Houston Housing Stats January 2017

[Sharon Tzib]

http://www.har.com/content/newsroom

Houston Real Estate Highlights in January

• Single-family home sales rose 1.7 percent with 4,080 units sold;
• Total property sales edged up 0.9 percent with 4,997 units sold;
• Total dollar volume jumped 6.2 percent to $1.3 billion;
• At $210,000, the single-family home median price rose 4.0 percent to a January high;
• The single-family home average price climbed 5.3 percent to $275,696, which was also the highest level for a January;
• Single-family homes months of inventory climbed to a 3.5-months supply;
• Townhome/condominium sales fell 5.4 percent, with the average price up 1.4 percent to $187,178 and the median price down 1.1 percent to $138,000;
• Leases of single-family homes rose 5.7 percent with average rent down slightly to $1,718;
• Leases of townhomes/condominiums increased 6.0 percent with average rent down 4.7 percent to $1,497.

[Sharon Tzib]

I agree with @Ryan Terwilliger. Almost every property I write on these days has multiple offers. I have five closings this month alone, and it's only February! Granted, I work primarily in the $250K and below market, and every segment is different, but from what I'm seeing, this year is going to be another record year. Yes, some rentals take longer to lease up, but most of my investors are finding tenants in 30-45 days, which they've accounted for since they look at neighborhood stats before buying. 

I agree @Michael Le, Houston never really missed a beat during the O&G downturn, unless you had a high end home. No one has a crystal ball moving forward, but all indicators point to another strong year here. 

@Tom Cooper we had 3.3 months of inventory in Jan 2016, 3.5 in Jan 2017, nationally I believe it's 3.6. A normal market is 6.0, so we are definitely in seller's market territory here. I don't have a stat on avg DOM, and honestly, that varies greatly by area and price range in Houston anyways, but in the $175K and under range, they can go as quick as 3-7 days, but usually are gone for sure by 21 days.

Just my experience, so don't shoot the messenger :)