Houston’s Most-Expensive Home Sales Trend to Ultra-Luxury

Ultra-luxury is taking over Houston’s most-expensive home sales, as there were two transactions over $10 million last month.

Houston’s top 10 priciest home sales in July outpaced the previous month by over 25 percent, according to data from the Houston Association of Realtors. Sales prices for the top three homes rose by over 45 percent, with fewer price cuts in the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area’s premier neighborhoods.

The top two sales last month were in River Oaks. That neighborhood and another in Uptown, Memorial Villages, which sold three in the top 10 last month, have commanded more of the priciest home sales in the last three months than other neighborhoods.

A River Oaks Tall Timbers home with a private courtyard clinched the top spot last month, selling for $15 million or $1,433 per square foot. The home at 3931 Inverness Drive sits on 1 acre and spans 10,500 square feet.

Compass’ Katie Forney had the listing. The property came on the market in May and was on the market for two months before selling with no price cuts. The owner isn’t identified in the Harris Central Appraisal District’s public database, and deed records couldn’t be found for the transaction.

The second most-expensive home sale last month was a two-story home with an elevator and three garages, which sold for $10.5 million at 3244 Chevy Chase Drive. It was asking $11.5 million last October last year, and its price dropped 8.7 percent to $751 per square foot. The residence sits on a 0.68 acre lot and spans 13,600 square feet. The seller was the estate of oil and gas executive Paul Van Wagenen, who died last summer. The buyers were Cheniere Energy president and CEO Jack Fusco and wife, Kristen, Harris County property records show.

Ruthie Porterfield of Martha Turner Sotheby’s International Real Estate had the listing.

Martha Turner Sotheby’s also facilitated the third-highest sale, an eight-bedroom estate at 51 Grand Regency Circle in The Woodlands that sold for $6.9 million, or $324 per square foot. The 21,300-square-foot estate sits on 2.43 acres with five synchronized fountains in front of a tiled carriage driveway.

Claudia Da Silva from Coldwell Banker Realty had the listing, which had been on and off the market several times since 2019. The price was cut 8.6 percent from the first listing.

The growth falls in line with a national trend of sales for ultra-luxury homes faring better than the market overall; national home sales over $10 million grew 3.9 percent in the first six months of this year compared to the same period last year, while total home sales for the broader residential real estate market fell nearly 3 percent year over year.

Here are Houston’s top 10 most expensive homes sold in July: