Slipping sales

Houston's new-home sales cool off over summer 2019, new data shows

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Sales declined between June and July, but year-over-year sales are up in Houston.

Courtesy photo

It may be hot as you-know-what outside, but the new-home market in Houston is cooling off just a tad, according to data compiled by HomesUSA.com.

New-home sales in Houston totaled 1,297 in July, down 6.6 percent from 1,388 in June but up 3.3 percent from 1,256 in July 2018, HomesUSA.com says in an August 19 release.

Meanwhile, the average price of a new home in Houston has held fairly steady over the past year. The average price in July was $357,118, compared with $358,810 in June and $355,842 last July, according to Addison, Texas-based HomesUSA.com, whose technology platform helps builders sell homes.

The state’s three other major metro areas saw similar trends in new-home sales, the HomesUSA.com data shows.

Ben Caballero, founder and CEO of HomesUSA.com, says all four of Texas’ major new-home markets remain healthy.

“After a good 2018, the market is steady, but as last fall proved, it is very sensitive to interest rates,” Caballero says. “At the moment, I expect a good market and expect prices to be in check due to builder competition. With current interest rates, this is a good time to buy.”

The most dramatic change outside Houston happened in San Antonio. There, the average number of new-home sales dropped 13.1 percent from June to July (going from 534 to 491). The decline from July 2018 (519 sales) to July 2019 was 5.4 percent, HomesUSA.com says.

At the other end of the spectrum, Austin experienced the smallest year-over-year decline in average new-home sales — from 667 in July 2018 to 653 in July 2019, a decrease of 2.1 percent. The month-to-month fall-off was bigger, however, with the number shrinking 6.7 percent from June 2019 (700 sales) to July 2019.

Similarly, Dallas-Fort Worth witnessed a 6.9 percent drop in new-home sales from June to July 2019 (1,364 to 1,270), along with a 2.8 percent year-over-year decrease from the 1,306 sales in July 2018.

The waning number of new-home sales in Austin, San Antonio, and DFW coincided with a slight overall uptick in new-home prices, according to HomesUSA.com.

Austin witnessed the biggest jump in average new-home prices, the HomesUSA.com data indicates. The average price in July 2019 was $372,365, up 1.9 percent from July 2018 ($365,495) and up 1.5 percent from June 2019 ($367,041).

San Antonio saw less movement in prices than Austin. The average new-home sale price in San Antonio stood at $299,151 in July 2019, up from 1.8 percent in July 2018 ($293,842) and up 0.6 percent from June 2019 ($297,387), HomesUSA.com says.

In DFW, new-home prices barely budged. The average price in July 2019 was $375,694, up 0.5 percent from June 2019 ($373,960) but down 0.2 percent from July 2018 ($376,596).

HomesUSA.com relied on Multiple Listing Service data from Realtors groups in Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and DFW to produce its analysis.

REAL ESTATE NEWS

More Houston homeowners are becoming 'accidental landlords,' study finds

For Lease Real Estate Sign Hangs in Front Yard of House

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An increasing number of San Antonio homeowners are bcoming "accidental landlords"

Houston homeowners unable to sell their properties are increasingly becoming “accidental landlords,” according to Zillow. The real estate marketplace’s newest analysis says that 4.2 percent of its local for-sale listings recently converted to rentals, making the Bayou City the second-worst U.S. city for the market trend.

Only Denver (4.9 percent) ranks higher, with Austin (4.1 percent) and San Antonio (3.9 percent) not far behind. Seven of the top 10 metros are in Texas or Florida.

Zillow senior economist Kara Ng says today's dynamic is driven by choice rather than panic. Homeowners aren't being forced to sell; they're simply unwilling to accept what the market will actually pay.

"As the market continues to rebalance, sellers are facing a different reality than they did a few years ago," Ng said in a statement. "Bargaining power is tilting toward buyers, and homes are taking longer to sell, making renting out a property one way to buy time rather than compete aggressively on price. After all, today's sellers are rarely forced to sell, and it appears they are often unwilling to budge off of what their heart says their home is worth."

Nationally, the trend is nearing a record high. 2.3 percent of all Zillow rental listings were recently for-sale properties, second only to November 2022, when mortgage rates had doubled in a single year, and sellers were scrambling. That spike was shock-driven, but now stubbornness is likely fueling the shift.

Single-family homes make up the largest share of accidental landlord properties, but condos are seeing the fastest rise. Metros with the hottest buyer competition, including Boston, New York City, and Providence, Rhode Island, have the lowest accidental landlord rates.

For both local buyers and sellers, Goldilocks thinking is increasingly the norm. Sellers, especially those who bought during the COVID-19 boom, are holding their asking price firm to avoid taking a loss. Buyers, for their part, are refusing to compromise on concessions and repairs.

Meanwhile, the city's rental market keeps getting larger. In 2025, rental listings website Point2Homes placed the Houston area among the top 10 U.S. metros building the most new homes for rent.

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