Harvey hammers Houston home sales in late August

Hurricane-turned-Tropical Storm Harvey’s torrential rains and devastating floodwaters not only disrupted life and destroyed properties throughout the Houston area and Texas Gulf coast.

It also dealt a heavy blow to a real estate market that, until now, was on track to set new records. However, the full effects of the historic storm may not be realized for weeks to come as the market rebuilds and recovers.

According to the latest monthly report prepared by the Houston Association of Realtors, single-family home sales plunged 25.4 percent, marking the first decline in almost a year.

All segments of the housing market felt the strain. Nonetheless, on a year-to-date basis, home sales remain 1.8 percent ahead of the 2016 volume. Housing inventory grew from a 4.0-months supply to 4.4 months, but is expected to shrink as undamaged and repaired homes continue to be snapped up by those in need of housing.

“Hurricane Harvey dealt a severe blow to the Houston area and Texas Gulf Coast and it will probably be several weeks until we can gauge the storm’s full impact on our housing market,” said Cindy Hamann, 2017 HAR chair. “Home sales were humming throughout the first three weeks of August, but the moment Harvey struck the region, everything came to a screeching halt.

“HAR continues to encourage anyone who has housing available for temporary occupancy (up to 12 weeks) to please post it on our Harvey Temporary Housing page as soon as possible at www.har.com/temporaryhousing to provide housing to those in need.”

Pricing seemed unaffected by Harvey. The singlefamily home median price (the figure at which half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less) rose 3 percent to $231,700. The average price increased 2.6 percent to $296,418.

August sales of all property types in Houston totaled 7,077, a decline of 24.2 percent versus the same month last year. Total dollar volume for properties sold in August dropped 22.2 percent to $2 billion. Single-family homes update

Single-family home sales, which had been on track for a record-setting year with 10 consecutive months of gains before Harvey struck, totaled 5,917. That is down 25.4 percent from August 2016 when sales volume was 7,927. All housing segments experienced declines.

Days on market, or the number of days it took the average home to sell, was unchanged at 50. Inventory rose from a 4.0-months supply to 4.4 months, but is expected to shrink as Harvey flooding victims snap up available housing inventory.