The pandemic threw some new challenges at real estate agents in 2020, but the Watertown home sales remained almost as strong as the prior year.
The total sales in Watertown figure in 2020 was $586.21 million from 413 properties. The prior year, 429 properties sold for about about $4 million more than 2020.
As in prior years, the top agent for Watertown home sales was Ari Koufos, broker/owner of Realty Executives. He sold 23 properties for $22.23 million. The Watertown resident has topped the list each year that Watertown News has tracked sales, and Koufos said he has been the number one agent for Watertown sales for 12 straight years.
The shutdown in early 2020 slowed things a bit, but agents, buyers and sellers adjusted, Koufos said.
“Early on in March when it first hit there was an unknown,” Koufos said. “Then (the fear) eased up a little bit. The consumer was very good about it and followed the CDC guidelines.”
Some of the more challenging listings were homes that were still occupied by the owner when they went on sale, Koufos said.
Demand grew for single-family homes during 2020.
“Single families were very hot because everyone wanted space, and very limited single family homes were for sale,” Koufos said. “Multi-families stayed strong. Condos stayed flat overall, but still sold.”
Second on the list of agents for 2020 was Jason Weissman of Boston Realty Advisors, who sold one property, with 18 apartments, for $18.80 million.
Mike Del Rose Real Estate Team of RE/MAX Revolution was third, having sold $16.71 million in 2020 from 22 sales. Fourth in sales was Bob Airasian of Coldwell Banker in Belmont, who sold 13 properties for $12.44 million. In fifth, was Jamie Venezia of Delaney & Venezia Inc., with $11.02 million from 12 sales.
See the top 10 agents below.
TOP AGENTS 1 Ari Koufos Realty Executives $22.23 million 2 Jason Weissman Boston Realty Advisors $18.80 million 3 Mike Del Rose Real Estate Team RE/MAX Revolution $16.71 million 4 Bob Airasian Coldwell Banker – Belmont $12.44 million 5 Jamie Venezia Delaney & Venezia Inc. $11.02 million 6 Jim & Mike Savas Team Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Commonwealth – Belmont $7.94 million 7 Meg Steere Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Commonwealth –Watertown $7.83 million 8 Hans Brings Coldwell Banker – Waltham $5.85 million 9 Peter Boyajian & Paul Moreton Real Estate 109 $5.84 million 10 Chris Kavakian CK Realty Group $5.64 million
Agents who would have been in the top 10 if teams were not included are:
- Melissa Deane Hunter of Lamacchia Realty ($4.20 million from seven sales)
- Brian J. Fitzpatrick of Coldwell Banker Realty in Waltham ($4.11 million from six sales)
- Kirk Nahabedian of RTN Realty Advisors ($4.03 million from four sales)
- Dennis Razis of RE/MAX Unlimited ($3.96 million from three sales).
Top Agencies
As in 2019, Realty Executives had the top sales in Watertown in 2020 with $25.81 million from 27 sales. Last year, the agency sold 42 properties for $42.73 million.
Boston Realty Advisors had the second highest sales figure, with $18.80 million from the sale of the single multi-unit property.
The Watertown office of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Commonwealth was a close third with $18.58 million from 26 sales.
The fourth and fifth spots for Watertown sales in 2020 were from two Compass Real Estate offices. The Boston office sold 23 properties for $18.38 million, and the Cambridge office had $17.26 million in sales from 21 properties.
See the top 10 agencies for Watertown home sales below:
TOP AGENCIES 1 Realty Executives – Watertown $25.81 million 2 Boston Realty Advisors $18.80 million 3 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Commonwealth – Watertown $18.58 million 4 Compass – Boston $18.38 million 5 Compass – Cambridge $17.26 million 6 RE/MAX Revolution – Watertown $16.71 million 7 Redfin – Canton $16.41 million 8 Coldwell Banker – Belmont $16.22 million 9 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Commonwealth – Belmont $15.66 million 10 Keller Williams Realty – Newton $15.28 million