Like everything else in the world recently, the Houston real estate market has been subject to constant change. However, what we’ve seen this summer has been very encouraging by all standards and measurements.
After the stay-at-home orders expired in May, there was a flurry of homes that went under contract, which led to a surge of closings in June. We closed more homes this June than we have in any other month in our nearly 40-year history.
The biggest reasons for this huge jump in activity are low levels of inventory, historically low interest rates, and pent-up demand from buyers. Starting in July, we began seeing things cool off a bit, but we still saw houses that were marketed properly, staged well, and priced appropriately in order to sell quickly.
The cooling off of the market was in part due to the renewed worries regarding the spike of COVID cases in Houston. At the same time, it’s still a market where you can get things done if you’re a seller or a buyer. Builders are starting to catch up with demand, which is great news.
“This is still a market where you can get things done as a buyer or seller.”
According to the latest market update from the Houston Association of Realtors, we had 9,328 single-family home sales in June, which is up 15.7% from the 8,063 we saw in June 2019. This was the first time in three months where we didn’t see a decline in sales year over year.
The hottest sector was the $250,000 to $500,000 range, which jumped 28.3% year over year. The second-hottest price range was the $500,000 to $750,000 range, which was up 18.6%. Sales of all property types were up about 18.3% and total volume for the month increased 15.1% to $3.3 billion.
When the July numbers come out, I think you’ll see another strong month of closings, with a bit of a dip in pending contracts. The market is still a very healthy one and we believe that will continue.
It’s even more important these days that your home is marketed, priced, and staged properly if you want to sell quickly and for top dollar.
If you have questions about what’s going on in your specific market or anything else related to real estate, don’t hesitate to reach out via phone or email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
