The luxury division of Irvine, Calif.-based First Team Real Estate has accepted an exclusive invitation to affiliate with the real estate subsidiary of fine art auction house Christie’s, the brokerage announced today.
Christie’s International Real Estate has brokerage and agent affiliations on five continents. Last year the company announced affiliations with Kailua-Kona, Hawaii-based Island Resort Property LLC and Santa Fe, N.M.-based Barker Realty Inc.
First Team Real Estate says it specializes in selling Southern California’s “most unique and incredible properties,” and founder Cameron Merage expects the affiliation will give the firm’s luxury division a “significant competitive edge” by furthering its international reach.
The affiliation will focus exclusively on $1 million-plus properties in Orange County and the coastal Long Beach neighborhoods of Naples and Belmont Shores in Los Angeles County.
First Team Real Estate is the 11th-largest brokerage in the nation by sales volume, which totaled $4.85 billion in 2012, according to Real Trends. The firm’s family of companies, which include residential and commercial real estate, title, escrow and mortgage operations, counts more than 1,850 real estate professionals within its ranks.
A Beverly Hills firm, Hilton & Hyland, has used its affiliation with Christie’s and its database to secure luxury listings.
“My ability to reach out to the art world, and some of the wealthiest patrons in it, definitely differentiates me from other brokers,” Jeff Hyland, president and co-founder of Hilton & Hyland, told the Wall Street Journal last fall.
