Has Houston’s housing market regrouped for 2016?
After a weak December, Houston’s housing market regrouped somewhat in January, with home sales and prices remaining consistent with where they were a year ago.
According to the latest report from the Houston Association of Realtors, there were 4,965 total property sales in January, nearly identical to the 4,964 sales of Jan. 2015. The average sales price for single-family homes was similarly static at $262,663, although the median sales price did rise 5.3 percent to $200,000. Most encouraging of all, Houston’s housing inventory improved, with active listings rising 15.8 percent to 32,260 and months supply rising 30.5 percent to 3.3-months.
Economic Stagnation in Houston
Mario Arriaga, the current HAR chairman, commented in the association’s report that Houston has so far withstood negative market forces.
“A lot of folks have nervously anticipated that falling oil prices would have a devastating effect on real estate, but so far, the Houston market has weathered the energy downturn without dramatic shifts in sales and pricing,” Arriaga said. “HAR will continue to closely monitor the economic climate.”
The numbers do suggest that the Bayou City’s economy has slowed, though. In the February edition of The Economy at a Glance, the Greater Houston Partnership (GHP) reported that job growth rose less than 1 percent in Houston from 2014 to 2015, with 23,200 jobs added; the GHP is anticipating negative job growth in 2016, with jobs added falling to 22,000.
An Inconsistent Marketplace
In his comments, Arriaga drew attention to strength in Houston’s mid-level market, and indeed, HAR did report that home sales rose 8.8 percent year-over-year for properties priced $150,000 to $249,999. That said, sales were negative for all other price ranges, some by double digits:
- $1 to $79,999: decreased 40.6 percent
- $80,000 to $149,999: decreased 16.2 percent
- $250,000 to $499,999: decreased 1.0 percent
- $500,000 and above: decreased 9.3 percent
Despite those declines, contract signings were positive, with single-family pending sales rising 9.1 percent to 5,714.