Robert Esposito and Craig Studnicky (RelatedISG Realty)
RelatedISG Realty opened an office in Fort Lauderdale, as brokerages continue to expand throughout South Florida.
It marks the sixth office for RelatedISG, a partnership between ISG World’s Craig Studnicky and Jorge Pérez’s Related Group. The 1,500-square-foot space, at 701 East Broward Boulevard, is led by newly appointed sales director Robert Esposito. Nearly 40 agents work out of the space, according to a spokesperson.
RelatedISG, with more than 375 agents, has locations in Miami’s Edgewater, Coral Gables, Weston and Aventura. The Aventura-based firm signed a five-year lease for the Fort Lauderdale office suite. RelatedISG previously had an office in Fort Lauderdale that closed in recent years.
“We wanted to be downtown because Downtown Fort Lauderdale is the newest youngest city in America,” Esposito said. “Most buildings were built in the last five years.”
Downtown Fort Lauderdale’s population grew 19 percent to nearly 21,000 residents, since 2019, according to the Fort Lauderdale Downtown Development Authority.
South Florida experienced a record year in 2021 in closed residential sales, dollar volume and price growth. Most recently, condo sales have boomed in the tri-county region. In January, condo sales in Broward County increased nearly 15 percent, year over year.
“We are selling more condos than anything because the inventory of single-family homes is at an all-time low. We have more buyers than we can handle,” Esposito said.
Other brokerage firms have been expanding, as well, in some cases entering new markets outside of South Florida to take advantage of the overall booming market.
Douglas Elliman expanded to Vero Beach through an acquisition and by taking on a top producing team from another firm. And Miami-based One Sotheby’s recently acquired a Sotheby’s affiliate in Jacksonville with plans to grow into the Sun Belt region next.
