The Houston Association of REALTORS® (HAR) has announced the release of its March 2023 Market Update as it continues to conduct a two-tiered analysis of Houston real estate: a comparison to 2019–the last “normal” year before the pandemic, as well as 2022.
According to its latest report, the market is “returning to normalcy.”
Report highlights:
- March marked the 12th consecutive month of falling sales and the second straight month of slightly lower prices.
- Single-family home sales fell 18.3% year-over-year; 7,907 units sold compared to 9,681 in March 2022.
- Compared to March 2019, when 6,995 units were sold, single-family home sales rose 13%.
- All but the sub-$100,000 housing segment experienced negative sales.
- Single family home prices fell for only the second time since the spring of 2020. The median price dropped 3% to $325,000 while the average price was statistically flat at $408,647. That is in sharp contrast to the all-time pricing highs of $438,313 (average) in May 2022 and $353,995 (median) in June 2022.
- Days on Market (DOM) for single-family homes rose from 38 to 62 days.
- Total property sales fell 20.9% with 9,589 units sold.
- Total dollar volume dropped 20.2% to $3.7 billion.
- The single-family median price dropped 3% to $325,000.
- The single-family average price was statistically flat at $408,647.
- Single-family home months of inventory registered a 2.7-months supply, up from 1.1 months a year earlier.
- Townhome/condominium sales experienced their 10th straight monthly decline, falling 35.3%, with the median price up 4% to $223,500 and the average price up 6% to $270,294.
- Broken out by housing segment, March sales performed as follows:
- $1 – $99,999: increased 28.7%.
- $100,000 – $149,999: decreased 14.2%.
- $150,000 – $249,999: decreased 20.3%.
- $250,000 – $499,999: decreased 18.7%.
- $500,000 – $999,999: decreased 18.3%.
- $1M and above: decreased 20.4%.
- Compared to pre-pandemic 2019, townhome and condominium sales were unchanged.
The takeaway:
“Houston real estate is continuing to work its way back to normalcy with more new listings hitting the market and prices easing,” said HAR Chair Cathy Treviño with Side, Inc. “Inflation and interest rates are still causing angst, but once consumer confidence is finally restored, we will see home sales pick up and probably return to the seasonal cycles that prevailed before the pandemic.”
For the full report, click here.
