Low Housing Inventory Slows Sales and Raises Prices
HAR Chair Chaille Ralph shares how the Houston housing market responded in January to lower housing inventory in her monthly video update.
As most agents and buyers probably found out, housing inventory was critically low in January, causing the price buyers paid for homes to be higher. Home sales increased from last January 1.7%, which was the smallest increase since 2011 and a reflection of the low inventory situation. The supply of homes in Houston was down to 2.6 months of inventory, compared to 3.6 months of inventory in January of 2013.
Some interesting facts about the Housing Housing Market for January 2014:
- Median price for Single Family Homes jumped 18% to $177,000
- Average price for Single Family Homes increased 22% to $244,000
- Both Median and Average prices indicate the highest for a January in Houston
- Houston's $150,000 and over market experienced growth, while the $80,000 to $150,000
- Foreclosure sales dropped 53.2% from last January 2013, and only make up about 9.2% of the market down from last year.
- Foreclosure sold prices increased 6.9%
Houston’s real estate market saw gains in all measurements in January when comparing sales to January 2013. Total property sales, total dollar volume and average and median pricing all rose on a year-over-year basis.
Month-end pending sales totaled 3,730, a 3.9 percent gain over last year and another possible indication of a steady but lower volume of sales when the February numbers are tallied. Active listings, or the number of available properties, at the end of January dropped 15.9 percent to 28,211.
Houston's inventory of available homes remained flat at a 2.6-month supply month-over-month in January, but was down from the 3.6 months of supply one year ago. The inventory of single-family homes across the U.S. currently stands at 4.6 months, according to the latest report from the National Association of REALTORS®.CATEGORIES | JANUARY 2013 | JANUARY 2014 | CHANGE |
Total property sales | 4,667 | 4,929 | 5.6% |
Total dollar volume | $904,858,281 | $1,147,677,815 | 26.8% |
Total active listings | 33,532 | 28,211 | -15.9% |
Total pending sales | 3,591 | 3,730 | 3.9% |
Single-family home sales | 3,889 | 3,957 | 1.7% |
Single-family average sales price | $200,079 | $244,070 | 22.0% |
Single-family median sales price | $150,000 | $177,000 | 18.0% |
Months inventory* | 3.6 | 2.6 | -27.3% |
Single-Family Homes Update
January sales of single-family homes in Houston totaled 3,957, up 1.7 percent from January 2013. That marks the 32nd consecutive monthly increase. It also represents the smallest one-month sales increase since June 2011 and the lowest one-month sales volume since February 2012.
Home prices reached the highest levels ever recorded in Houston for a January. The single-family median price climbed 18.0 percent from last year to $177,000 and the average price soared 22.0 percent year-over-year to $244,070.
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$1 - $79,999: decreased 46.3 percent
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$80,000 - $149,999: decreased 7.9 percent
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$150,000 - $249,999: increased 9.7 percent
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$250,000 - $499,999: increased 41.6 percent
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$500,000 - $1 million and above: increased 45.3 percent
HAR also breaks out the sales performance of existing single-family homes throughout the Houston market. In January 2014, existing home sales totaled 3,396, a 2.1 percent increase from the same month last year. The average sales price rose 23.2 percent year-over-year to $226,424 while the median sales price rose 20.7 percent to $164,800.
Source: HAR.com MLS January 2014 Press Release