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Home sales in metro Houston were strong in January despite a rare winter snowstorm. Brokers closed on 5,064 single-family homes, a moderate 1.2 percent increase over sales in January ’24, according to the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR). Sales of all property types (including single-family, duplexes, condos, townhomes, and high rises) increased 1.3 percent from 6,093 units in January ’24 to 6,173 units in January ’25.

Home prices continued to modestly increase. The 12-month average price for the median single-family home rose from $330,691 in January ’24 to $336,112 in January ’25. This represents a 1.6 percent price increase, far below the increases of 10 percent or more experienced in the years that immediately followed the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mortgage rates have dipped in recent weeks, with the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage falling from 7.04 percent on January 16 to 6.87 percent on February 13. The dip may be short lived as stubborn inflation and lowered expectations for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates put upward pressure on mortgage rates. But, falling yields on treasury bonds have exerted a stronger downward pressure since mid-January leading mortgage rates to fall.

The number of single-family homes listed for sale through HAR stood at 30,231 in January ‘25, a 33.3 percent increase over January ‘24, and a 50.0 percent increase over January ’23.

The inventory of single-family homes for sale rebounded from 4.0 months in December ’24 to 4.3 months in January ’25. The resale market continues to be buyer-friendly with inventories at or above 4.0 months (the conventional cutoff for a market that favors buyers) since June ’24.  

Townhome and condo sales increased by 6.8 percent year-over-year. But supply of these units is outpacing demand with listings up 39.3 percent and median prices down 4.1 percent since January ‘24. Year-over-year sales of high-rise units grew by 20.5 percent.

Prepared by Greater Houston Partnership Research

Colin Baker
Manager of Economic Research
Greater Houston Partnership
bakerc@houston.org

Leta Wauson
Director, Research
Greater Houston Partnership
lwauson@houston.org