Real estate has been on a roll in Houston, hasn’t it? With the city’s sky-high housing demand, we’ve consistently broken a variety of records. Now real estate in Houston has broken another: January inventory reached a record-low 1.8-months supply. Keep reading to learn more about the latest real estate numbers and what they may mean for your real estate goals in the near future.
Prices
The average price of a home was up, up, up in January! Compared to the previous year, the cost of the average single-family home climbed 12.5% to $326,063. The average price of a condo or townhome jumped 12.4% to $211,188.
As we predicted, single-family home rentals fell with the average cost of rent up 6.0% in January. Houston is a popular place to set down roots, and with increasing demands for a home usually come higher prices.
Inventory
Houston typically sees housing inventory shrink during the wintry months, but single-family inventory in January 2021 was especially low. In fact, at 1.8-months inventory, it was the lowest January on record. Just last year, inventory rested at 3.3 months – sizeable in comparison! Houston’s inventory last month was even lower than the national level of 1.9 months reported by NAR. Puts the market in perspective, doesn’t it?
Even condos and townhomes faced decreasing inventory levels in January, sinking down from 3.8-months to 3.4-months.
“The Houston real estate market carried the momentum of 2020 into the new year; however, we believe that the current pace of sales is unsustainable without an infusion of new listings into the marketplace,” said HAR Chairman Richard Miranda in the most recent HAR report. It’s hard to sell homes that don’t exist on the market, after all.
Days on Market (DOM)
With real estate this hot, it’s no shock that the average Days on Market (DOM) measurement fell from 69 to 48. If you’re looking to sell an in-demand home in the city, there’s a solid chance that you can sell it quickly. However, if you’re looking to buy, don’t drag your feet if you think that house is your dream home!
Sales Breakdowns
Single-family home sales continued to soar in January with existing home sales increasing 32.2% compared to the same month last year. Fueled by low-interest loans, the $500,000 – $749,999 segment shot up an amazing 73.9%. We have been witnessing the upward trend in the sales of luxury homes for months, a trend which we suspect will continue if additional homes enter the market and interest rates remain low.
Townhomes and condos also had a fantastic month with sales up for the fifth straight month in January.
Total property sales shot up 27.5%, adding up to $2.3 billion dollars in sales. That’s a lot of real estate!
What it all Means
If you’re considering selling: it’s time to talk to your Realtor® now. There’s no telling how long interest rates with remain low to entice buyers, and an influx of new homes to the market in the spring could increase the time it takes to sell your home and decrease the potential value you could receive from a sale.
If you’re considering buying: options are a bit tight right now, to say the least. However, that doesn’t mean you should give up. Interest rates are low, and that means you might qualify for a bigger home than you would otherwise. However, if you can hold out until the spring when more homes typically enter the market, there will hopefully be a bit more selection to choose from.