Monthly Housing Update

Press Releases

Media Contacts

Matthew Burrus

Chief Communications Officer

David Mendel

Public Relations Manager

Multiple Listing Service of the Houston Association of REALTORS® includes residential properties and new homes listed by 50,000 REALTORS®

April 2004 Sales
Houston's Real Estate Market Continues to Perform Despite Rise in Rates
 
HOUSTON (May 12, 2004) – The rise in interest rates has not deterred Houston consumers from purchasing homes. According to the Houston Association of Realtors’® Multiple Listing Service, 6,353 Houston-area homes listed by Realtors® sold last month, representing the highest number of homes ever sold during the month of April.

“Currently mortgage rates are hovering just above six percent. Last year at this time the rates averaged 5.5 percent,” said HAR Chairman and Stewart Title Chief Economist Ted C. Jones, Ph.D. “But despite the slow, steady rise in rates, the fact is rates are still highly affordable. This is evident by the record breaking number of homes sold in Houston last month.”

Additionally, the Houston market experienced the highest volume of homes on the market since September of 1987.

All listing categories combined, Houston’s market as a whole showed an increase across the board including sales, available inventory, pending sales and total dollar volume.
April Market Comparison (all categories)
All Classes April 2003 April 2004 Percent Change
Total property sales 5,197 6,353 +22.2%
Total dollar volume $836 million $1.09 billion +30.2%
Active listings 35,854 40,857 +14%
Pending sales 3,899 4,470 +14.6%
Months inventory* 7.0 6.3 -10/%
* Months inventory estimates the number of months it will take to deplete current active inventory based on the prior twelve months sales activity. This figure is representative of the single-family homes market.
 
Single-family Homes Update

Total sales for single-family homes increased 23 percent to 5,215 from last year’s 4,238. The median price of single-family homes grew to $135,000 in April, compared to $133,650 last April.

Houston Real Estate Milestones
  • The most homes ever sold in the month of April.
  • The highest amount of properties listed in the Houston market since September 1987.
  •  
    The computerized Multiple Listing Service of the Houston Association of Realtors includes residential properties and new homes listed by 18,000 Realtors throughout Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties, as well as parts of Brazoria, Galveston, Waller and Wharton counties. The Houston Association of Realtors is the largest trade association in Houston and the second largest local Realtor association in the nation. Residential home sales statistics as well as listing information for more than 40,000 listings can be found on the Internet at https://www.HAR.com.

    The information published and disseminated to the HAR Multiple Listing Services is communicated verbatim, without change by Multiple Listing Services, as filed by MLS participants.

    The MLS does not verify the information provided and disclaims any responsibility for its accuracy. All data is preliminary and subject to change. Monthly sales figures reported since November 1998 includes a statistical estimation to account for late entries. Twelve-month totals may vary from actual end-of-year figures. (Single-family detached homes were broken out separately in monthly figures beginning February 1988.)