New home sales in Houston, one of the largest Texas new home sales markets, has slowed down, according to the New Home Sales Index released by HomesUSA.com.
The number of days on the market for new homes sold increased slightly between February and March 2017. “The data shows the Houston Market’s pace continued to slow before that,” said Ben Caballero, owner of HomesUSA.com. “This should not be interpreted negatively. This is a natural consequence.”
Houston has seen a gradual increase in the average days on the market since April 2016, year-over-year. The chart below shows in-depth tracking of how this change has occurred in Houston and throughout the Texas market as a whole in a year-over-year comparison.
| Texas | Houston | |
| MAY ’15 – APR ’16 | 117.45 | 120.42 |
| JUN ’15 – MAY ’16 | 117.24 | 121.76 |
| JUL 15 – JUN ’16 | 117.19 | 124.09 |
| AUG ’15 – JUL ’16 | 117.53 | 125.58 |
| SEP ’15 – AUG ’16 | 118.06 | 127.41 |
| OCT ’15 – SEP ’16 | 117.62 | 127.61 |
| NOV ’15 – OCT ’16 | 117.58 | 127.92 |
| DEC ’15 – NOV ’16 | 118.19 | 129.16 |
| JAN ’16 – DEC ’16 | 119.09 | 130.94 |
| FEB ’16 – JAN ’17 | 119.83 | 131.66 |
| MAR ’16 – FEB ’17 | 120.64 | 132.83 |
| APR ’16 – MAR ’17 | 121.6 | 134.96 |
Texas includes Austin, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston and San Antonio.
Data provided by HomesUSA.com
Caballero also notes in the report that the average Days-on-Market for new homes is 65 days higher than existing or pre-owned homes. This is due to listing homes on the market while under construction to offer buyers a bigger pool of homes to choose from as inventory remains low. According to a recent report from Redfin, demand has cooled down as well, but it is still one of the highest that the market has seen in the past four years. This flux could be beneficial in restoring inventory levels and maintaining demand within Houston market.