Sotheby’s International Realty is acquiring two of its largest affiliates, bringing the franchises under company control in two of the nation’s hottest luxury markets.
The New York-based luxury brand recently announced that it has acquired TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, the dominant luxury brokerage in the Washington, D.C. metro area, and ONE Sotheby’s International Realty, which covers Florida’s east coast along with Princeton and Lambertville, New Jersey.
Both were previously independently owned franchise affiliates. Both now join Sotheby’s roughly 170 company-owned offices.
The scale is real. TTR closed $5.71 billion in sales volume across 4,211 sides in 2025, good for No. 39 by volume in RealTrends Verified’s 2026 rankings.
ONE closed $6.85 billion across 5,257 sides, ranking No. 26 by volume. Together, the two firms represent more than $12.5 billion in 2025 sales volume. TTR alone claims roughly 75 percent of the D.C. area’s ultra-luxury market, the company says. The financial terms of the acquisitions were not disclosed.
Philip White Jr. | Sotheby’s International Realty
Philip White Jr., president and CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty, framed the deal geographically. New York is the brand’s financial capital, and these two markets are its cultural and political counterweights.
“Florida is a cultural corridor, and Washington, D.C. is the political capital,” White said in the announcement. “Each reflects a gravitational center of influence.”
In an interview with Inman, White said the acquisitions fit a broader, two-pronged strategy to grow the franchise and international network while selectively consolidating certain U.S. luxury markets under company ownership.
“We are exploring other opportunities,” White told Inman when asked whether more franchisee buyouts could follow.
Practically speaking, White said not much will change for agents at ONE and TTR after the acquisitions. “Their leadership stays firmly in place. All of their agreements stay in place,” he said.
One of the significant near-term benefits of the deals, White said, is largely technological.
Agents at both firms can now get access to Home Platform, which is currently being rolled out across Compass International Holdings’ companies, such as Sotheby’s International Realty. Under CIH’s strategy, franchisees within the holding company are on a slower, staggered timeline for access to Home Platform.
“With these companies joining our company-owned business, their agents will be able to get on the Home Platform sooner and use the benefits of the investment made in that technology over the last 13 years,” White said. “So that’s a pretty significant benefit.”
The franchise model isn’t going anywhere
Mark Lowham | TTR Sotheby’s International Realty
White added that for the TTR and ONE ownership groups, becoming company-owned functions as an exit without disrupting agents, since the brand relationship doesn’t change, only who holds the equity.
“When you’re buying an existing franchisee, they’re already with the brand, so it’s a pretty seamless transaction,” White told Inman. “It’s really not changing anything for them other than some of the benefits I explained. It’s more of an ownership change. In most cases, they keep running it, and they no longer have their capital tied up in the business.”
Both firms also retain their leadership. Mayi de la Vega remains executive chair at ONE, and Mark Lowham stays on as TTR’s executive chairman.
Sotheby’s referral engine is another benefit. White said company-owned offices maintain closer ties to headquarters than franchisees do. This translates into a stronger referral pipeline between markets that already trade buyers and sellers, like New York, South Florida and Washington, D.C.
“Real estate agents love to get referrals,” White said. “That’s the nature of the business, and they thrive on that. So they see this as an opportunity to get closer to agents who can generate referrals.”
Access to the Home Platform wasn’t the driving force behind the deal, but it wasn’t incidental either. Asked directly, White said it was likely “in the top 5 reasons” among what he estimated were roughly 10 factors behind the acquisitions.
Sotheby’s isn’t walking away from its franchise model. The brand still operates in 86 countries and recently added a new office in Vietnam, with more international franchise announcements expected later this year, a Sotheby’s spokesperson said.
Mayi de la Vega | ONE Sotheby’s International Realty
But the D.C. and Florida deals suggest Sotheby’s now sees company ownership as a tool it can apply selectively, market by market, wherever a top franchisee is ready to sell, and the geography is strategic enough to justify it.
“I think that’s going to be a two-plus-two-equals-five situation, where we can share resources with them that we haven’t been able to as a franchisee, just because of the financial structure,” White said.
