Strong third-quarter home sales in the Houston area put Texas on a path for another record year, according to a Texas Association of Realtors report.
Single-family home sales in the Houston region rose by 11.6% to 24,028 in the third quarter, TAR said. Only the Dallas region registered more sales, with 27,660 sales, a drop of 3.9% from the third quarter 2017.
Houston, which represented 25% of the state's 95,225 home sales in the third quarter, posted a particularly strong September as the market rebounded from a stall in sales immediately following Hurricane Harvey.
Statewide, the number of sales in the third quarter rose by 4.4%. The Texas median home price increased 4.4% to $235,000.
"The record-breaking home-sales activity this summer in Texas is an example of the strong economy, job growth and quality of life in our great state that keeps driving demand for home ownership," TAR chairman Kaki Lybbert said in a statement. "At the current rate that home sales and active listings are increasing, we are trending towards another record-breaking year in Texas real estate."
Home sales also rose by double digits in nine other Texas markets: Beaumont (up 15.1% to 1,047), Corpus Christi (21.2% to 1,537), El Paso (13.7% to 2,337), Lubbock (18.2% to 1,226), Odessa (23.2% to 467), Sherman-Denison (10.2% to 517), Texarkana (20.7% to 227), Victoria (20.7% to 245) and Waco (16.8% to 895).
Austin had the state's most expensive median sales price at $309,945, a 6.2% gain over the third quarter 2017, TAR said. Houston's median price rose 2.6% to $236,000, while Dallas registered a 3.9% gain to $265,034.
Midland, meanwhile, is closing in on $300,000 as energy workers flock to the west Texas city. The median home price shot up 12.4% to $295,000 in the third quarter, while sales rose by 9.7% to 790 during the period.
Midland's housing inventory tightened to a low 1.8 months, with only nearby Odessa reporting a lower inventory of 1.6 months. The supply of homes for sale across Texas of 3.9 months in the third quarter is well below the benchmark of 6 months for a balanced market.
Jim Gaines, chief economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, said the market remains strong, but is cooling.
"Median home prices and home sales are up, but the rate of increase statewide is beginning to slow compared to prior years," Gains said. "With inventory levels for homes priced under $150,000 remaining low, we're seeing a concerted effort from homebuilders to build lower-cost housing to fit the entry-level homebuyers' market."
