Maybe everyone’s on vacation but recruiting in Los Angeles has been quiet for the broader residential real estate industry more recently.
Still, Compass landed Brian Sperry, who bounced back to the brokerage from Coldwell Banker Realty. Sperry brought his three-person Brian Sperry Real Estate Group to the Newport Beach office. It’s a business that did more than $73 million in sales volume last year with a career total of $450 million.
The rest of the team consists of Blair Walsh and Tracy Davis, with the group specializing in coastal markets such as Newport Beach and Corona del Mar.
Sperry grew up in commercial real estate via the family business, Sperry Van Ness, which his father founded. He later struck out on his own with high-end residential development in Orange County, San Diego and Los Angeles before turning to selling.
Last year Sperry closed on the $22.9 million sale of 2600 Mesa Drive. The 3.5-acre estate was sold by GOP donor Buck Johns in Newport Beach and was listed by Sperry and Cote Realty’s William Cote.
Compass wasn’t the only brokerage around town to buck the summer slowdown and expand their agent rosters:
➤ Westside Estate Agency nabbed its own boomerang agent after wooing Ryan Murphy back to its Beverly Hills office.
Murphy parted ways with Westside Estate Agency to jump to the Beverly Hills Estates for about a year-long stint. Now, he’s back with WEA’s founders, Kurt Rappaport and Stephen Shapiro, to continue building out his business in Malibu, Calabasas, Pacific Palisades and Beverly Hills.
Within his current inventory is the 35-acre parcel at 2860 Sweetwater Mesa Road in Malibu, which Murphy and the Beverly Hills Estates’ Mackenzie Stone are currently listing for just under $16 million.
Compass also made moves in the greater Los Angeles area with the addition of Damon Nazari in its Brentwood office. Nazari joined from Keller Williams Beverly Hills.
Meanwhile, the brokerage’s Pasadena outpost brought on Susie Aguirre, who moved her license over from The Agency.
There’s more new agent news from the growing Gambino Group at Compass.
In Beverly Hills, Annalise Jones joined the team from Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California, with a background in celebrity interior design and branding.
Jones’ addition also comes as the group’s New York footprint expands with Romy Hechinger, who specializes in Williamsburg, and Josh Roberts whose experience includes Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Hamptons.
➤ Nourmand & Associates added Sheila Simmons from Douglas Elliman’s Brentwood and Beverly Hills offices. Simmons, who has a background in interior design, is focused on Beverly Hills, Bel-Air, Brentwood and other Westside markets. She’s based out of Nourmand’s Beverly Hills office.
➤ Jordan Gonda, founder and principal of the Gonda Group, landed at Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California from The Agency, along with his team. The group includes agents Lukas Rodriguez and Blaze McKibbin, in addition to two intern. The agent got his start at The Agency and counts Santiago Arana as a mentor. In Gonda’s first two years in business, the agent — who was licensed in late 2022 — closed on over $130 million in sales.
When he’s not selling, Gonda also has his hands in the restaurant business as the owner of Galerie on Sunset. The restaurant was previously The Den and is now undergoing renovations with a reopening set for September.
➤ Longtime Douglas Elliman agent Scott Segall made the move over to Engel & Völkers Gestalt Group in Beverly Hills. Segall’s business is centered around West Hollywood, the Sunset Strip and Beverly Hills.
