HAR Report: As in July, all housing segments experienced negative sales in August except the $500,000 to $1 million segment, which rose 10.0 percent. The smallest decline in sales was recorded among homes priced between $250,000 and $500,000, which fell 10.6 percent. With few homes available for sale at or below $250,000, many consumers have postponed purchase plans or shifted their focus to rental properties. [HAR’s Monthly Rental Home Update for August will be released next Wednesday, September 21].
“We are easing our way back to the housing market that existed prior to the pandemic,” said HAR Chair Jennifer Wauhob with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene. “For the past two years, Houston housing has been like a runaway train, and what we’ve been seeing most recently is an engineer, finally at the throttle, applying the brakes so the train can pull safely into the next station. It’s important to note that transactions are still happening, just not at a whirlwind pace or record pricing levels, and that is perfectly healthy.”