Houston Agent Dana Johnson Left Compass for Douglas Elliman

Dana Johnson, one of Houston’s top-ranked agents, left Compass for Douglas Elliman this month.

Johnson, whose deals last year included one of the most expensive homes sold in Houston, joined Douglas Elliman after six years with Compass, citing Compass’ growth as a reason for her departure.

“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,” Johnson said. “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.”

Houston has a narrower luxury market than other Texas metros, Johnson pointed out. That might explain why Houston enjoyed the fastest selling homes in Texas last year; Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio all had higher median days on market in the fall, according to Redfin. When Austin had one of the slowest markets in the country in October, with a median 104 days on market for luxury homes, Houston had a median of 52 days on market. Dallas and Fort Worth luxury homes both sold after a median 62 days on market, and San Antonio had a median of 91 days on the market.

“We don’t have very much inventory. You can’t be real choosy,” Johnson said of luxury buyers. “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 of the city’s top 10 luxury deals last year took place within one square mile in the River Oaks neighborhood. Three of the others were in Memorial Villages.

However, Houston’s luxury market isn’t just geographically tight. It also fields an exceptionally small league of agents compared to Dallas and Austin — and Compass leads the group. In Dallas, 18 agents represented the 20 parties in the top 10 deals of 2025. In Austin, another 18 agents also represented the 20 parties in the top 10 sales. In Houston, just 10 agents were spread over the top 10 deals, according to The Real Deal’s research.

Johnson represented the buyer of the city’s seventh-most expensive residential sale last year, a 10,799-square-foot custom mansion at 11321 Green Vale Drive that was asking $9.8 million. Excluding Johnson’s deal, eight of the top 10 residential sales in Harris County last year involved a Compass agent, usually either 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.