(HAR Report,HOUSTON — (April 8, 2020) — As COVID-19 ravages the physical and business health of the nation, its impact on the Houston real estate market only began to set in during the last week of March, and therefore caused little disruption to the month’s overall performance. The full effect of the pandemic is expected to become more apparent when the April housing numbers are tallied.
Even with some transactions interrupted before Governor Greg Abbott designated real estate as an “essential” service statewide as part of his March 31 stay-at-home order, Houston home sales were more than 11 percent ahead of the levels at this point in 2019. Consumers were still taking advantage of historically low mortgage interest rates through the first half of the month.
Single-family homes priced between $500,000 and $750,000 led the way in March sales, followed by homes in the $250,000 to $500,000 range. Leases of single-family homes were also up for the month.
According to the latest monthly Market Update from the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR), 7,566 single-family homes sold in March compared to 6,995 a year earlier, accounting for an 8.2 percent increase and the ninth consecutive month of positive sales. The single-family home median price (the figure at which half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less) rose 4.1 percent to $249,900, and the average price climbed 3.8 percent to $309,785. Both figures represent the highest prices ever for a March. Sales of all property types totaled 8,965, up 6.9 percent from March 2019. Total dollar volume for the month jumped 11.0 percent to slightly more than $2.6 billion