EVX 2025: Day One Highlights

EVX 2025, Engel & Völkers Americas’ annual real estate conference, opened Monday at the JW Marriott in Austin, TX, with 1,000 license partners, advisors, and real estate professionals in attendance.

General session kicked off with Engel & Völkers Americas president and CEO Stuart Siegel and an appearance by Jawed Barna, group CEO of the Hamburg, Germany, parent company.

Siegel, who has over four decades of experience in luxury lifestyle businesses and industries, welcomed the general session crowd by summarizing the company’s three overarching themes.

Resilience: “It’s not about perfection in what you do,” Siegel said.”It’s about understanding when to pivot in your local market and when not to.”

Stability: “We want to be your point of stability,” he said, gesturing to the crowd, “when it’s chaotic out there in our industry.”

Culture: “A culture like the one we have and business acumen are not opposing values,” he said. “They are mutually dependent.”

Siegel pledged a more collaborative approach with franchisees this year and beyond in developing strategies. “We’re moving fast as the original advisors in real estate,” he said.

Senior leadership is sharply focused on four pillars, he said:

• Supporting and empowering our network

• Attracting and retaining the best talent

• Expanding into new, strategic markets

• Brand awareness and positioning

Joining Siegel on the stage for a question-and-answer session, Barna offered three additional pillars: culture, strategy, and delivery.

“Culture is at our core, our people are at our core,” he said. “I want us to be the only and the best global luxury real estate player, not the biggest.” The network of license partners and advisors, he said, should continue to think globally and act locally. “That helped grow our market share globally in 2024,” he said to applause from the crowd.

Chief Marketing and Performance Officer Katelyn Castellano echoed Siegel’s and Barna’s perspectives when she addressed the crowd. “Collaboration is synonymous with the Engel & Völkers brand. It’s part of our culture,” she said.

Castellano introduced several new strategic initiatives, including targeted advertising in key markets, dedicated marketing support for high-end listings, and collaborations with brands that cater to a high-net-worth audience and share similar values. She also announced that Engel & Völkers Americas now has its own dedicated LinkedIn presence, providing another way to showcase our brand, share industry insights, and highlight key initiatives.

These initiatives were met with enthusiasm, reinforcing Engel & Völkers’ commitment to providing unparalleled marketing opportunities and strategic partnerships that elevate the brand’s presence in the luxury real estate space.

Siegel also led the panel "Luxury, Actually: A Deeper Perspective," emphasizing that luxury has no single definition — it’s shaped by individual preferences, lifestyles, and evolving market trends. He highlighted the silver tsunami, the generational transfer of wealth, as a key factor influencing luxury real estate.

The panel featured industry experts Laura Monroe (REALM), Riki Altman-Yee (Modern Luxury Austin Way), and Eric Hopkins (MediaJet), each offering unique insights into the luxury market. Panelists agreed that luxury isn’t just about celebrity listings. Instead, trusted advisors can serve any segment of the high-end market by adopting the right tone and voice, and being credible and authentic. No matter the client, building trust and delivering a tailored experience are what truly matters.

A key takeaway? Understand the high-net-worth individual beyond the transaction. The most successful advisors don’t just sell homes — they immerse themselves in their clients’ world. To truly engage with this clientele, advisors must pay attention to what they read, where they go, what they invest in, and how they live. By doing so, they don’t just serve luxury buyers — they become indispensable partners in their long-term wealth strategy.

Ann Renée Miciak, Engel & Völkers vice president of academy , led a panel entitled “Navigating a New Real Estate Landscape,” where industry leaders shared strategies for adapting to market shifts. Andrew Carros, CEO of Engel & Völkers Vancouver, emphasized a practical approach to uncertainty, saying, “There are three ways to deal with uncertainty during these times: never worry alone, make a plan, and let things go.” Ciara Caponi, license partner at Engel & Völkers Panama City, reinforced this mindset, adding, “Get comfortable with change. Where there’s a problem or a challenge, there is an opportunity.”

Nobu Hata, director of association and industry affairs for Zillow Group, led the panel "The AI Edge,” delivering a compelling message: There has never been a better time to be a real estate advisor than right now. He emphasized that AI is poised to transform the industry, offering new opportunities for efficiency and growth. From virtual home tours to streamlining operations and even real-time client engagement, AI is driving efficiency and innovation like never before.

Some standout tools suggested by our panelists Colin Hull, Engel & Völkers VP of digital marketing, Digital, Geoffrey Bray, license partner Engel & Völkers Minneapolis Downtown, and advisor Blakely Hull, Engel & Völkers San Francisco Union Street? Sidekick, Claude, and Eleven.io.

Hata noted that real estate advisors can’t excel at everything, and the panelists agreed — encouraging agents to take a strategic approach by making a list of their strengths and weaknesses. From there, panelists suggested exploring AI tools to handle the tasks they find most challenging or time-consuming.

Ryan Estis, a former Fortune 500 CRO and sales transformation expert, closed out Day 1 with his keynote, "The Art of Standing Out," challenging real estate advisors to identify what sets them apart in a crowded market. He emphasized that success comes from answering one key question: What do you do that the competition cannot or does not — something your clients covet and can’t live without?