March 2017 HAR Report – Steady Growth with Inventory on the Rise

The Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) released their March 2017 report last week which showed that the Houston real estate continues to forge on with steady growth with inventory on the rise.

Average single-family home prices rose 4.6% year over year, continuing the trend of steady growth that is inline with expectations.

Months of inventory went up to 3.8 from 3.5 a year ago, which signifies a slightly more energetic move toward a buyers market (which we consider to be about 6 months of inventory).  3.8 months of inventory is also significant in that it matches the nationwide average.

The upper end of the real estate market continues strong movement.  The largest bump was the segment of houses between $250,000 and $499,999, the volume of which increased by 23.1 percent.  Next was the highest end of the market, those homes over $750,000, the volume of which increased by 19 percent.  Those considering purchasing a high end home may want to make the leap sooner rather than later.

Broken out by housing segment, February sales performed as follows:

• $1 – $99,999: decreased 14.8 percent
• $100,000 – $149,999: decreased 8.1 percent
• $150,000 – $249,999: increased 11.8 percent
• $250,000 – $499,999: increased 23.1 percent
• $500,000 – $749,999: increased 11.0 percent
• $750,000 and above: increased 19.0 percent

 

Here are some interesting quotes and statistics from the report:

“The single-family home average price climbed 4.6 percent to $284,279, which was also the highest level for a March”

 

“The average rent for single-family homes declined 4.9 percent to $1,647”

 

“March sales of all property types in Houston totaled 8,495, up 10.5 percent from the same month last year. Total dollar volume for properties sold in March rocketed 15.6 percent to $2.3 billion.”

CATEGORIES	MARCH 2016	MARCH 2017	CHANGE
Total property sales	7,688	8,495	10.5%
Total dollar volume	$1,970,078,537	$2,278,567,977	15.7%
Total active listings	34,512	37,926	9.9%
Single-family home sales	6,278	7,013	11.7%
Single-family average sales price	$271,781	$284,279	4.6%
Single-family median sales price	$215,000	$227,530	5.8%
Single-family months inventory*	3.5	3.8	0.3 mos.
Single-family pending sales	7,124	8,311	16.7%

* 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.

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