Dana Johnson, a leading real estate agent in Houston, has left Compass to join Douglas Elliman after six years with her previous firm. Johnson was involved in one of the most expensive home sales in Houston last year.
Explaining her decision, Johnson said, “Sometimes bigger isn’t always better. I feel like at Douglas Elliman, the brand itself is a luxury brand, and that’s what I sell. Compass definitely is a luxury brand, but it’s also really large. So you’re not going to get the support that you need, or that I needed, in a broker.”
Johnson noted that Houston’s luxury housing market is smaller compared to other Texas cities. This may contribute to homes selling faster in Houston than elsewhere in the state. According to Redfin data from last fall, Austin had one of the slowest luxury markets nationally with a median of 104 days on market for high-end homes. In contrast, Houston’s median was 52 days. Dallas and Fort Worth both had a median of 62 days on market for luxury properties, while San Antonio saw 91 days.
“We don’t have very much inventory. You can’t be real choosy,” Johnson said about buyers seeking high-end homes in Houston. “There’s a very small niche of where they’re going to be, if they’re going to buy a luxury house in Houston.”
Five out of the top ten luxury home sales last year occurred within one square mile in River Oaks; three others were located in Memorial Villages.
Houston’s luxury market also has fewer agents involved compared to Dallas and Austin. The Real Deal found that just ten agents handled all parties involved in Houston’s top ten deals last year. In Dallas and Austin, eighteen agents represented twenty parties each for their respective top ten transactions.
Johnson represented the buyer for the seventh-most expensive residential sale last year: a custom mansion at 11321 Green Vale Drive listed at $9.8 million. Excluding this transaction by Johnson, eight out of Harris County’s top ten residential sales last year included Compass agents Laura Sweeney or Dee Dee Guggenheim Howes.
“When I joined Compass, there [were] a hundred agents. Now [there are] 800. It’s just hard to get the support that you need when there’s that many agents,” Johnson said.
