Home sales pushing state to record levels
Strong third-quarter home sales in the Houston area — up 11.6 percent — help put Texas on a path for another record year, according to the Texas Association of Realtors.
Strong third-quarter home sales in the Houston area helped put Texas on a path for another record year, according to a Texas Association of Realtors report.
Single-family home sales in the Houston region rose 11.6 percent to 24,028 in the third quarter, the association said. Only the Dallas region registered a higher tally, with 27,660 sales, a drop of 2.3 percent from the third quarter of 2017.
The Houston area, which represented 25 percent of the state’s 95,225 home sales in the quarter, posted a particularly strong September as the market rebounded from a stall in sales immediately after Hurricane Harvey.
Statewide, sales in the third quarter rose 4.4 percent. The Texas median home price increased 4.4 percent to $235,000.
“The record-breaking home sales activity this summer in Texas is an example of the strong economy, job growth and quality of life in our great state that keeps driving demand for homeownership,” association chairman Kaki Lybbert said in a statement. “At the current rate that home sales and active listings are increasing, we are trending toward another record-breaking year in Texas real estate.”
Home sales also rose by double digits in nine other Texas markets: Beaumont (up 15.1 percent to 1,047), Corpus Christi (21.2 percent to 1,537), El Paso (13.7 percent to 2,337), Lubbock (18.2 percent to 1,226), Odessa (23.2 percent to 467), Sherman-Denison (10.2 percent to 517), Texarkana (20.7 percent to 227), Victoria (20.7 percent to 245) and Waco (16.8 percent to 895).
Austin had the state’s most expensive median sales price at $309,945, a 6.2 percent gain over the third quarter of 2017, the Texas Association of Realtors said. Houston’s median price rose 2.6 percent to $236,000, while Dallas registered a 3.9 percent gain to $265,034.
Midland, meanwhile, is closing in on $300,000 as energy workers flock to the West Texas city. The median home price shot up 12.4 percent to $295,000 in the third quarter, while sales rose by 9.7 percent to 790 during the period.
Midland’s housing inventory tightened to a low 1.8 months, with only nearby Odessa reporting a lower inventory — 1.6 months. The supply of homes for sale across Texas of 3.9 months in the third quarter is well below the benchmark of six months for a balanced market.
Jim Gaines, chief economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, said the market remains strong but is cooling.
“Median home prices and home sales are up, but the rate of increase statewide is beginning to slow compared to prior years,” Gaines said. “With inventory levels for homes priced under $150,000 remaining low, we’re seeing a concerted effort from homebuilders to build lower-cost housing to fit the entry-level homebuyers’ market.”