Smith & Associates reports record year

Despite the impact of COVID-19, Smith & Associates Real Estate reported a record year in 2020.

The Tampa-based, luxury-oriented residential real estate brokerage firm — and the largest independently owned brokerage — reported transactional volume of $1.63 billion, an 8.5% jump from the prior year.

“The market has been trending upward year-over-year, but we definitely saw an uptick in 2020 despite everything,” says Bob Glaser, Smith & Associates’ president and CEO.

Glaser attributes the market surge to an influx of population to Florida, historically low interest rates and technology, which has allowed virtually all of the real estate buying process to occur online as never before and created a more mobile society in the U.S.

“There’s more acceptance of technology in the real estate sales process now, and our staff of agents has embraced it, too,” Glaser adds.

Of Smith & Associates’ total sales, $134 million came from closings in the 24-story Virage Bayshore tower, a 71-unit project developed by Batson-Cook Development of Atlanta and Ascentia Development Group, of Sarasota.

Smith & Associates is currently marketing units in the 35-story Saltaire condos in St. Petersburg and the 22-story Hyde Park House in Tampa on behalf of Kolter Group and units tied to the Marriott Edition luxury hotel in Strategic Property Partners’ Water Street Tampa.

In addition to Smith & Associates’ performance, agents Mary Pond and Ed Gunning sold in excess of $100 million in real estate for the first time in more than 20 years in the market.

Tampa Bay is projected to experience year-over-year price growth in 2021 of more than 7%, one of the greatest appreciations expected in the U.S. among major metro areas.

Formed in 1969, Smith & Associates now has six offices and over 300 agents that execute more than 2,500 transactions annually. The firm also has the greatest market share in the Tampa Bay area selling homes priced at $1 million and above.

Smith & Associates isn’t the only residential brokerage firm that reported record transactional volume last year. Naples-based Premier Sotheby’s International Realty reports it sold $7.1 billion in the Tampa Bay area, Central Florida and North Carolina in 2020.