New York City's top residential brokers turned a choppy 2025 into a banner year for high-end dealmaking. A relatively small circle of elite agents and teams ended up controlling a big slice of the action, from trophy sales to steady streams of new development and resale closings, concentrating commissions at the very top of the market.
According to The Real Deal, the top 50 new-development agents and teams handled nearly $6.7 billion in 2025 across 1,987 sales, up from $5.2 billion in 2024. On the resale side, The Real Deal counted 1,594 seller-represented deals totaling about $5.7 billion, a notable jump from roughly $4.6 billion the prior year.
What Drove The Big Numbers
Wider market reports from Douglas Elliman and appraiser Miller Samuel show that the city's luxury corridors tightened in 2025, which helped push per-unit prices higher and gave top brokers more leverage. The Douglas Elliman/Miller Samuel Q4 2025 report points to elevated averages in Manhattan's new-development sector and falling inventory that kept trophy-level pricing intact.
Who Ruled The Rankings
The Real Deal's rankings highlight just how differently the biggest players worked the board. The Janice Chang team at Douglas Elliman led new-development volume with roughly $430 million across 40 deals, while Madeline Hult Elghanayan posted the highest new-development average, about $20.9 million, on only four sales. On the resale side, Compass broker Alexa Lampert ranked first by resale average at $17.9 million despite closing just five resales, and the Hudson Advisory Team, founded by Stephen Ferrara and Clayton Orrigo, topped total resale volume with roughly $462 million across 127 deals, per The Real Deal.
Local brokerage data back up the idea that ultra-luxury demand carried the year. Realtor.com reported Olshan Realty's year-end figures showing Manhattan buyers signed about 1,436 contracts for homes priced at $4 million and above in 2025, an increase of roughly 11 percent from 2024. Those high-end contracts, many paid in cash or backed by deep-pocketed buyers, helped support the lofty averages and volumes at the top of the brokerage food chain.
Looking to 2026, the brokers best positioned to gain more market share are the ones who can marry deep developer relationships with access to true trophy inventory. The Real Deal's dataset, along with the market reports behind it, underlines a simple reality: even as broader activity remains uneven, New York's high end still rewards the agents who can get in the door.
