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HOUSTON—Home buyers in the major Texas metros are currently facing housing inventory shortages, but Houston is dealing with the biggest inventory shortage. On a year-over-year basis, inventory fell 23% to just over 15,000 homes at the end of January, according to a recent ZipRealty survey. The only other market in ZipRealty's survey with less inventory was Chicago, which saw a 25% annual decline.
Jill Jarvis, District Broker in the Houston office of ZipRealty, exclusively tells GlobeSt.com that “Not only is inventory for resale homes at its lowest, but so is inventory for new homes. Builders and developers aren't able to build homes fast enough to meet demand and most builders have indicated that their prices for new homes will go up again in March.”
She continues that “Buyers are experiencing multiple offers on properties that are priced to market, which is causing frustration when they lose several offers before they finally get an offer accepted on a property.”
Buyers should have their financing in place and a preapproval letter in hand before finding a property and submitting an offer on a property through their agent, she adds. In addition, she notes that many prime real estate listings are going for higher than list price.”
Median days on the market for the average Houston home decreased 28% to 36 days and nearly one-fifth of homes on the market are selling in less than 7 days, notes Jarvis.
And according to the recent ZipRealty survey, home price growth in Houston is also performing well above average. At the end of January, the median sales price for the entire Houston metro was $178,000, 16% higher than in January 2013. That compares to national home price growth of only 12.5%.
In addition, the survey says that the number of foreclosures, REOs and distressed sales plunged from January 2013 to January 2014, and now only comprise 9% of the entire Houston housing market, according to ZipRealty.
See charts below for more. Source: ZipRealty Inc.
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Natalie Dolce
Natalie Dolce, editor-in-chief of GlobeSt.com and GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum, is responsible for working with editorial staff, freelancers and senior management to help plan the overarching vision that encompasses GlobeSt.com, including short-term and long-term goals for the website, how content integrates through the company’s other product lines and the overall quality of content. Previously she served as national executive editor and editor of the West Coast region for GlobeSt.com and Real Estate Forum, and was responsible for coverage of news and information pertaining to that vital real estate region. Prior to moving out to the Southern California office, she was Northeast bureau chief, covering New York City for GlobeSt.com. Her background includes a stint at InStyle Magazine, and as managing editor with New York Press, an alternative weekly New York City paper. In her career, she has also covered a variety of beats for M magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, FashionLedge.com, and Co-Ed magazine. Dolce has also freelanced for a number of publications, including MSNBC.com and Museums New York magazine.
