Houston Market Update: Pending Sales Up 12% Again

Hi, I’m Sonit Seth with the Seth Edge Group, your edge in real estate. The most recent numbers in the Houston real estate market are out, so let’s take a look and see how the market is performing.

The headline numbers are steady, and pending sales are the standout. Total property sales are up 2.6%, and active listings are up 2.2%. The number that stands out is the pending sales index, which is up over 12% year over year.

That’s the part worth paying attention to. This is the second consecutive month that the pending sales index has been up double digits year over year, and pending sales are newly signed contracts that turn into closings over the next few months. A single strong month can be noise. Two in a row is a signal, and it’s a great sign for market activity heading into the rest of the summer.

Two other takeaways from this month. The first is that we hit 10,181 sales in the MLS, which is a healthy sign for the market.

The second is luxury. Homes priced over $1 million were up 17.1% year over year, and again, this is the second consecutive month that luxury home sales have been up double digits year over year. So the luxury home market in Houston is strong right now, and it’s not a one-month blip either.

The jobs comparison is where it gets interesting. The other reports released this past month were the jobs reports, both from Metro Houston and the US job market, and I thought it’d be interesting to compare them.

Houston had its second straight month of above-average job creation with 14,400 jobs created. That’s significantly better than last June, when the city actually lost jobs.

Now compare that to the national picture. The US job market in total added 57,000 jobs in June, which was significantly lower than projected.

So the bottom line I’m seeing here is that the Houston market is performing much better than anticipated for job creation compared to the US market as a whole. That gap matters more than either number does on its own.

As I’ve said before, more job creation leads to more real estate activity, because more people are looking to buy, sell, and lease homes. That’s the connection between the two halves of this update. Houston is adding jobs at a pace the country isn’t matching, and that’s what leads to stabilization in the Houston real estate market. The pending sales strength and the luxury activity aren’t happening in isolation. They’re sitting on top of an economy that’s still creating jobs.

If you have any questions about these numbers or want to chat more about them, feel free to reach out. Call or text me at 713-252-3670, or email me at sonit@sethedge.com. You can find more at sethedge.com. I’d be happy to help.