Houston Real Estste Market Breaks Records

The Houston Real Estate Market Breaks Records in 2014

David Mendel / January 27, 2015 / 0 Comments

Consumers drive home sales volume and home prices to all-time highs and inventory to an all-time low

The year 2014 enters the history books as a year of extremes for the Houston housing market, as home sales volume and prices achieved record highs while inventory levels tumbled to record lows.

The frenzied real estate activity was primarily driven by the addition of more than 125,000 jobs that attracted buyers and renters from across the U.S. and around the world between November 2013 and November 2014, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.

December single-family home sales increased 11.6 percent versus December 2013 while total property sales rose 11.0 percent. The latest monthly report prepared by the Houston Association of REALTORS® (HAR) shows that contracts closed on 6,451 single-family homes, shrinking inventory to a 2.5-months supply, the lowest level of all time. Once again, homes from $250,000 and above registered the highest sales volume and accounted for the latest round of price appreciation.

“The Houston housing market experienced its best year on record in 2014 and that is a reflection of the vitality of the local economy,” said HAR Chair Nancy Furst with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Anderson Properties. “We expect the pace of sales to normalize this year, which should finally enable inventory levels to grow, restoring balance to the market.”

The single-family home average price rose 6.6 percent year-over-year to $280,863 while the median price—the figure at which half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less—rose 11.2 percent to $209,590. Both figures represent historic highs for a December in Houston, however they did not top the all-time record prices (average of $284,569 and median of $215,000) reached in June 2014.

December sales of all property types in Houston totaled 7,695, an 11.0 percent increase over the same month last year. Total dollar volume for properties sold in December soared 18.1 percent to $2.0 billion versus $1.8 billion a year earlier.

Soure: HAR Connect