Alexander Phillips
cto: Instagram

After nine consecutive years as Australia's number-one agent, Alexander Phillips is stepping out under his own name — while still putting up A-frame boards himself.

SYDNEY — Alexander Phillips has spent the better part of a decade as the agent other agents measure themselves against. Ranked Australia's number-one real estate salesperson for nine consecutive years by industry publication Real Estate Business, Phillips built his reputation selling some of Sydney's most expensive homes across the eastern suburbs. This year, he is taking that reputation and building a business around it. Here is a closer look at his career, his approach to the job and the new venture he has just launched.

1. Phillips has been ranked Australia's No. 1 real estate agent for nine years running — and reportedly the first to cross $1 billion in annual sales.

Phillips is widely reported to be the first individual agent in Australia to sell more than $1 billion worth of property in a single year, a mark he hit in 2021 with 254 homes sold. Last year, he and his team of seven assistants sold 205 properties across Sydney's eastern suburbs worth a combined $973 million. His social media profile lists him as Australia's number-one agent for 10 consecutive years running, from 2016 through 2025.

2. He built his career at Phillips Pantzer Donnelley before launching his own brand with Ray White in 2026.

After years operating as a partner at Phillips Pantzer Donnelley (PPD) in Sydney's Woollahra, Phillips announced in August 2026 that he was joining Ray White, Australia's largest real estate group, to launch a new business under his own name: Ray White Phillips & Co. The new agency serves Sydney's eastern suburbs, inner city and city fringe, drawing on Ray White's scale and technology while Phillips and his team — who represent more than 400 clients and are responsible for more than $1 billion in property sales annually — retain their existing client base.

3. He explained the move as a response to how selective today's vendors have become.

Discussing the decision to launch his own brand, Phillips said "clients are being extremely selective about which agent to appoint and want to ensure that they have a point of difference." He said he had long admired the "family culture and support" behind the Ray White brand from working alongside its agents over the years, and pointed to the pace of change in the industry — from AI to shifting customer behavior — as part of what shaped the timing of the move.

4. Despite the scale of his business, Phillips still shows up to open houses and puts out his own street signage.

In a 2025 Forbes Australia profile, Phillips described a schedule built around presence rather than delegation — attending 37 open houses in a single weekend and making sure he got to every one. "My schedule is like a jigsaw puzzle," he said. "But I make sure I'm present. I'm not on my phone. I talk to buyers. The vendors see me — and that's at every price point." He said he still puts out A-frame boards on street corners himself and still talks to people at open houses, describing a moment where he personally moved a garden pot in a listed home because it was in the wrong spot. Former colleague and now competitor Shannan Whitney of BresicWhitney has said of Phillips's work at that level: "To master the sort of work that we do at the level that he has, it's quite extraordinary."

5. He is also a major supporter of local schools and sporting clubs in Sydney's eastern suburbs.

Beyond real estate, Phillips has been a longtime financial supporter of the local community where he works, serving as the major sponsor of St Catherine's School, the Bronte Netball Association and the Bronte Surf Life Saving Club. He has also been a regular fixture on the real estate industry speaking circuit, appearing as a guest speaker at the Australasian Real Estate Conference (AREC) in 2016 and 2018, and sharing the stage with Sir Richard Branson at the "Titans of Real Estate" conference in Brisbane in 2015.

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