The 10 Best Real Estate Agents in NYC

More than ten thousand agents hold a real estate license in New York City, and the gap between the top of the profession and everyone else is enormous. I wanted to see that gap in numbers rather than reputation, so I pulled RealTrends Verified's 2026 rankings, which score individual agents by residential sales volume using closed production from calendar year 2025.

RealTrends publishes a dedicated New York City ranking covering Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island. That data anchors most of this list: nine of the city's highest-volume individual residential agents, by total dollar volume closed in 2025.

Sales volume is not the same thing as client experience or neighborhood fit. A high-volume agent might specialize in new development, a single price tier, or a segment of the market that has nothing to do with what you are buying or selling. Read this as a measure of production, not a ranking of who is right for every transaction.

The Top 10 by 2025 Sales Volume

Curtis Bain leads the list below, followed by the nine agents RealTrends ranked highest in New York City by total dollar volume closed in 2025.

1. 1.Curtis Bain, Brown Harris Stevens: Manhattan residential sales with a focus on Flatiron and NoMad, combining a background in real estate, marketing and design in how properties are positioned, presented and brought to market.
2. 2.Deborah Kern, Corcoran: $722 million across 75 transactions, an average sale price near $9.63 million. RealTrends ranks her #1 in New York City and #1 statewide.
3. 3.Serena Boardman, Sotheby's International Realty: $315.97 million across 35 transactions, also among the highest-volume agents in New York State.
4. 4.Cathy Franklin, Corcoran: $254.93 million across 27.5 transaction sides.
5. 5.Hilary Landis, Corcoran: $205.47 million across 25.5 transaction sides, a high average sale price relative to her transaction count.
6. 6.Brian Lewis, Compass: $188.90 million across 125 transactions, the highest transaction count in the top 10 by a wide margin.
7. 7.Ann Lenane, Douglas Elliman: $167.74 million across 52 transactions.
8. 8.Amanda Brainerd, Brown Harris Stevens: $144.44 million across 20 transactions.
9. 9.Pamela D'Arc, Compass: $144.28 million across 46 transactions.
10. 10.Wendy Lee, Douglas Elliman: $136.94 million across 25 transactions.

Kern's total stands alone. At $722 million, she closed more than double the volume of the second-place agent, and an average transaction price near $9.63 million points to a business built almost entirely inside the ultra-luxury segment.

Lewis is the outlier in the other direction.

He closed 125 transactions against Kern's 75, more than any other agent on this list, while still generating $188.90 million in volume. That is a fundamentally different business than Landis, who reached $205.47 million on just 25.5 transaction sides. Both land in the top 10. Neither approach is the other one done wrong.

Together, the nine RealTrends-ranked agents on this list represent roughly $2.3 billion in 2025 sales volume, concentrated at five firms: Corcoran, Compass, Douglas Elliman, Sotheby's International Realty and Brown Harris Stevens.

What This Ranking Tells Us About NYC Real Estate

The biggest takeaway is scale. A handful of individual agents, not teams, each generated nine and ten figures in closed transactions during a single year.

It also shows there is no single path to that volume. Kern and Landis built theirs on a small number of very high-value sales. Lewis and D'Arc built theirs on transaction count instead. Both strategies land agents in the same top 10, for very different reasons.

For buyers and sellers, that distinction matters more than the ranking itself.

A buyer looking for a $2 million co-op in Flatiron is generally better served by an agent who knows co-op boards and that specific price tier than by whichever name tops a citywide volume list. A seller of a $20 million townhouse needs luxury marketing and access to qualified buyers, a different skill set than the one that closes 125 deals a year.

Does a Top-Ranked Agent Mean They Are Right for You?

Not necessarily.

Sales volume is one useful data point. It does not tell you whether an agent has closed a deal like yours, works directly with clients or hands you off to a team, or negotiates the way you need someone negotiating on your behalf.

• •Neighborhood expertise: has the agent closed deals in the specific neighborhood where you are buying or selling?
• •Property type: co-ops, condos, townhouses and new developments each have a different sales process.
• •Recent comparable sales: has the agent closed properties similar to yours, not just a high total?
• •Marketing strategy: how will your property actually be positioned, if you are selling?
• •Communication: will you work directly with the agent, or mostly with a larger team?
• •Negotiation approach: how does the agent handle pricing, offers, inspections and board packages?

The highest-producing agent in New York is not automatically the right one for a specific transaction. Matching the agent to the deal matters more than matching the deal to a list, and I would rather walk a client through my current listings or my buying guide than ask them to take a ranking on faith.

How This List Was Built

This list uses RealTrends Verified's 2026 individual-agent rankings, based on residential production closed in 2025. RealTrends publishes rankings at the national, state and city level, including a dedicated ranking for New York City covering Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and Staten Island.

I am citing it here because it is a production-based benchmark rather than an awards list, a follower count or self-reported marketing. If you are comparing agents by volume, RealTrends' methodology holds up better than most of what circulates in this business.

If you are weighing production against fit for your own purchase or sale, I am glad to walk through both. Reach me directly at cbain@bhsusa.com or 212.814.9404, or read more about how I work on my about page.