Orange County’s commercial brokerage industry reported more transactions in retail and office but less so in industrial and residential land sales in 2025.
Among the market’s 19 largest firms, CBRE was the No. 1 brokerage with transaction value of $7.3 billion last year, down 15 percent from the previous year, the Orange County Business Journal reported. Collectively, the firms had a 6.6 percent increase in transaction value for sales and leases to $40 billion in 2025, according to Business Journal research, while the number of sales rose 3.7 percent to 3,301.
On the plus side, Savills in Newport Beach had a 104 percent increase to $2.4 billion in deal value with 436 leases and 18 sales last year.
The Hoffman Company in Irvine experienced one of the steepest drops, with total transaction value plunging 48 percent to $650 million across 56 sales, down from 77 in 2024. Principal Tom Dallape attributed the decline to the new‑home market slowdown, according to the Business Journal, which has constrained land absorption and delayed builder acquisitions.
Similarly, Land Advisors Organization saw a 35 percent decrease to $905 million in transactions and a 41 percent fall in sales to 217, citing affordability pressures and economic uncertainty. California Division President Tony Eaton noted that elevated interest rates have increased capital costs, squeezing margins and reducing deal feasibility, per the Business Journal.
Among full‑service brokerages, Kidder Mathews reported a 13 percent increase in sales but a 41 percent drop in leases, with total deal value down 15 percent to $410 million. Lee & Associates Realty Group, represented by offices in Irvine, Newport Beach and Orange, recorded 779 leases and 201 sales valued at $1.2 billion, a 7.3 percent decline from 2024. The Newport Beach branch saw the sharpest contraction, with transaction value down 23 percent to $483 million.
Employment trends in the brokerage business mirrored the market’s cooling, a trend dating back to the Covid-19 pandemic. Across Orange County, firm headcount fell 5.4 percent to 1,603 employees, while the number of brokers slipped 1.7 percent to 910. SRS Real Estate Partners lost 19 percent of its staff, despite adding new brokers.
Newmark’s Irvine office, ranked No. 2 locally, reduced its workforce 28 percent to 220 employees but increased its broker count to 58. Kidder Mathews suffered the steepest broker attrition, losing nearly half of its Orange County team, with only 29 brokers remaining as of March.
– Joel Russell
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