Active listings have increased in Texas, as have the average number of days each listing spends on the market, according to the 2023-Q1 Quarterly Housing Report from Texas REALTORS®. Meanwhile, the median home price has stayed pretty much the same compared to a year ago.
“Last quarter, we saw the Texas housing market shift towards a more balanced state between homebuyers and sellers,” said Texas REALTORS® Chairman Marcus Phipps. “The increase in active listings suggests that buyers in many areas have more options to choose from than they’ve had recently.”
In the first quarter of 2022, the average Texas home spent 31 days on the market. That amount has nearly doubled since then, with the average home selling in 64 days during the first quarter. Months of inventory, which was at 2.7 months of supply during the first quarter, also grew by just over one month. All this said, active listings were up 113% year over year.
The median home price is up 0.6% — and while that might not seem much more expensive to buyers, Phipps says it’s enough to indicate that there is still strong demand for Texas housing.
“The inventory increase was not enough to outpace the demand for housing in the market,” he said. “While there are more available options for buyers, there is still a significant number of potential buyers throughout the state, which is why median prices are close to what they were in most markets a year ago.”
Over 72,000 homes were sold during the first quarter, a 17% decrease year over year, with the majority of the homes falling into the $200,000 to $399,000 price range.
In the Houston metropolitan area, the decrease in closings was even steeper. Over 18,600 homes sold during the first quarter, which was down 24.2% from last year. However, Houston’s active listings are up 85.4%, while months of inventory are up one month to a 2.6-month supply.
One possible cause of decreased closings statewide may be the high mortgage rates that have sidelined sellers in the past year or so. Despite this decrease in sales activity, Phipps says the continued trend of people moving to Texas is far from over. “We expect the housing market to remain robust this year,” he concluded.