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With an uptick in home sales and expanding inventory, the Houston real estate market's positive momentum in February brings an optimistic outlook for the spring homebuying season.

According to the Houston Association of Realtors' (HAR) February 2024 Market Update, single-family home sales across the Greater Houston area rose 7.6 percent. That is only the third increase in the past year....

The high end of the market saw the strongest performance in February. Home sales in the luxury segment ($1 million+), which represents just 3.5 percent of all homes on the market, surged 48.0 percent year-over-year. That was followed by the segment that consisted of homes priced between $500,000 and $1 million which rose 18.3 percent year-over-year. Only homes priced between $150,000 to $250,000 saw declines during the month. Rentals of single-family homes continued to hold strong in February....

"With pent-up demand, consumers appear to finally be pushing aside interest rate concerns and returning to the market, which bodes well for the spring homebuying season," said HAR Chair Thomas Mouton with Century 21 Exclusive. "The increase in home sales, slight appreciation in home prices and expanding inventory, creates opportunities for both buyers and sellers in the marketplace."

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• Mean/Median pricing up 4.1% / 3.0% year over year
• Inventory up 0.1 months from 3.3 to 3.4 from the last publication and up 0.9 months YOY
• Total property sales are up 7% YOY
• Active listings are up 22% YOY
• Interest rates are up in the high 6% to low 7% range again since the bad inflation reports published over the last week
• The 10 yr. treasury is sitting just about where it was last month, at 4.30% as of this morning

• It seems like buyers have come to terms with 6-7% interest rates. Conversely, when rates fall, I think the Houston market is going to go bananas. More on this later.
• There seems to be very little actual movable inventory in the "better" markets that most of my clients play in (Oak Forest, Memorial areas, Heights, etc.), and when something even somewhat acceptable gets posted, its moving fast. There is definitely inventory, but what isn't moving is generally either overpriced or needs significant repairs and is overpriced, or something to that effect.
• The majority of folks I see selling are for (1) Death or (2) Divorce or (3) Work Move or (4) Have kids and need more space ASAP.
• When I see major financial "whales" like Jamie Dimon (my favorite CEO, ha) and Ken Griffin say very similar things like this at around the same time, my take is that those comments are coordinated and coming from the Fed. Given this, I wouldn't expect rate cuts until at least the fed meeting on July 31. The CME Fedwatch Tool is showing that the market is pricing in a 50% chance of a 25 bps rate drop in June, but I think its not going to happen then, especially with all the bad inflation news we've gotten this past week. I do think we see rate cuts before the election.

swimmerbabe11 said:

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summer traffic has definitely begun

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"Higher home prices and mortgage rates have diminished affordability for first-time homebuyers over the past few years, but February provided encouragement for these aspiring homeowners. We've witnessed a significant surge in new listings, predominantly among more affordable and attainable homesparticularly those priced under $400,000. The increase in housing options presents a promising opportunity for Central Texans who want to become homeowners."

Kent Redding, 2024 Unlock MLS and ABoR president, provided further insight into current market conditions.

"The spring homebuying season is typically a busy period, especially in the Austin area, where over 35% of annual sales occur between March and June. Buyers are keen on securing homes before the fall and the upcoming school year in August, drawn out by the enhanced curb appeal and favorable weather conditions. Through Unlock MLS, your REALTOR can combine their expert local market knowledge with the most complete and accurate market data to help you make the best decision for your budget and housing needs."

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• Median sales prices increased 1.2% YOY to $443,065 while closed sales increased 1.3% YOY to 2,144. For those of you that have been following the Austin market, this is the first increase in median sales price in 15 months!
• New listings shot up 44.9% YOY to 3,915. This is a complete reversal from last February when new listings decreased just a little under 1% to 2,764.
• I believe that Jamie makes an interesting point. It seems that buyers and sellers have come to terms with higher interest rates and they'd rather buy now than wait around.
• It also looks like sellers are getting 95.4% of their asking price. That's up 3.2% since last February.
• March seems to be going very well. I'm helping a client out with selling their property in Western Oaks, a nice little subdivision in south Austin. I'm helping the same client buy their new home as well. If everything goes as planned, they will save about $19,000 in listing fees and buyer rebates!