Houston is heading into fall with a cornucopia of homes.
After passing an all-time inventory milestone, Houston’s single-family listing inventory increased 26 percent year over year in September, pushing 39,000 active listings, according to the Houston Association of Realtors. New listings rose 13 percent to 14,618 homes.
This well-stocked September follows an ample August, when Houston had almost 40,000 single-family listings, according to HAR. If you include townhomes and condos, Houston had the biggest residential inventory in the country in August, setting a record with 44,000 homes overall, per Homes.com.
Although fall is traditionally the start of the slow season, September ended a months-long trend of lagging prices. The median home price in Houston trailed year over year from March to July, and the August average listing price of $443,000 was barely higher than last year’s. The average listing price fell about $3,000 from August to September, but last month’s average of $440,000 was 2 percent higher than a year ago, according to HAR.
However, sellers everywhere are lowering prices and offering discounts more than in recent years, and Houston’s at the forefront of the trend. Earlier this year, Houston had the lowest sale-to-list ratio of any populous metropolitan area in the country, telegraphing negotiating power for buyers. Houston and Dallas led the nation in price cuts in August, with nearly a third of sellers caving to discounts.
Harris County ranked fifth among the most-populous counties for annual decreases in median home price, according to ATTOM.
Buyers are gaining an edge throughout the Sun Belt. After a swift run of accelerating demand, during which builders and sellers enjoyed a rush of in-migration and historically fast home appreciation, Texas and Florida boomtowns have braked suddenly and tumbled into buyer’s markets.
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