Houston housing inventory has grown to its highest level in two years, according to the Houston Association of REALTORS®’ August 2022 Market Update.

HAR reports that sales of single-family homes have fallen 16.9%, the lowest monthly sales volume since February of this year.

Sales of houses at all price points have decreased, except for those in the $500,000 to $1,000,000 range.

“We are easing our way back into the housing market that existed prior to the pandemic,” said HAR Chair Jennifer Wauhob. “For the past two years, Houston housing has been like a runaway train, and what we’ve been seeing most recently is an engineer, finally at the throttle, applying the brakes so the train can pull safely into the next station. It’s important to note that transactions are still happening, just not at a whirlwind pace or record pricing levels, and that is perfectly healthy.”

The median price of single-family homes has stayed above $300,000 since May of 2021, reaching a record-high of $438,591 in May of 2022. As of August, the median price of a single-family home has fallen to $411,671.

These record-high prices have forced prospective homebuyers to turn back to the rental market, creating a surplus of active listings. Inventory of single-family homes in Houston has reached a 2.5-month supply, the highest level since August of 2020. Average days on the market has also increased for single-family homes, jumping from 27 days to 31.