Houston home shoppers were able to find homes two weeks faster this past winter than they did a year ago at the same time, a new report shows.
From December through February, it took local buyers an average of 75 days from first home tour to closing,
The number of properties for sale across the Houston area jumped 17.4% in February to 39,304 homes, according to the Houston Association of Realtors. The inventory of single-family homes rose to a 3.7-month supply from 3.1 months, meaning it would take that long to sell all of the homes on the market based on the previous 12 months of activity.
Of all the metros included in Redfin's analysis, Houston saw the second largest year-over-year drop in the number of days buyers spent searching for a home. Philadelphia was first at 28 days, and Washington was third at 14 days.
Redfin's analysis took into account property tours and offers among thousands of people who bought homes with Redfin agents nationwide in the three-month period ending in February over each of the past five years.
On a national basis, it took the typical homebuyer 73 days to find and close on a home, down from 76 days last year and from a peak of 84 days in winter 2016.
"This year, there are more homes for sale relative to the number of buyers, so a buyer is more likely to have their first offer accepted, while sellers are having to wait longer for their home to sell," Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather, said in a statement. "It's like a 1950s-era school dance with more boys than girls — the girls can quickly find a dancing partner, but more boys are waiting around with no one to dance with."
In some markets, it took longer to buy. Buyers in Miami spent an average of 17 additional days to find a house and New Yorkers took 13 days longer than they had the previous year.
