New home sales increased in April, according to the New Home Sales report from HomesUSA Chief Executive Officer Ben Caballero.
New home sales are up month over month, with 1,888 new homes sold in April versus 1,702 in March. Meanwhile inventory is down slightly, with 11,123 active new home listings on the market in April versus 11,375 in March.
“The Houston housing market continues to be robust as it normalizes,” Caballero said, referencing last year’s abnormally low stats for days on the market (DOM). In April 2023, new homes spent 99.93 days on the market with a three-month moving average of 106.77 days. In April 2022, that amount of time was significantly shorter at 73.4 days.
However, in the report, Caballero explains how DOM does not accurately portray the speed of new home sales. “Most new homes are listed during construction, resulting in a higher average Days on Market than existing home sales,” Caballero said. “The DOM stops when the status changes to ‘sales pending,’ but the average difference for new homes is about 45 to 60 days higher. The current new-home DOM is healthy, in my opinion.”
New home prices have also increased heading into the spring market. The average new home sales price was $413,925 in April, up from 403,897 in March.