The Houston area set annual records for single-family home sales, average sale price, and total sales dollar volume in 2021, the Houston Association of REALTORS announced Wednesday.

All told, 106,229 single-family homes sold in the Houston area last year, a 10.3% increase from the previous record of 96,271 in 2020.

The average single-family home sale price increased 16% from $324,069 in 2020 to $376,075 in 2021. Total dollar volume of all single-family home sales in 2021 increased to a record $39.95 billion, up from $31.16 billion in 2020.

The Greater Houston market hit those lofty records despite shrinking inventory, rising prices, labor and supply shortages that slowed home construction, plus the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, HAR said in its 2021 Housing Market Update.

HAR credited its virtual technology for helping buyers overcome pandemic concerns, allowing people to attend open houses and view properties remotely.

“It was impossible to know what 2021 would have in store for Houston real estate, especially as the surges in coronavirus variants began affecting our area, but the need for housing never abated and Realtors delivered,” said HAR Chair Jennifer Wauhob with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene. “Limited inventory and shortages of building supplies and labor on the new construction side also posed serious challenges, but the market powered through it all to achieve a record year.” 

Housing inventory peaked in August with a 1.8-month supply. That number dropped to 1.4 months by December, but rising prices and limited inventory are likely to continue into the new year.

“As we enter 2022, inventory and affordability are definite concerns,” Wauhob said in the news release.