Short answer
The Houston metro area has 3,279 active broker companies, 8,760 individual brokers and 41,268 sales agents licensed by the Texas Real Estate Commission (October 2026), and 7,837 real estate establishments with paid employees in Census data (2023), employing 39,185 people. The largest public real estate companies headquartered here are Crown Castle ($4.26 billion of 2025 revenue), Camden Property Trust ($1.57 billion) and Howard Hughes Holdings in The Woodlands ($1.47 billion).
- Harris County alone has 2,195 active broker companies and 23,986 active sales agents on TREC's register.
- Lessors are 38.6% of Houston's real estate establishments, more than brokerage offices (32.9%).
- Texas's seller's disclosure notice asks about floodplains, reservoir releases, flood claims and FEMA aid.
- No real estate establishment in the Houston metro has 1,000 or more employees; five have 500 to 999.
- Fort Bend and Montgomery counties have 12,211 active sales agents between them, more than a quarter of the metro total.
On this page
Searches for real estate companies in Houston are mostly from home buyers and sellers looking for a brokerage: the results lead with Keller Williams Metropolitan, the Houston Association of Realtors' firm directory and agent review sites, with commercial firms such as Colliers and Lee & Associates for tenants and investors. This page uses the state's own licence register, Census data and SEC filings to show the whole market, how to check a firm, what a Houston seller must disclose, and how to prospect real estate companies here.
Licensed brokerages by county
The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) publishes every licence holder on the state's open data portal. Active licences in the Houston metro's ten counties, from the file updated 29 October 2026:
| County | Broker companies | Individual brokers | Sales agents |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harris | 2,195 | 5,875 | 23,986 |
| Fort Bend | 411 | 1,094 | 7,153 |
| Montgomery | 359 | 875 | 5,058 |
| Galveston | 139 | 408 | 2,004 |
| Brazoria | 119 | 317 | 1,897 |
| Austin, Chambers, Liberty, San Jacinto and Waller | 56 | 191 | 1,170 |
| Houston metro | 3,279 | 8,760 | 41,268 |
Statewide, TREC lists 13,809 active broker companies, 33,490 individual brokers and 140,919 sales agents. Broker company records also name a related individual broker, a useful starting point for who answers for the firm.
Houston real estate in Census data
County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, real estate (NAICS 531), Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX Metro Area (CBSA 26420):
| Measure (2023) | Houston metro |
|---|---|
| Establishments | 7,837 |
| Employees | 39,185 |
| Annual payroll | $3,042,504,000 |
| Employees per establishment | 5.0 |
| Average annual pay | $77,645 |
| Share of US real estate establishments | 1.89% of 414,824 |
By size: 6,132 establishments with 1 to 4 employees, 1,101 with 5 to 9, 371 with 10 to 19, 140 with 20 to 49, 45 with 50 to 99, 36 with 100 to 249, 7 with 250 to 499, 5 with 500 to 999 and none with 1,000 or more.
| County | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Harris | 5,455 | 31,717 |
| Fort Bend | 896 | 2,634 |
| Montgomery | 733 | 2,445 |
| Galveston | 347 | 1,219 |
| Brazoria | 273 | 780 |
| Liberty | 27 | not reported (high-noise figure) |
Liberty County's employee count is published but flagged as high-noise: confidentiality noise moved it by 5% or more.
| Type (NAICS 2017 code) | Establishments | Employees |
|---|---|---|
| Lessors: landlords, equity REITs, self-storage (5311) | 3,025 | 14,598 |
| Agents and brokers (531210) | 2,582 | 6,722 |
| Residential property managers (531311) | 1,278 | 11,704 |
| Nonresidential property managers (531312) | 414 | 3,841 |
| Other services: escrow, listing services (531390) | 384 | 1,741 |
| Appraisers (531320) | 154 | 579 |
Set the two counts side by side and the business model shows: 2,582 brokerage establishments with paid staff against 3,279 licensed broker companies and more than 41,000 sales agents, most of them paid by commission rather than payroll. CBP counts establishments with employees and leaves out the self-employed. Homebuilders and land developers are classified in construction (236 and 237210), not here.
Public real estate companies headquartered in Houston
SEC-registered listed companies with real estate codes and a Houston-area business address, checked on each latest Form 10-K:
| Company | What it does | Headquarters | 2025 revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crown Castle | Communications tower and fiber REIT | 8020 Katy Freeway | $4,264.0 million |
| Camden Property Trust | Apartment REIT | 2800 Post Oak Boulevard | $1,573.5 million (property revenues) |
| Howard Hughes Holdings | Master-planned communities developer | 9950 Woodloch Forest Drive, The Woodlands | $1,474.9 million |
| Hines Global Income Trust | Non-listed diversified REIT | 845 Texas Avenue | $425.2 million |
Camden's figure comes from its income statement; the XBRL revenue tag that SEC data tools read for Camden picks up a $13.0 million line, so use the filing. For the national picture, see the biggest real estate companies in the US, which ranks Crown Castle among the top 25.
How to vet a Houston brokerage or property manager
- Search TREC's licence holder search for the agent and the broker company, and check that both are active and match the names on your agreement.
- Read the Information About Brokerage Services notice. TREC requires licence holders to give it at the first substantive conversation about a specific property; it tells you whom the agent represents.
- Ask a manager about leasing agents. Ask whether the people showing and leasing your property hold TREC licences, then look them up.
- Ask how money moves: where rents and deposits are held, when owners are paid, and how repairs over a set amount are approved.
- Match the specialty. Inner Loop townhomes, Katy subdivisions and industrial space along the Ship Channel are different markets.
Selling a home in Houston: flood questions come first
Texas sellers of a previously occupied single-family home must give the buyer TREC's Seller's Disclosure Notice (form 55-1, current version effective 28 May 2026), which carries the disclosures in section 5.008 of the Texas Property Code. In Houston its flood section matters most. It asks whether the property is wholly or partly in a 100-year or 500-year floodplain, a floodway, a flood pool or a reservoir; whether it has flooded from a natural flood event or from a controlled or emergency release of water from a reservoir; whether you've filed a flood insurance claim; and whether you've had FEMA or SBA assistance for flood damage.
- Pull your flood insurance and claims history before you list, so the answers are exact.
- Commission is negotiable: since 17 August 2024, buyer-agent pay can't be offered on a Realtor MLS, and buyers sign their own agreements before touring.
- Check each listing agent and their broker company on TREC before you sign.
Prospecting Houston real estate companies
| Segment | Who decides |
|---|---|
| Broker companies (3,279 in the metro) | The designated broker or owner; agents buy their own tools |
| Residential managers (1,278 establishments) | Owners, operations and maintenance directors |
| Owners and REITs | Asset managers and property operations |
| Commercial managers (414 establishments) | Property and regional managers |
Illustrative example. The company, rates and results are invented.
Bayou Closings (bayouclosings.example) offers transaction coordination to small brokerages. It takes the 2,965 active broker companies in Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties from TREC's file and reaches the related broker at each. A 2% reply rate gives about 59 conversations; if one in five signs up, that's about 12 clients. The register gives names and counties; Bebop adds the research on each firm's size and recent activity. For how agents buy, see selling to real estate agents.
Hi [first name], [your name] with [company]. We run contract-to-close paperwork for small Houston brokerages, so your agents spend their time on clients, not on title and lender follow-ups. I'll send a one-page outline by email today; if it fits [firm], I'm at [number].
Sources
| Source | What it gives you |
|---|---|
| TREC licence holder search | Status of any agent, broker or company |
| TREC licence holder data | The full register, with county and related broker |
| TREC Seller's Disclosure Notice | The required seller form and its flood questions |
| Harris County Flood Control District | Flood projects and flood information for the county |
| Greater Houston Partnership | Regional business and economic data |
For every industry in the region, see companies in Houston.
Next step: build your list with how to build a prospect list.
Sources
- County Business Patterns (CBP), 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Broker and Sales Agent License Holder Information, Texas Real Estate Commission (Texas Open Data Portal), updated 29 October 2026, accessed 30 October 2026
- Seller's Disclosure Notice (TREC No. 55-1), Texas Real Estate Commission, accessed 31 October 2026
- Information About Brokerage Services, Texas Real Estate Commission, accessed 31 October 2026
- NAR Settlement FAQs, National Association of Realtors, accessed 30 October 2026
- Crown Castle, Form 10-K for 2025, SEC EDGAR, 23 February 2026
- Camden Property Trust, Form 10-K for 2025, SEC EDGAR, 12 February 2026
- Howard Hughes Holdings, Form 10-K for 2025, SEC EDGAR, 19 February 2026
- Hines Global Income Trust, Form 10-K for 2025, SEC EDGAR, 30 March 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
What are the biggest real estate companies in Houston?
By 2025 revenue in their 10-K filings, the largest public real estate companies headquartered in the Houston area are Crown Castle ($4.26 billion), Camden Property Trust ($1.57 billion of property revenues) and Howard Hughes Holdings in The Woodlands ($1.47 billion). Private brokerages don't publish revenue, so they can't be ranked on the same basis.
How many real estate brokerages are in Houston?
The Texas Real Estate Commission's register, updated 29 October 2026, lists 3,279 active broker companies in the ten-county Houston metro, 2,195 of them in Harris County. Census County Business Patterns counted 2,582 brokerage establishments with paid employees in 2023; the difference is firms run without payroll staff.
How many real estate agents are in Houston?
TREC's register lists 41,268 active sales agents and 8,760 active individual brokers in the Houston metro's ten counties, including 23,986 sales agents and 5,875 brokers in Harris County. The county is the one on each licence holder's record. Statewide, Texas has 140,919 active sales agents.
Do Houston home sellers have to disclose flooding?
Yes. A seller of a previously occupied single-family home in Texas must give the buyer TREC's Seller's Disclosure Notice. It asks whether the property is in a floodplain, floodway, flood pool or reservoir, whether it has flooded (including from a reservoir release), whether the seller filed a flood insurance claim, and whether they received FEMA or SBA flood assistance.
How do I check a real estate license in Texas?
Use TREC's licence holder search to look up an agent, broker or broker company by name or licence number. It shows whether a licence is active. TREC also publishes the full register on the Texas open data portal, which lets you filter licence holders by county and see the broker related to each company.