In the Houston real estate market, conditions continue to favor buyers in most Houston neighborhoods. However, rising oil prices may change this dynamic in the coming months.
September 2016 found an increase in the number of new listings, active listings, and pending listings for single-family homes, according to information from Houston Association of Realtors
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.
Prices in the Houston real estate market continued to climb during that year-long period. The median price of a single-family home in the Houston area increased 5.13 percent between September 2015 and September 2016, to $205,000. Average home prices rose marginally by .64% percent during that period to $305,114. The dollar volume of sales during the year fell .1% percent. In total, $2,081,536,356 worth of homes were sold in September 2016.
Homes spend an average of 52 days on the market in Houston, which is a slight increase from last September’s 50 day average.
Like it has for most of the summer, the market remains in balance. Attractive, well-placed homes continue to sell very quickly and in some cases can receive multiple offers. However, with an increase in the number of available options, Buyers have more options than they have had over the past year and in individual neighborhoods and properties might be able to find more attractive prices than in 2015.
The question going forward will be the slight rebound of oil prices over the past few weeks. The price per barrel moved over $50 per barrel in September and seems to have settled in the low 50s. If this trend holds through the holidays, we may see a lot of new buyers come online after the 1st of the year. If that happens, the current market may quickly shift in the favor of sellers and prices may rise.
