London businessman James Christie conducted his first sale on December 5, 1766, turning auctioneering into a sophisticated art. Today, investment sales brokers and bankers have become the auctioneers of real estate assets.

These master auctioneers have been very busy in 2005, selling a variety of products including office buildings, residential rental buildings, lofts, warehouses, and vacant land to investors from around the continent who are all searching for the diamond in the rough.

A diverse group of buyers have emerged on the scene during the past decade. A number of new players who include Murray Hill Properties, Swig Equities, C&K Properties, David Werner, Stonehenge Partners, Adellco, Douglaston Development, Gary Barnett, and Yair Levy have become the new real estate barons.

This June, Murray Hill Properties, led by founders Norman Sturner and Neil Siderow, along with investor David Werner and equity partners SITQ Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec and Westbrook Partners, purchased the 40-story class A office building at 450 Lexington Ave., a property with nearly 1 million square feet of space. The partnership paid $500 million to the Shorenstein Company and obtained a $385 million mortgage from Morgan Stanley. Next week, a partnership headed by Murray Hill Properties with an affiliate of General Electric, Gebaum, will be closing the purchase of the 11-story, 411,000-square-foot office building at 417 Fifth Ave. In July, the Shorenstein Company announced it was purchasing a minority stake in the 2.3 million-square-foot Starrett-Lehigh building, which occupies an entire block at 601 W. 26th St. between 11th and 12th avenues.

Last month was a very busy month for a joint venture including real estate investor David Werner, C&K Properties, and other parties. One of its partnerships, which included real estate investor and developer Joseph Moinian, entered into a contract to sell EAB Plaza office complex in Uniondale, N.Y., for $240 million. Last Friday, Mr. Werner, C&K Properties, and investors agreed to pay about $363 million to Macklowe Properties for the 410-unit residential rental with medical offices at 72nd Street and the East River. This month, Kent Swig of Swig Equities will close on the purchase of the 345-unit residential rental building at 25 Broad St. His company will be paying about $260 million to Crescent Heights, which converted the 540,000-square-foot office building into a residential rental. The new owners plan to convert the property into a residential condominium.

Today, Adellco, headed by Matthew Adell, will be closing on the sale of the Aston, the 38-story, 266-unit rental apartment tower with 12,000 square feet of retail space at 800 Sixth Ave. The Denver-based real estate investment trust Archstone-Smith will be buying the property for about $195 million.

In July, the 84-room Sutton Hotel closed its doors after Alchemy Partners paid about $54 million to the Glenwood Organization. On July 1, the 306-room Melrose Hotel New York at 140 E. 63rd St., formerly the Barbizon Plaza, closed its doors. The owner, Berwind Property Group, plans to convert the hotel into 65 condominium apartments. On July 13, Strategic Hotel Capital LLC, whose shareholders include Goldman Sachs and investors advised by Prudential Real Estate Capital, agreed to sell the 605-room Essex House Hotel to the Dubai Investment Group. This January, a principal of Extell Development, Gary Barnett, closed on the purchase of the 185-room former Stanhope Hotel at 995 Fifth Ave. The new owner plans to convert the property into a residential condominium.

A principal of Levine Builders and Douglaston Development, Jeffrey Levine, recently obtained a variance to build a seven-story, 21-unit residential condominium at 475 Greenwich St. Douglaston, in partnership with the Frisch family, has sold more than 75% of the 337 luxury condominium units at 325 Fifth Ave. Later this summer, Douglaston will be offering for sale condominium units at the 14-story,337-unit building at 555 W. 23rd St.

Next month, the principal of YL Real Estate Developers, Yair Levy, will be closing on the purchase of Columbus Green at 101 W. 87th St., a 10-story rental building with 95 units and 14,000 square feet of retail space, and Park Place, at 225 Rector Place, a 23-story, 305-unit residential tower in Battery Park City. For the two buildings, he will pay about $165 million to the Related Companies. Earlier this year, Mr. Levy, in partnership with Serge Hoyda and Mr. Swig, paid $418 million for the Sheffield, a 50-story, 845-unit residential building at 323 W.57th St. In March, the same partnership paid about $54 million for two apartment buildings at 201 W. 92nd St. and 200 W. 93rd St. Mr. Levy is in the process of converting the buildings at 29 John St. into 52 luxury condominium apartments, where the average price is in excess of $1,000 a square foot. Earlier this year, he sold a development site at 133 Greenwich St. to Shaya Boymelgreen and, in partnership with Mr. Hoyda, a development site on Third Avenue and East 23rd and East 24th streets to J.D. Carlisle for $83 million. The New York Sun has learned that a partnership of investors headed by Mr. Levy is one of the finalists in purchasing the Manhattan House on East 67th Street, which may sell for more than $600 million.

In April, the principals of Stonehenge Partners, Ofer Yardeni and Joel Seiden, paid $240 million for the Olivia at 304-324 W. 34th St., a 33-story, 600,000-square-foot mixed-use building that contains 333 luxury residential rental units, which comprise nearly 300,000 square feet. In June, Stonehenge paid $100 million for Stonehenge Village at 120-160 W. 97th St., a 390,000-square-foot building comprising of two 14-story towers with 314 rental units and garage and commercial spaces.

A great deal has happened over the past decade in the real estate market. Individuals from all walks of life and all types of professions have become the Rockefellers of real estate. Auctions have become prevalent and, in many instances, buyers must close on a property within 30 days of signing a contract. As one seasoned real estate investor said to me, “Happy days are here today,” yet many insiders, myself included, have adopted “cautious optimism” about the marketplace.

Mr. Stoler is a television broadcaster and vice president at First American Title Insurance Company of New York. He can be reached at mstoler@firstam.com.