Gerald Hanks
A report this week from the Houston Association of Realtors showed home sales hit record levels during 2017, despite a slump in oil prices and the devastation of Hurricane Harvey.
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Home sales across the area reportedly broke the records for single-family homes sold, total property sold and total dollar volume set the previous year.
Sales records showed single-family homes increased from a then-record 76,540 in 2016 to 79,117 in 2017, an increase of 3.5 percent.
Total property sales jumped from 91,530 in 2016 to 94,726 in 2017, an increase of 3.5 percent over the previous record-setting year.
Total dollar volume for single-family home sales reportedly went from $21.64 billion in 2016 to $23.05 billion in 2017, a jump of 6.5 percent and another new record.
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Total dollar volume for all properties also saw a boost, from $2.21 billion in 2016 to $2.27 billion in 2017, an increase of 2.8 percent.
The average and median prices for single-family homes held relatively steady, with the average price from December 2016 to December 2017 falling by 0.6 percent, while the median price rose only 1.7 percent.
The report also states the destruction brought by Harvey caused a steep drop in the already-tight home inventory, which caused prices to go up across the board.
In early 2017, the estimated time it would take to sell a single-family home in Houston came in at about 3.3 months; before Harvey made landfall, the time stretched to 4.3 months.
At the end of 2017, the estimate fell back to 3.2 months.
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Local real estate analyst Chair Kenya Burrell-VanWormer wrote in a press release, “no one could have imagined” the market’s record-setting year, especially after a slump in oil prices in early 2017 and Hurricane Harvey in late August:
“We know that many are still working tirelessly to rebuild their lives after Harvey,” Burrell-VanWormer provided. “…but, overall, this clearly illustrates the incredible resilience of the people and the economy of Houston, Texas. We also know that some neighborhoods are performing better than others, so it’s always advisable to consult a Realtor when thinking about buying or selling a home.”
