From the Houston Association of Realtors: Houston temperatures finally cooled a bit in September, but home sales remained hot. Sales of single-family homes climbed nearly 17% when compared to one year earlier, and accounted for the fourth consecutive month of increased sales volume. The prices of those homes achieved all-time highs for a September in Houston. In addition, months inventory fell to the lowest level since May 2010 while pending sales rose and active listings declined. All are considered signs of a healthy and balanced housing market as the fall season gets underway.
According to the latest monthly data prepared by the Houston Association of REALTORS® (HAR), September sales of single-family homes rose 16.9% versus one year earlier. This increase followed home sales gains recorded in January, June, July and August of this year. All segments of the housing market experienced positive sales in September. On a year-to-date basis, sales were up 3.2%.
"The combination of increased closed and pending sales, fewer active listings and strong pricing suggests that we are entering the fall home buying season on strong footing," said Carlos P. Bujosa, HAR chairman and VP at Transwestern. "HAR's September report shows rebalanced supply and demand throughout the Houston housing market with diminishing traces of the distortions caused by last year's federal home buyer tax credit."
September Monthly Market Comparison
The month of September brought Houston's overall housing market positive results when all sales categories are compared to September of 2010. Sales volume gains showed more normal, seasonal trending after several months in which the data was skewed by the 2010 tax credit that caused a dramatic drop in home sales following its expiration. Total property sales and total dollar volume rose on a year-over-year basis. Both average and median prices climbed to historic levels for a September in Houston.
Month-end pending sales for September totaled 3,120. That is up 3.2% from last year and suggests the likelihood of another positive month of sales when the October figures are tallied. The number of available properties, or active listings, at the end of September declined 11.5% from September 2010 to 47,812. The inventory of single-family homes was reduced to 6.8 months, its lowest level since May 2010, compared to 7.7 months one year earlier. That means it would take 6.8 months to sell all the single-family homes on the market based on sales activity over the past year. The figure is significantly better than the national inventory of single-family homes of 8.5 months reported by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). These indicators all reflect a balanced real estate marketplace for Houston.
The number of available properties, at the end of August declined 11.5% from August 2010 to 48,752. The inventory of single-family homes was reduced to 7.1 months compared to 7.8 months one year earlier. That means it would take 7.1 months to sell all the single-family homes on the market based on sales activity over the past year. The figure is significantly better than the national inventory of single-family homes of 9.4 months reported by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR).
Single-Family Homes Update September sales of single-family homes in Houston totaled 4,635, up 16.9% from September 2010. This marks the fifth increase of the year following an 8.5% gain in January, 1.3% rise in June, and 15.2 and 28.3% increases in July and August, respectively. On a year-to-date basis, sales are ahead 3.2 percent.
Broken out by segment, September sales of homes that make up the luxury market—priced from $500,000 and up—advanced 2.3%.