HOUSTON — (December 13, 2023) /HAR Report— Just in time for the holidays, the Houston real estate market received a gift in November in the form of positive sales for the first time in 19 months. There are even more healthy indicators layered throughout the latest housing market report as 2023 draws to a close.
According to the Houston Association of Realtors’ (HAR) November 2023 Market Update, single-family home sales across Greater Houston rose 4.9 percent, the first increase since March 2022. The Houston Multiple Listing Service (MLS) recorded sales of 6,154 units compared to 5,864 in November 2022. Months supply of homes climbed from 2.8 to 3.5. Compared to pre-pandemic November 2019, when volume totaled 6,359, home sales were down 3.2 percent.
Only homes priced below $150,000 saw declines during the month. That segment comprises just 3.5 percent of the overall market. The best performing segment consisted of homes priced between $250,000 and $500,000, which rose 8.0 percent year-over-year. That segment is the largest, comprising 59.8 percent of the market. Rentals of single-family homes and townhomes/condominiums registered another strong month. HAR will publish its November 2023 Rental Home Update next Wednesday, December 20.
“I couldn’t think of a better way to wrap up 2023 than to see positive sales trends after nearly two years of negative trending,” said HAR Chair Cathy Treviño with LPT, Realty. “Home sales hinge heavily on interest rates, so hopefully consumer confidence will be restored as we begin the new year, especially since inventory has steadily improved and prices have moderated, creating more favorable conditions for buyers.”
The average price of a single-family home throughout Greater Houston edged up 1.0 percent to $404,597 while the median price notched downward 1.2 percent to $326,000. Those figures are well below the record highs of $438,350 (average) in May 2022 and $354,000 (median) in June 2022.