Houston saw a decline in new and pending listings for the first time in several weeks compared to the same period last year, as home supply remains tight. 

New listings dropped for the first time in nine weeks during week 20 of 2021 (May 18 to 24), according to the Houston Association of Realtors’ weekly activity snapshot. Realtors entered 2,897 properties into the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) compared to 2,897 listings for the same week in 2020, representing a 2.5% decline. 

Pending listings saw their first decline in 12 weeks, with a total of 2,703 listings that went under contract during week 20. Compared to 2,965 pending listings during the same week last year, this signifies an 8.8% decrease.

Off-market listings were 28.5% lower than the same period in 2020, with sellers withdrawing a total of 797 homes compared to 1,115 last year. 

On the other hand, closings saw a steep 70.9%  increase compared to last year, as Houston homebuying activity stayed robust. Realtors closed 2,405 sales of homes during week 20 this year, compared to 1,407 closed sales the previous year. 

As usual, Houston experienced a downpour of heavy rains in the weeks leading up to Memorial Day, resulting in a slowing in the pace of local showings. Realtors showed a total of 47,199 homes in week 20, compared to 48,640 showings last year (a 3% decrease). 

Listing views were also down 15.2%, with 13.7 million HAR.com listing views, compared to 16.2 million views during week 20 of last year. 

Unless Houston’s home inventory begins to keep up with homebuyer demand, these trends will likely continue in the same direction in the upcoming weeks.