The holiday season is in full swing, causing slower activity in the Houston real estate market, according to the Houston Association of REALTORS® weekly activity snapshot. 

Realtors entered 1,010 properties into the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) during week 51, a 14.8% dip from last year during the same time period. This is Houston’s seventh consecutive weekly decline in new listings.

Pending listings tumbled 10% compared to the same week in 2020. A total of 1,258 property listings went under contract versus last year’s 1,397. This marks only the second weekly decline in pending listings since early October.

Fewer listings (2.2%) were withdrawn from the MLS during the week ended Dec. 27 compared to the same week last year. A total of 657 homes went from active to off-market status compared to 672 in 2020. 

After two straight weeks of declines, sold listings edged up for a total of 1,651 versus 1,626 last year, a 1.5% increase. On a year-to-date basis, local home sales are running 12% ahead of 2020 levels.

Consumer traffic at property showings was on the decline with families taking time off for the holidays. Year-over-year attendance fell 12.5% for a total of 17,552 showings compared to 20,067 for the same week one year ago, the report noted.