Christie's International Real Estate

Christie's International Real Estate was established in 1995 by Christie's, the renowned auction house founded in London in 1766. The company began as an internal service for Christie's ultra-high-net-worth auction clients who were simultaneously buying and selling luxury real estate, and grew into a standalone affiliate network of independent luxury brokerages.

The network operates differently from traditional franchises: Christie's International Real Estate selects and certifies only one affiliate brokerage per major market, creating a sense of exclusivity that franchises like Sotheby's International Realty — which may have multiple affiliates in a single city — cannot offer. This positioning is highly attractive to top luxury agents who want to operate under a premium flag without competing brands in their market.

Aaron Kirman, one of the most recognized luxury agents in the Los Angeles market and a long-running star of the HGTV series Listing Impossible, operates through Christie's International Real Estate Southern California. Kirman consistently ranks among the top luxury agents in the country by sales volume.

The auction house connection gives Christie's International Real Estate unique access to the world's most valuable private art and luxury goods collectors — a client segment that overlaps almost entirely with the buyers and sellers of trophy real estate above $10 million. This synergy between auction and real estate is similar to the Sotheby's model but draws on a distinctly different brand heritage.