Dayton Business Journal Exclusive: Glasshouse Realty Group launches specialty luxury listing division

Click here to read the story in the Dayton Business Journal. 

A Dayton real estate brokerage — one of the fastest growing in the region — has solidified its presence in the luxury housing market by launching a new line of business dedicated to high-end properties.

Glasshouse Realty Group, headquartered in the Oregon District, is expanding its real estate brokerage services to include high-end real estate through its new division, Glasshouse Luxury.

The luxury division will provide traditional real estate brokerage services and also offer additional white-glove services, such as staging, financial planning and navigation, moving and contractor vetting services. Kunal Patel, a broker and owner of Glasshouse, described the service as comparable to a concierge service in terms of its level of personalization.

“Your realtor is your partner throughout the whole transaction and all the different stuff that is involved,” Patel said. “There’s a lot more that goes into it than just running a contract and closing on closing day. We handle it 30 days prior to you looking for a home to 30 days after you get the home.”

Glasshouse Luxury launched on Feb. 18 with the closing of its first deal, a $1.95 million property sale in Washington Township.

Glasshouse Luxury listings will be featured on Zillow Showcase, an AI-powered platform that gives listings priority placement in search results and uses interactive visuals to garner more attention. Zillow data shows Showcase listings are 20% more likely to secure an accepted offer within 14 days and sell for 2% more than non-Showcase listings.

Showcase is an exclusive platform, available for only 10% of listings in a given market. Kari Abitbol, VP of communications and marketing for Glasshouse, noted all Glasshouse Luxury listings will be advertised using Zillow Showcase.

In 2024, Glasshouse was the only Dayton area brokerage selected to join Zillow Premier Agent, the company’s exclusive brokerage lead platform. The leads from the program had already brought in $22 million in sales by July 2024 and generated almost $25 million in sales in 2023 alone, Abitbol told the DBJ previously.

The demand for luxury properties in the region is driven by economic growth in the areas between Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus, including an influx of professionals and upward mobility of existing residents.

Patel also mentioned the affordability and quality of homes in the region compared to other areas, such as the West and East Coasts, also contribute to the demand. 

“You get so much home at such a great quality for significantly less than when you would pay on the West Coast or the East Coast, and a lot of those buyers that are coming in … they're excited to have the ability to have that luxury home with land,” Patel said.

The brokerage is familiar with handling expensive property sales in the region: 5.4% of the brokerage’s transactions in 2024 were properties that sold for $500,000 or more. 

“We have been in the luxury space for several years, but it was with [Patel] coming on the team last year that it became the right time to formalize the brand and set ourselves apart from the competition,” Abitbol said.

Patel joined the team in 2024 in the midst of a major planned regional expansion that included the opening of four offices in the area, including in Wilmington, Huber Heights, Sidney and Piqua. Glasshouse Realty Group finished 2024 with a 95% increase in year-over-year sales volume and a 57% increase in agent count. 

The brokerage also launched its Glasshouse Commercial Division in August.

Glasshouse Realty Group is a full-service real estate brokerage headquartered at 201 E. Sixth St., in the Armory building in downtown Dayton’s Oregon District. The brokerage, founded in 2019, has 220 agents across 10 Ohio locations and, according to DBJ research, is one of Dayton's fastest-growing companies.