Family-run New Jersey real estate team posts a record year

The Bruen Team — a small but rapidly growing real estate agency based in Morristown, New Jersey — recorded its best year ever in 2024 by closing nearly $40 million in sales volume and earning a spot in the 2025 RealTrends Verified rankings for small teams.

The multigenerational, family-run team is led by Ryan Bruen and his mother Deborah, with behind-the-scenes support from Ryan’s father, Scott.

With help from one other agent, The Bruen Team operates under an affiliation with Coldwell Banker and serves clients primarily in Morris and Somerset counties.

“It’s fun being able to share, especially with my personality. I’m very goal-oriented, so I’m not one to just sit around and hang out,” Ryan Bruen said. “It’s nice to have that relationship with family, because for me, that’s kind of where I connect best with people — when we’re working on something together.”

Deep-seated legacy

Formally established 11 years ago when Ryan joined Deborah in business, The Bruen Team has deep roots in New Jersey real estate.

That family legacy began with Ryan’s grandfather — Carlton J. Bruen — who opened his own brokerage under Century 21 in the mid-20th century. Carlton’s company grew to five offices before being sold to Schlott Realtors, which was later acquired by Coldwell Banker.

At the time of the sale, Ryan’s father was working alongside Carlton and remained with the company as it changed hands.

Eventually, Scott transitioned into a management role at Coldwell Banker, where he worked for many years before joining The Bruen Team in a scaled-back, support capacity.

The family’s multigenerational real estate history inspired Ryan to eventually embrace the industry, even though it wasn’t always his plan.

“Real estate was always something I’ve been interested in, but I kind of avoided it because it was the family thing,” he said. “You know, I wanted to do something different and cooler and better, so to speak.”

After a stint in public accounting and a year working for Citi Habitats in New York City, Ryan realized where his true interests were.

“While I found many aspects of (accounting) interesting, I always was finding myself really enamored in real estate,” he said. “Eventually I hit the point where it was, ‘Hey, if I were to do what I really love, what would that be?’ And I realized that paying attention to and analyzing real estate was really something that I wanted to be in full time.”

Today, Ryan and Deborah operate as full partners and represent both buyers and sellers.

Best year ever

The Bruen Team closed $39.93 million in sales in 2024, success that Ryan attributes to adhering to systems and embracing change.

“My focus — as much as I love working with buyers and sellers — I really enjoy systems and innovation, and kind of always evolving the business to be cutting edge,” he said. “We had our sights set on growing the business and really evolving to be more than just two agents working together.

“We have a lot of systems in place that help our operations run smoothly so that we can really focus our attention on the things that matter, rather than running around doing paperwork and putting out unnecessary fires. And on top of that is our eagerness to adapt and change with the market.”

Flexibility is crucial in today’s shifting housing landscape, Ryan said, particularly as national trends diverge from what’s being observed at the local level.

“That’s been the really interesting thing we’ve been seeing is, lately, it’s really a divided market,” he said. “In the past, the country generally moved somewhat in unison. Whereas lately, we’re seeing a lot of fragmentation in the market.”

While many areas have seen a cooling of home prices and demand, Ryan said that Northern New Jersey has remained resilient — largely due to a shortage of available housing.

“We’re seeing a lot of strength, at least in the home values and home prices and buyer demand — and a lot of that’s driven by the lack of inventory,” he said. “So whereas other markets can can build more homes, we really don’t have a lot of opportunity to build around here, so that strain on the inventory has really kept our pricing elevated.”

Thriving through change

Despite regulatory shifts and economic uncertainty, Ryan sees change as an opportunity rather than an obstacle.

“I’ve seen a lot of my colleagues kind of panic and see that as a negative,” he said. “I always look at changes as opportunity to grow — not only to create market share and get ahead of the competition, but to really evaluate the way that our industry operates and our individual business operates, and find ways to excel within those changes.”

For a small operation that’s backed by decades of family experience, The Bruen Team continues to punch well above its weight.

“We’re definitely always trying to stay cutting edge on the market,” Ryan said. “We’re not just trying to keep up — we’re trying to lead.”