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Local Realtors dominate national rankings
Palo Alto has five among the top 250, with Ken DeLeon in the top spot

The nation's top hotshot Realtors come from Palo Alto and Menlo Park, along with other local cities, according to a new report published June 22 in the Wall Street Journal.

Eighteen local Realtors are on the nation's top national sales rankings list, REAL Trends, Inc. has announced, with Ken DeLeon of DeLeon Realty in Palo Alto in the No. 1 spot.

The residential real-estate communications-and-analysis firm publishes an annual report on the field's top sales professionals nationwide, ranking them by total sales transacted. The 2012 Top 1,000 list includes Realtors from Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Woodside, Portola Valley and Los Altos within its top 250 sales professionals.

DeLeon sold $274,650,639 in property in 2011.

Mary Gullixson of Alain Pinel Realtors, Inc. in Menlo Park ranked fourth with $253,485,526 in sales.

The other top Realtors were:

* No. 25: Keri Nicholas, Menlo Park, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage/NRT, $113,994,425

* No. 41: Hugh Cornish, Menlo Park, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage/NRT, $93,637,812

* No. 52: Tom LeMieux, Menlo Park, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage/NRT, $84,068,139

* No. 54: David Troyer, Los Altos, Intero Real Estate, $83,354,712

* No. 59: Sherry Bucolo, Palo Alto, Alain Pinel Realtors, Inc., $79,159,681

* No. 65: Kathy Bridgman, Los Altos, Alain Pinel Realtors, Inc., $74,638,400

* No. 76: Royce Cablayan, Los Altos, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage/NRT, $69,780,593

* No. 93: Judy Bogard-Tanigami, Los Altos, Alain Pinel Realtors, Inc., $63,905,650

* No. 103: Erika Demma, Woodside, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage/NRT, $59,610,000

* No. 126: Peter Cowperthwaite, Portola Valley, Cowperthwaite & Company, $54,075,000

* No. 134: Hanna Shacham, Menlo Park, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage/NRT, $51,535,720

* No. 160: Kristin Cashin, Menlo Park, Oliver Luxury Real Estate, $46,661,388

* No. 170: Juliana Lee, Palo Alto, Keller Williams Realty, Inc., $45,550,822

* No. 182: Zach Trailer, Palo Alto, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage/NRT, $44,543,000

* No. 229: Julie Tsai Law, Palo Alto, Alain Pinel Realtors, Inc., $41,058,611

* No. 239: Scott Dancer, Woodside, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage/NRT, $40,170,250

DeLeon has only been a real-estate broker for nine years. He was previously an attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. He has hadtwo near-death experiences, which he credits with instilling a laser-like focus to his work. He survived being run down by an under-the-influence driver and was diagnosed with cancer, which he successfully beat, he said.

This is the first year a Silicon Valley agent has topped the national Realtor rankings, he stated in a press release, and he attributes that achievement to the area's robust economy. His sales approach includes catered lunches, lattes, extended hours and a 200-page strategic buyer's guide.

"I use economic models and analysis to empirically illustrate which neighborhoods have the greatest appreciation potential. This sets our company apart form brokers who just show houses," he said.

—Sue Dremann