Luxury house sales set a record

Total paid for Texas’ million-dollar homes rose 24% in 2020

This year’s housing boom has also brought a surge in luxury home sales.

Real estate agents sold a record $10.3 billion in Texas million-dollar houses in the 12 months ending in November, a new report from the Texas Realtors association shows.

That was a jump of almost 24 percent when compared with last year.

“One reason we’ve seen strong growth in luxury home sales despite the pandemic is that mortgage rates are so low,” Marvin Jolly, chairman of the Realtors group, said in a statement. “Buyers of high-end properties are finding they can buy more for their money, particularly when compared to many real estate markets in New York, California and other pricier areas.”

Houston tied with Dallas-Fort Worth in leading the state in luxury home buys, with 1,849 milliondollar home sales by real estate agents during the year ending in November, totaling $2.9 billion in value.

More than 5,000 properties priced at $1 million or more were listed for sale in the D-FWarea last month, with a supply of 10.3 months.

Million-dollar home sales in the Austin area had the biggest annual gain, with a 41.4 percent increase in purchases. Sales in the D-FW area were up 3.6 percent year over year.

In the San Antonio area, million-dollar home purchases were up 26.5 percent when compared with last year.

Statewide, there were 6,347 million-dollar home sales during the 12 months surveyed, according to the Texas Realtors.

Because of longer sales times for high-end homes, there’s a much larger inventory of milliondollar houses statewide. And with home prices rising sharply during the last few years, many more Texas properties are counted as million-dollar homes.

“Buyers in the market for homes priced at $1 million and above will continue to have a good selection in most areas of Texas,” Jolly said.