Searching for a new home during 2020 has been anything but normal. However, sales volume and pricing soar to new highs as pent-up demand from COVID-19 has heated up Houston housing for a second straight month.
According to the latest Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) Market Update, 10,975 single-family homes sold in July compared to 8,921 a year earlier. That translated to a 23.0 percent increase. That is a record sales volume for a single month and marks the first time that figure has surpassed 10,000.
Homes priced between $500,000 and $750,000 registered the greatest percentage increase, rocketing 51.9 percent compared to July 2019. The second-best performer was the luxury market – consisting of homes priced at $750,000 and above – which jumped 41.7 percent year-over-year. Homes between $200,000 and $500,000, the range in which the largest number of homes sell, also saw substantial increases over last year.
The combined strength in the high-end and mid-range markets pulled average and median pricing up to historic levels. The single-family home median price rose 8.7 percent to $271,830 while the average price climbed 8.5 percent to $338,350. Year-to-date sales are now 2.7 percent ahead of 2019’s record pace.
Sales of all property types totaled 13,043 – another record high – up 25.0 percent from July 2019. Total dollar volume for the month leapt 33.8 percent to $4.1 billion. Consumers also sent lease properties into positive territory in July.
“We are grateful for two consecutive months of strong activity across greater Houston, however we do not consider the current pace of home sales sustainable given the shrinking supply of homes and expect business to taper a bit this fall,” said HAR Chairman John Nugent with RE/MAX Space Center. “Historically low interest rates make this an outstanding time to buy a home, but without the inventory, there unfortunately isn’t much out there for consumers.”
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