HOUSTON — (January 10, 2024)/HAR Report — For the second year in a row, economic forces affecting the entire country caused its share of disruption to the Houston housing market. While 2023 saw significant growth in housing inventory and moderation in pricing, it was ultimately mortgage interest rates, which leapt to 20-year highs, that prompted many would-be buyers to scrap purchasing plans or pivot to rental housing in 2023. As 2024 gets underway, Houston’s residential housing landscape is considered to be on solid footing if you factor out the uncertainty of what the Federal Reserve may do with interest rates and lingering consumer jitters over inflation.
A decline in single-family home sales and total property sales made 2023 the second consecutive negative year for Houston housing. According to HAR’s December/Full-Year 2023 Housing Market Update, single-family home sales fell 12.0 percent to 83,854. Sales of all property types totaled 102,367, down 13.1 percent from 2022. Total dollar volume dropped 12.6 percent to $40 billion versus $45.6 billion in 2022.
“It is disappointing to have a down year for home sales, but the economic forces affecting Houston affected housing markets across the U.S., so this was not a uniquely Houston situation,” said HAR Chair Thomas Mouton with Century 21 Exclusive. “We believe that home sales will pick up once consumer confidence is restored, and that depends on what the Federal Reserve does with interest rates and evidence that inflation is no longer a threat. The expanded housing inventory and moderation in pricing we saw throughout 2023 have created a positive buying landscape for 2024.”