The Houston real estate market kicks off 2015 with Gusto
The Houston real estate market began 2015 much as it ended 2014 – with home sales and prices on the rise and housing inventory at historically low levels.
The majority of January sales took place among homes priced between $250,000 and $500,000, with the pace of sales slowing significantly among homes priced above $500,000.
According to the latest monthly report prepared by the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR), single-family home sales totaled 4,032 units, an increase of 6.1 percent compared to January 2014.
Months of inventory, the estimated time it would take to deplete the current active housing inventory based on the previous 12 months of sales, reached a 2.6-months supply versus a 2.7-months supply last January. That is markedly lower than the current national supply of 4.4 months of inventory.
Home prices achieved record highs for a January. The average price of a single-family home jumped 7.0 percent year-over-year to $259,969. The median price—the figure at which half the homes sold for more and half for less—rose 6.7 percent to $190,000.
January sales of all property types totaled 4,874 units, a 2.6-percent increase compared to the same month last year. Total dollar volume for properties sold rose 9.0 percent to $1.2 billion versus $1.1 billion a year earlier.
“January was a strong month overall for the Houston housing market, but we still expect to see sales cool as a result of lower oil prices and the limited supply of homes,” said HAR Chair Nancy Furst with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Anderson Properties. “We’ve already started to see declining townhome and condominium sales. Coming off a record year, this normalization should give homebuilders an opportunity to create new inventory, with existing homes entering the market in the spring and summer months, which is traditionally the most popular time for owners to sell.”
January Monthly Market Comparison
The Houston real estate market grew in all categories in January, with total property sales, total dollar volume and average and median pricing all up when compared to January 2014.
Month-end pending sales for all property types totaled 3,382. That is down 9.3 percent compared to last year and portends slower sales activity when the February numbers are tallied. Active listings, or the number of available properties, at the end of January was 26,556, down 5.9 percent from last year.
Houston’s housing inventory reached a 2.6-months supply in January. It wasn’t much higher a year earlier when it stood at a 2.7-months supply. According to the National Association of Realtors, the current supply of homes for the U.S stands at a 4.4-months supply.
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