Four brokerages in billionaire's club

The folks at Real Trends track residential brokerages closely, and the firm's annual rankings are always eagerly anticipated in the Realtor world.

One of the categories is the billionaire's club, which identifies residential brokerage firms that closed $1 billion or more. For 2012, 122 firms made the club, including four from the Gulf Coast, according to Real Trends. Two of those firms are based in Naples.

Premier Sotheby's International Realty in Naples came in tops on the Gulf Coast at the No. 37 spot with $2.3 billion in closed transactions in 2012. The company's president and CEO, Judy Green, recently expanded the firm's operations to the Tampa area.

Michael Saunders & Co. of Sarasota came in at No. 55 with nearly $2 billion in closed transactions. John R. Wood Realtors in Naples was No. 86 with $1.4 billion in transactions and Allison James Estates and Homes in Punta Gorda was in 104th place with $1.1 billion.