HAR tagged interest

The Houston real estate market charged into the new year carrying the positive momentum it sustained throughout 2021, with the strongest sales activity at the highest end of the pricing spectrum because there is little to no inventory available below the midrange. With an inadequate supply of new listings to meet consumer demand, inventory overall remains at historic lows, and steady pricing increases coupled with rising mortgage interest rates create uncertainty over what lies ahead for the market in 2022.
 
According to the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) January 2022 Market Update, single-family home sales rose 7.1 percent with 6,451 units sold compared to 6,024 in January of 2021. Renters also kept the lease market in positive territory in January.
 
Homes priced from $1 million and above drew the greatest sales volume increase for the month, registering a 52.2 percent year-over-year gain. The $500,000 to $1 million housing segment came in second place, surging 47.1 percent. That was followed by homes priced between $250,000 and $500,000, which rose 36.1 percent. 
 
Once again, the heavy volume of high-end buying and lack of inventory of homes under $250,000 pushed overall prices upward. The average price of a single-family home rose 16.2 percent to $377,738 while the median price shot up 17.9 percent to $310,000. While both figures represent highs for a January, they are well below the historic highs reached last year.
 
Sales of all property types were up 9.3 percent year-over-year, totaling 8,134, and total dollar volume for January jumped 28.1 percent to $2.9 billion. 
 
“The Houston housing market staged an impressive start to 2022, but that pace of sales is unsustainable without dramatic and immediate improvement in inventory,” said HAR Chair Jennifer Wauhob with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene. “There simply aren’t enough homes out there for consumers to buy right now, and the steady rise in home prices plus increasing mortgage rates create a perfect storm in terms of affordability.”
 

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