Steve Case, senior managing director of the Anaheim office.

Case cited CB Richard Ellis’ dealings at Stadium Crossings as an example. The company leased, managed, sold, appraised and financed the property.

CB Richard Ellis’ Newport Beach office changed places with the Anaheim office. It claimed the No. 2 spot with $1.41 billion in sales.

Orange County’s commercial real estate market enjoyed a record year, with a continuation of low interest rates and healthy job growth helping keep the local economy thriving. CB Richard Ellis was not the lone beneficiary of the economic boom. Other brokerage firms posted healthy increases from 1999.

Voit Commercial Brokerage’s Orange office, holding steady at the No. 3 spot, saw a sizable leap from $566 million to $733 million in deals. Grubb & Ellis Co. of Newport Beach and Voit Commercial Brokerage of Irvine rounded out the top five. Grubb & Ellis Co. increased from $570 million to $635 million, while Voit Commercial Brokerage’s Irvine office rose from $267.3 million to $608.8 million.

CB RICHARD ELLIS

(Anaheim)

Volume: $1.58 billion

Top Official: Steve Case, senior managing director

Phone: (714) 939-2100

(Newport Beach)

Volume: $1.41 billion

Top Official: Sherry Bower, senior managing director

Phone: (949) 725-8500

VOIT COMMERCIAL BROKERAGE

(Orange)

Volume: $733.00 million

Top Official: John Owen, senior vice president/managing partner

Phone: (714) 978-7880

GRUBB & ELLIS CO.

Volume: $635.00 million

Top Official: George Spragins, executive vice president/regional director

Phone: (949) 608-2004

(Irvine)

Volume: $608.80 million

Top Official: John D. Pierce, senior vice president/managing partner

Phone: (949) 851-5100

CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD OF

CALIFORNIA INC.

Volume: $581.70 million

Top Official: Chuck Hunt, senior managing director

Phone: (949) 474-4004

THE STAUBACK CO.-WEST INC.

(Irvine)

Volume: $533.00 million

Top Official: Kevin Hayes, president

Phone: (949) 756-6400

SPERRY VAN NESS

Volume: $482.70 million

Top Official: Charlie Kennedy, sales manager

Phone: (949) 250-4100

MARCUS & MILLICHAP REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT BROKERAGE CO.

(Irvine)

Volume: $398.00 million

Top official: John Przybyla, regional manager

Phone: (949) 851-3030

LEE & ASSOCIATES

(Newport Beach)

Volume: $372.80 million

Top Official: Steve Jehorek, president

Phone: (949) 724-1000

COLLIERS SEELEY

Volume: $323.00 million

Top Official: Tim Joyce, senior vice president

Phone: (949) 474-0707

THE SAYWITZ CO.

Volume: $304.40 million

Top Official: Barry Saywitz, president

Phone: (949) 930-7500

PROFESSIONAL REAL ESTATE

SERVICES INC.

(Newport Beach)

Volume: $300.00 million

Top Official: Bradley W. Schroth, CEO/president

Phone: (949) 261-7737

Volume: $256.00 million

Top Official: Kurt Strasmann, executive vice president/managing director

Phone: (714) 939-6000

PROVIDENCE REALTY GROUP INC.

(Laguna Niguel)

Volume: $224.50 million

Top Official: Lindall A. Stinson, principal

Phone: (949) 363-7676

(Irvine)

Volume: $210.60 million

Top Official: Bart Pitzer, president

Phone: (949) 727-1200

JULIEN J. STUDLEY

Volume: $135.00 million

Top Official: Royce Sharf,


PROPERTY MANAGERS

Insignia/ESG rode to the top of property management in OC this year, increasing from 14.16 million square feet under management to 22.17 million square feet. The merger of Insignia and ESG created a company that surpassed CB Richard Ellis as Orange County’s largest property manager.

Following the merger, Insignia/ESG named Michael Bennett managing director for property services in Orange and San Diego counties.

“Our preferred client is Class A office and flex-tech and industrial,” Bennett said.

Previously, Bennett was director of property management for The Irvine Company’s industrial portfolio. That prior experience comes in handy, considering The Irvine Company is Insignia/ESG’s largest client.

“Our goal as a company is to grow with our top 20 clients,” Bennett said “The growth of The Irvine Company is a good example of that.”

,Daniel D. Williams


LARGEST PROPERTY MANAGERS

INSIGNIA/ESG

Square feet under management: 22.17 million

Phone: (949) 788-3000

Top official: John Combs, president, US property services

CB RICHARD ELLIS

Square feet under management: 18.80 million

Phone: (949) 725-8472

Top official: Barry Katz, managing director

SARES-REGIS GROUP

Square feet under management:

12.51 million

Phone: (949) 756-5959

Top official: Vincent M. Ciavarella, president, commercial property services

TRAMMELL CROW CO.

11.50 million

Phone: (877) 464-2769

Top official: Robert Ruth, president, area president/senior managing director

TRANSWESTERN COMMERCIAL

SERVICES

Square feet under management: 8.10 million

Phone: (949) 553-9470

Top official: Paul Lentz, president, Western region

ESSEX REALTY MANAGEMENT INC.

Square feet under management: 7.00 million

Phone: (714) 540-5188

Top official: Jim Neiger, executive vice president

CORELAND CARLSON

Square feet under management: 5.66 million

Phone: (714) 573-7780

Top official: Paul Carlson, Chris Hite, Pat Galentine, principals

MADISON MARQUETTE RETAIL

Square feet under management: 5.00 million

Phone: (949) 720-9700

Top official: Doug Roscoe, senior vice

president

DAVIS PARTNERS LLC

Square feet under management: 4.52 million

Phone: (949) 752-2066

Top official: Robert J. Thiergartner, chief

operating officer

DONAHUE SCHRIBER

Square feet under management: 4.28 million

Phone: (949) 854-2100

Top official: Daniel Donahue, chairman

SPIEKER PROPERTIES

Square feet under management: 4.27 million*

Phone: (949) 756-8100

Top official: John Davenport, president

ARDEN REALTY

Square feet under management: 3.31 million

Phone: (949) 476-2300

Top official: Marc T. Jones, first vice president

CHARLES DUNN CO.

Square feet under management: 3.00 million

Phone: (949) 752-2311

Top official: Gail Robinson, regional vice

WARLAND INVESTMENTS

Square feet under management: 2.90 million

Phone: (310) 395-7811

Top official: Carl Robertson/John Law,

co-managing partners

PACIFIC WEST ASSET

MANAGEMENT CORP.

Square feet under management: 2.65 million

Phone: (714) 433-7300

Top official: Christopher Louis, president

PM REALTY GROUP

Square feet under management: 2.60 million

Phone: (949) 794-1700

Top official: Jim Proehl, senior vice president/director

LEGACY PARTNERS

Square feet under management: 2.26 million

Phone: (949) 261-2100

Top official: John Miller, regional president

Square feet under management: 1.92 million

Phone: (213) 955-5100

Top official: William Durslag, senior managing director, Western region

* Business Journal estimate

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