Houston Market update, Low inventory, still planning to buy?

[Scotty Gifford]

Home prices continue to climb this spring in Texas and for most of the country. The current market shows no signs of crashing. There is not enough inventory, and the demand to purchase homes remains strong. The result is the homes currently listed are bid up with multiple offers, leading to higher prices.

I know everyone has different reasons to buy, What are your reasons to buy in this market? 

Moving/relocation, rental purchase, First time home buyer, Fear of missing out on record low-interest rates, or something else? 

Here are some facts: According to the latest Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) Market Update, single-family home sales jumped 24.4 percent in March with 9,347 units sold versus 7,511 a year earlier. That marks the tenth straight positive month of sales. On a year-to-date basis, home sales are running 16.9 percent ahead of 2020’s record pace. Record low interest rates continued to fuel the buying bonanza, leading to multiple offer madness. We currently have 6 offers on a house that went live on Friday. 

It is easy to see the number of active listings in the Houston Region is down over the past 4 years.

Time frame is from Apr 2018 to Apr 2021 County is one of 'Brazoria', 'Fort Bend', 'Galveston', 'Harris', 'Montgomery' Property Type is 'Single-Family'

The single-family home average price climbed 19.9 percent to $370,847 and the median price increased 16.0 percent to $290,000.

Sales of all property types totaled 11,692 – up 31.5 percent from March 2020. Total dollar volume for the month shot up 55.8 percent to $4.0 billion.

Single-Family Homes Update

Single-family home sales rose 24.4 percent in March with 9,347 units sold across the greater Houston area compared to 7,511 a year earlier. Strong sales volume among homes at the high end of the market pushed pricing to record highs.

The single-family home average price climbed 19.9 percent to $370,847 while the median price rose 16.0 percent to $290,000.

The time frame is from May 2020 to Apr 2021 County is one of 'Fort Bend', 'Galveston', 'Harris' Property Type is 'Single-Family' Results calculated from 70,425 listings

The time frame is from May 2020 to Apr 2021 County is one of 'Fort Bend', 'Galveston', 'Harris' Property Type is 'Single-Family' Results calculated from 70,423 listings

Selling a home took significantly less time than it did a year ago. Days on Market (DOM) fell from 65 to 45. With fewer new listings entering the market, inventory registered a record low 1.4-months supply compared to 3.4 months a year earlier. That figure is slightly below the current national inventory level of 2.0 months recently reported by NAR.

HAR also breaks out sales figures for existing single-family homes. Existing home sales totaled 7,463 in March, up 29.1 percent compared to the same month last year. The average sales price jumped 21.4 percent to $364,037 while the median sales price climbed 21.2 percent to $285,000.