Christie's International Real Estate Welcomes Sereno As Northern California Affiliate

CHICAGO and LOS GATOS, Calif., Feb. 10, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading real estate brokerage and technology firm, @properties, and Sereno, the largest independently owned brokerage firm in Northern California, today announced that they have formed a partnership to power Sereno's continued growth as an independent alongside the Christie's International Real Estate brand. Sereno co-founders Chris Trapani and Ryan Iwanaga will continue as owners and operate the brokerage, while @properties is also making an investment in the company. The firm will become Christie's International Real Estate Sereno.

With $6.5 billion in sales volume in 2021, Christie's International Real Estate Sereno is one of the top independent brokerages in the nation and ranked among the top five agencies by RealTrends for both per-agent productivity and average sales price. Since its founding in 2006, the firm has grown to include 580 agents in 17 offices throughout Silicon Valley, the San Francisco Peninsula, Santa Cruz, the East Bay, Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Foothills.

Founded by Thad Wong and Mike Golden, Chicago-based @properties ranks 8th on the RealTrends 500 list of the largest residential brokers in the U.S. by sales volume and is among the nation's top five independents. Last December, the company acquired the Christie's International Real Estate brand and global affiliate network. During the past decade, @properties also has developed a proprietary suite of integrated technology applications called pl@tform™, which enables comprehensive digital management of the real estate transaction and client relationship.

According to Iwanaga and Trapani, the new partnership gives Christie's International Real Estate Sereno everything it needs to continue thriving as an independent in a region where many of its peers have been swallowed up by large publicly traded corporations.

"Our purpose as a brokerage has always been to create an environment where the welfare and success of our agents, clients and communities is what's driving key business decisions – not the next quarterly earnings call. That's why we left the corporate real estate world to establish Sereno 15 years ago, and it's why we're so excited about partnering with @properties today," said Iwanaga.

Sereno plans to integrate @properties' pl@tform™ tech into its operations gradually; however, the firm will start to leverage the Christie's International Real Estate brand immediately, offering agents and clients access to a luxury brokerage network with affiliates in nearly 50 countries and territories, special marketing partnerships, and referral opportunities with Christie's, the world-leading art and luxury business.

The luxury brand affiliation is especially important because Sereno is active in four of the nation's top 10 zip codes for median home price, including Atherton, Calif., which holds the No. 1 spot at $7 million.

"Christie's International Real Estate is huge for us in terms of greater visibility and credibility in the luxury market," said Trapani. "There is no doubt it can open new doors for us in our current markets and other locations where there are prime opportunities for expansion."

"As luxury-focused, independent market leaders, Chris and Ryan are the ideal partners to carry the Christie's International Real Estate brand into the Bay Area. We look forward to working with them as they grow their own brokerage and help grow the Christie's International Real Estate brand on the West Coast," added Wong, co-CEO of @properties and Christie's International Real Estate.

About Christie's International Real Estate Sereno
Founded in 2006, Christie's International Real Estate Sereno is the largest locally owned and operated independent real estate company in Northern California with 17 offices and 580 agents in Silicon Valley, the SF peninsula, Santa Cruz, the East Bay, Lake Tahoe, and Sierra Foothills, producing over $6.5 Billion in annual sales volume. Christie's International Real Estate Sereno is ranked among the top five brokerages in the nation for both per-agent productivity and highest average sales price. The company offers a highly curated support platform and provides agents with concierge services to strengthen client relationships, as well as world-class technology for well-executed transactions. Its agent-driven Sereno 1% For Good Charitable Foundation is changing lives in local communities, and to date, has generated over $4.2 million in charitable donations given to 300 local organizations.

About Christie's International Real Estate
Christie's International Real Estate is one of the leading luxury real estate companies, successfully marketing high-value real estate around the world for more than 30 years. Through its invitation-only Affiliate network spanning 48 countries and territories, Christie's International Real Estate offers incomparable services to a global clientele at the luxury end of the residential property market. The company has offices in London, New York City, Hong Kong, Los Angeles and Palm Beach, and its affiliated brokerages have recorded approximately $500 billion of real estate transactions over the last five years.

About @properties
Established in 2000, @properties ranks 8th on the REAL Trends 500 list of the largest residential brokerage firms in the U.S. by sales volume. During the past decade, @properties has developed a proprietary suite of integrated technology applications called pl@tform™, which includes marketing, transaction management, and client-relationship management systems. @properties also owns Christie's International Real Estate, the world's premier luxury real estate brand and network.

SOURCE Christie's International Real Estate Sereno