The number of sales dipped slightly, total dollar value unchanged, listings up 11% and prices hit a new record……just when oh god will the carnage end????
Pending sales are up 10% so October is already off to a strong start….
The release:
HOUSTON — (October 13, 2016) — Unlike the temperature, single-family home sales throughout greater Houston cooled a bit in September, with a fractional 0.5 percent year-over-year decline. Homes priced between $150,000 and $500,000 saw positive sales volume while the market’s high and low ends experienced declines. Both median and average price reached record highs for a September.
According to the latest monthly report prepared by the Houston Association of REALTORS® (HAR), a total of 6,652 homes sold in September compared to 6,685 a year earlier. On a year-to-date basis, however, home sales are up 1.3 percent compared to this point in 2015. Inventory levels rose from a 3.5-months supply to 3.9 months.
“With home sales ahead of where they were at this time last year – a record sales year – in a market that continues to suffer energy-related job losses, I believe we’re doing well,” said HAR Chairman Mario Arriaga with First Group. “Inventory is still moving in the right direction, and consumers that were not buying homes in September accounted for strong rental activity throughout the month.”
The single-family home median price—the figure at which half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less—rose 4.8 percent to $219,990. That is the highest median price ever for a September. The average price increased 2.4 percent to $277,849, which is also a September high.
September sales of all property types in Houston totaled 7,893, down 1.6 percent from the same month last year. Total dollar volume for properties sold in September was unchanged at $2.1 billion.
September Monthly Market ComparisonHouston’s monthly housing market indicators generated largely positive readings compared to September 2015. On a year-over-year basis, single-family homes sales and total property sales declined slightly, total dollar volume was flat, and both the median and average home prices climbed to record September highs.
Month-end pending sales for single-family homes totaled 6,501, an increase of 10.5 percent compared to last year. Total active listings, or the total number of available properties, at the end of September rose 11.6 percent from September 2015 to 37,955.
Single-family homes inventory edged up from a 3.5-months supply to 3.9 months. For perspective, housing inventory across the U.S. currently stands at a 4.6-months supply, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
CATEGORIES SEPTEMBER 2015 SEPTEMBER 2016 CHANGE Total property sales 8,024 7,893 -1.6% Total dollar volume $2,082,878,687 $2,081,536,356 -0.1% Total active listings 34,020 37,955 11.6% Single-family home sales 6,685 6,652 -0.5% Single-family average sales price $271,466 $277,849 2.4% Single-family median sales price $210,000 $219,990 4.8% Single-family months inventory* 3.5 3.9 0.4 mos. Single-family pending sales 5,882 6,501 10.5% * Months inventory estimates the number of months it will take to deplete current active inventory based on the prior 12 months sales activity. This figure is representative of the single-family homes market.
