Condominium owners looking for more space, access to outdoor areas and increased distance from neighbors often consider a detached home to be a natural upgrade. But are these upsizing dreams actually attainable?

New listings have proven difficult to predict in the first 12 weeks of the year, according to the Houston Association of Realtors® latest Weekly Activity Snapshot.

The National Association of REALTORS® Pending Home Sales Index rose for the third month in a row, suggesting the housing market’s contraction could be “coming to an end.” 

The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index rose 3.8% year over year in January, compared to a 5.6% annual gain in December.

The most expensive new listing in Texas is a record-breaking property.

The supply of new homes for sale ticked lower from February, according to government figures.

The annual rate of 4.58 million sales was up 14.5% from January but down 22.6% from the February 2022 rate of 5.92 million. 

Multifamily construction may have exceeded demand in Houston, according to Colliers’ latest report.

A shortage of existing-home inventory is driving more people to the market for newly built homes. 

Homebuilders expressed “cautious optimism” that the lack of existing inventory would drive demand for new homes despite high construction costs and interest rates, the National Association of Home Builders reported.    

The most-expensive sale of the month was listed by Walter Bering of Martha Turner Sotheby’s International Realty.

The Texas housing market may have finally calmed from the pandemic housing frenzy, according to the Texas REALTORS®’ 2022 Texas Real Estate Year in Review report.

The Mortgage Bankers Association noted the increase in borrowing activity came despite the 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbing to its highest level since November 2022. 

We can compare today’s market activity to pre-pandemic numbers for a more accurate sense of what we can expect this spring homebuying season.

In January, home prices were up 5.5% annually and down 0.2% monthly, CoreLogic reported, citing its monthly Home Price Insights report. 

The 8.1% month-over-month increase in the National Association of REALTORS® Pending Home Sales Index was the largest gain since June 2020.