Houston Real Estate Market Report December 2018

The Houston Association of Realtors recently released their December 2018 and Year-End MLS Press Release.  According to the report, 2018 proved to be another record-breaking year despite lingering effects from Harvey and housing inventory constraints.  Annually, single family home sales increased 3.8% to 82,177 sales, while sales of all property types increased 3.7% to 98,323 sales. The average sales price increased 2.6% to $298,982 and the median sales price increased 3.3% to $237,500. Total dollar volume annually was a record-breaking $28 billion, a 21.5% leap from 2017.

In December 2018, single-family home sales decreased 4.1% to 6,543. Total property sales for December 2018 decreased 4.6% to 7,709. The luxury market, homes priced above $750,000, was the strongest of only two markets seeing positive sales activity.  The median price for single-family homes increased 3.4% to $240,000, a record for a December. The average single-family home price increased 4.7% to $306,314, another record for a December. Housing inventory rose slightly from 3.2 months to 3.5 months of inventory.

Townhouse/Condominium Update

Townhome and condominium sales dipped 7.8% to 506 units sold. The average sales price increased 4.6% to $206,760.  The median sales price increased 8.1% to $169,500. Housing inventory grew from a 3.2-months supply to 3.8 months of inventory.

Lease Property Update

Single-family home leases increased 13.2%, while townhome and condominium leases increased 1.6%. The average rent for single-family homes remained steady at $1,771 and the average rent for townhomes and condominiums also remained steady at $1,532.