On Wednesday, “The Hollywood Reporter” unveiled its list of the top 30 real estate agents working in Hollywood today, throwing the spotlight on household industry names — like Aaron Kirman, Jade Mills and Jason Oppenheim — while rolling out the red carpet for the likes of Juliette Hohnen of Douglas Elliman, who used technology and social media to post superlative sales this year.
“I have never sold houses sight unseen before via FaceTime, let alone homes over $15 million,” Hohnen told the Hollywood Reporter. “This year I did.”
Standout agents including Jordan Cohen, Sally Forster Jones, Ikem Chukumerije and the Altman brothers rounded out “The Hollywood Reporter’s” annual list, which factored in sales numbers and MLS listings as well as immeasurables such as star power and media visibility.
Agents on the list work in luxury circles that have experienced tremendous growth since the beginning of the pandemic. Malibu, for example, saw average home sales prices jump from $3.4 million in 2020 to $5.5 million in the second quarter of 2021 while the median home sales price in Los Angeles County soared 14.5 percent annually in September. A dearth of inventory and high demand, in other words, have resulted in a Hollywood feeding frenzy.
“It’s a race,” Compass agent Cindy Ambuehl told “The Hollywood Reporter.” “The higher the exposure, the higher the price.”
Among the agents who made “The Hollywood Reporter” list, most tallied huge sales over the past year, with Ambuehl herself selling a Pacific Palisades property belonging to screenwriter David E. Kelley and his wife, the actress Michelle Pfeiffer, for $25 million in August. Josh Flagg sold a home to 3D glasses founder Joshua Greer for a record $40 million last year.
“Ironically, people woke up one day and, in the middle of a pandemic, counterintuitively said to themselves, ‘Let’s go buy real estate in the middle of a crisis,’ and that’s the tale of one of the best years in real estate and one of the worst years in civilization,” Flagg told “The Hollywood Reporter.”
Other agents on the list include The Agency’s Santiago Arana, who celebrated his 17th year in real estate by capping over $310 million in sales, and “Million Dollar Listing” star and Douglas Elliman agent Fredrik Eklund, who only moved to the city from New York a year ago. Frequently featured in Inman Interviews, agents like Branden and Rayni Williams and David Parnes also made the list.
Below, the full, unranked, alphabetized list:
Hollywood’s Top 30 Real Estate Agents:
Josh and Matt Altman — Douglas Elliman
Cindy Ambuehl — Compass
Santiago Arana — The Agency
Rochelle Atlas Maize — Nourmand & Associates
Ikem Chukumerije — IKEM
Santiago Arana | The Agency
Jordan Cohen — RE/MAX
Chris Cortazzo — Compass
Fredrik Eklund — Douglas Elliman
Drew Fenton — Hylton & Hyland
Josh Flagg — Douglas Elliman
Josh Flagg | Melissa Valladares
Sally Forster Jones — Compass
Tomer Friedman — Compass
Carl Gambino — Compass
Elisabeth Halsted — Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices California Properties
James Harris and David Parnes — The Agency
Sally Forster Jones | Compass
Juliette Hohnen — Douglas Elliman
Aaron Kirman — Compass
Eric Lavey — Sotheby’s International Realty
Brett Lawyer — Hilton & Hyland
Linda May — Hilton & Hyland
Aaron Kirman
Jade Mills — Coldwell Banker
Josh Myler — The Agency
David Offer — Berkshire Hathaway Homeservices California Properties
Jason Oppenheim — The Oppenheim Group
Anthony “T.J.” Paradise — Sotheby’s International Realty
Branden and Rayni Williams | Photo by AJ Canaria of PlanOmatic
Kurt Rapoport — Westside Estate Agency
Joyce Rey — Coldwell Banker
Angel Salvador — The Beverly Hills Estates
Branden and Rayni Williams — The Beverly Hills Estates
Jonah Wilson — Hilton & Hyland
