HOUSTON ,HAR Report— (June 8, 2022) — Home sales maintained a healthy pace in May even as prices climbed to new record highs and mortgage interest rates edged further upward. Individual consumers and investment companies kept up demand, snapping up properties almost as quickly as they were listed. By the time the final closing of the month was tallied, volume of single-family home sales was down slightly under one percent compared to last year’s record pace. And thanks, in part, to an increase of new listings, housing inventory reached its highest level of 2022.
According to the Houston Association of Realtors’ (HAR) May 2022 Market Update, single-family home sales fell 0.9 percent, marking the second consecutive monthly year-over-year decline with 9,627 units sold compared to 9,714 in May of 2021. On a year-to-date basis, however, the market is running 4.4 percent ahead of 2021’s record-setting volume.
The $500,000 to $1 million housing segment was the “hot” performer of the month, registering a 38.3 percent year-over-year sales volume gain. That was followed by the luxury segment – made up of homes priced at $1 million and above – which jumped 30.2 percent. The $250,000 to $500,000 housing segment landed third place with a 10.7 percent increase.