Real Estate in Review
Houston home sales and prices saw modest increases in 2018, report finds
Homes sales in the Houston area ticked up between 2017 and 2018, a trend that spanned much of the state, according to the 2018 Texas Real Estate Year in Review report by Texas Realtors.
In the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land area, home sales increased 3.3 percent from 2017 to 87,129, and the median home price rose 3.1 percent to $235,000. Active listings increased 1.6 percent to 26,368, and the median price per square foot was $109.18, a 4.2 percent increase from 2017. The average asking rent for an apartment in the area was $1,081 a month, an increase of 3.6 percent from 2017.
The Texas Realtors report tracked numerous metrics including median home price, number of homes sold, active listings, and median price per square foot. The median price of a single-family home in Texas increased 4.4 percent from 2017 to $232,900 last year. Across the state, 344,030 homes were sold, an increase of 1.7 percent. The number of active listings increased 1.4 percent to 101,534, and the median price per square foot jumped 5 percent to $116.36. Statewide, homeowners spent on average 20.7 percent of their income on their home, while renters spent much more: 29.2 percent of their income on rent.
The other major urban areas performed similarly to the state.
In the Austin-Round Rock area, home sales increased 1.5 percent from 2017 to 34,460, and the median home price jumped 3.7 percent to $306,000. Active listings increased 1.9 percent from 2017 to 7,387, and the median price per square foot grew 3.9 percent to $153.66. The average asking rent for an apartment in the area rose 4.4 percent from 2017 to $1,228 a month.
Home sales in the San Antonio-New Braunfels area increased 2.9 percent from 2017 to 33,423, and the median home price jumped 5.2 percent to $222,000. Active listings increased 2.4 percent in the area to 9,187, and the median price per square foot became 5.5 percent more expensive to $114.26. The average asking rent for an apartment grew 3.8 percent to $941 a month.
DFW, though, bucked the home sales trend last year.
In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the median home price increased 3.9 percent from 2017 to $265,000, but home sales decreased by 2.3 percent to 99,848, and active listings increased a whopping 13.9 percent from 2017 to 22,095. Also, the average asking rent for an apartment in Dallas last year was $1,202 a month, a 5.9 percent increase from 2017. In Fort Worth, the average ask was $986 a month, a 5.1 percent increase over the same period.
