Simply Vegas, IS Luxury fight for top luxury broker in valley

IS Luxury and Simply Vegas battled for the lead as the top luxury broker for the first six months of 2025.

In the latest analysis from BrokerMetrics, which tracks transactions in the Multiple Listing Service of the Las Vegas Realtors association, Simply Vegas topped IS Luxury when it comes to transactions over $1 million.

Simply recorded $338.3 million, up from $294.8 million a year ago. IS Luxury was first when it came to transactions of $2 million and higher.

IS Luxury recorded $323.3 million in transactions, down from $355.7 million through the first six months of 2024.

There were $3.85 billion in transactions of $1 million and higher in the first half of 2025, up from $3.7 billion, a 4 percent increase. The transactions cover single-family homes, condominiums, townhomes and high-rises. The average transaction was $2.14 million, up from $2.05 million a year ago. There were 1,950 transactions of $1 million and above, up from 1,816 a year ago. There were 566 transactions of $2 million and above.

When it comes to transactions over $2 million, however, which Realtors are now considering the new threshold for luxury given price escalations and so many builders selling new homes for just over the $1 million mark, IS Luxury had $272.8 million in transactions. That easily beat Simply Vegas with $213.9 million.

IS Luxury owner Ivan Sher said he has his numbers even higher and pointed out that BrokerMetrics doesn’t credit the listing agent in an off-market non-MLS transaction. Only the buyer’s agent is credited. He said they had $363.3 million of $1 million and higher and $308 million for $2 million and higher.

Sher said he’s not surprised Simply Vegas is ahead of him on the $1 million and above listings given the smaller size of IS Luxury.

Berkshire Hathaway Home Services held the third spot for transactions of $1 million and higher and $2 million and higher. It had $268 million in the $1 million and above category and $213.9 million in $2 million and above. It had $251.9 million in the $1 million and above last year.

Douglas Elliman of Nevada placed fourth in the $2 million and above category with $109.6 million in transactions. It was ninth when including only $1 million and above with $142.7 million. It had $203.8 million a year ago.

The fifth place category was taken by all transactions conducted by non-MLS Realtors. That totaled $98.1 million for $2 million and above transactions. It was also fifth in the $1 million and above category with $178.6 million.

Las Vegas Sotheby’s International came in sixth with $87 million for $2 million and above and $148.8 million for $1 million and above. It had $141 million in the latter category a year ago.

Real Broker LLC, a cloud-based real estate brokerage, was seventh with $81.5 million. It was fourth with $180.5 million in the $1 million and above category. It wasn’t ranked in the top 10 a year ago. It was 13th during the 12 months of 2024 with $124.5 million.

Huntington &Ellis was eighth with $69.4 million in transactions of $2 million and above. It was sixth in the $1 million and above category with $169.9 million. It had $152.5 million a year ago

In ninth place is eXp Realty with $60.6 million for $2 million and above. It was 10th in the $1 million and above category with $131.5 million. It wasn’t in the top 10 in the first six months of 2024 and finished 14th at $120.2 million.

In 10th place was Realty One Group at $54.7 million for $2 million and above. It was in seventh place with $160.8 million in the $1 million and above category. In the first half of 2024, it was sixth with $184.9 million for $1 million and above.

Don Kuhl, the broker for Douglas Elliman of Nevada, said it’s been interesting to see the price growth and drop in sales.

“We’re a little cautious using $1 million for luxury because there are new homes creeping up to just over $1 million.

“That little price increase the last couple of years of 4 percent to 6 percent has edged these homes into these segments. You ask yourself if that’s a growth in the luxury segment, and I’m not sure.”

Gavin Ernstone, broker owner of Simply Vegas, said they’ve seen good numbers so far this year with the first quarter stronger than the second that he called “decent and not quite as good as the first.” He said there’s still a lot of activity.

Ernstone said the second quarter softened because of uncertainty among buyers about the economy.

“We hit our target of $1 billion in sales for the first half of the year (including luxury and lower price points),” Ernstone said. “That’s where I anticipated we would be.”

Ernstone said luxury buyers have been steady and now there’s more inventory on the market, especially in MacDonald Highlands and Ascaya in Henderson.

“We’re seeing a little softening in pricing, but there’s still a lot of activity,” Ernstone said.

Troy Reierson, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Nevada, California and Arizona Properties, said the luxury market is going well even though some of the trends are showing a slight dip month over month.

“We feel pretty good, but we’ll also see a leveling off over the next 90 days while we get things figured out, politically,” Reierson said. “It’s (about) tariffs, and even on the luxury side people want to make sure they’re putting their money in the right place. When you look at everything that’s going on with interest rates there’s a fair amount of uncertainty. We all have a level of concern in general, and I believe that’s part of the reason why we’re seeing a slight decrease in buying. I think we will see more of a slight decline over the next 30 to 60 days. Do I think it’s going to dry up? Absolutely not. I think it’s on a trajectory that’s going to continue to move.”

Sher said the luxury market this year slowed for about 60 to 75 days because of uncertainty. He said luxury homebuyers love good news and can handle bad news. “But they have a challenge with the unknown. There’s a lot of unknowns with the tariffs and wars going on and with the volatile stock market. As that even outs, people are getting excited. We’re seeing the phone pick up for the first time in a while. We’re seeing buyers wanting to go look in the $10 to 15 million to $20-plus million-dollar range. We see a lot from California starting to pick up in the $5 million to $10 million range. We’re optimistic, and I think we’re going to end the year strong.”