The Greater Houston Partnership has issued the following press release:

Houston-area home sales set a record in ’21. Prices continued to rise, closing the year well above where they started. And strong demand continues to draw down inventory and push up values.

Houston-area residential closings totaled 130,990 in ’21, up from 115,676 in ’20 and well above 91,609 recorded five years ago (’17). For the 12 months ending in December ’21, Houston-area realtors sold 106,184 single-family homes, up 10.3 percent from the same period in ’20. The median sales price for a single-family home rose from $263,000 in January ’21 to a record high of $319,000 in December ’21. As the year ended, the Houston Association of Realtors had 22,496 active listings in its Multiple Listing Service (MLS) database, the lowest level of inventory of the past 20 years. 

Houston-area realtors sold 9,272 single-family homes in December ’21, down 4.5 percent from December ’20, according to the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR). “U.S. home sales in December had their biggest plunge since the early months of the Covid-19 lockdowns as listings sank to record lows,” reported Bloomberg. “Demand is still fierce, but what’s holding back deals is a lack of inventory.” In Houston, record low inventories also reduced sales in December. For all property types (single-family, duplexes, townhomes, condos, and residential lots), realtors sold 11,432 units in December ’21, down 1.9 percent from 11,650 in December ’20. 

“It was impossible to know what 2021 would have in store for Houston real estate, especially as the surges in coronavirus variants began affecting our area, but the need for housing never abated and REALTORS delivered,” said HAR Chair Jennifer Wauhob with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene. “Limited inventory and shortages of building supplies and labor on the new construction side also posed serious challenges, but the market powered through it all to achieve a record year. As we enter 2022, inventory and affordability are definite concerns.” 

Inventory, or the number of months it would take current demand to deplete supply, fell to 1.4 months in December, down from 1.6 months in November ’21 and 1.8 months in December ’20.

By segment, year-over-year December single-family sales performed as follows:

• $1 - $99,999: decreased 45.3 percent
• $100,000 - $149,999: decreased 41.5 percent
• $150,000 - $249,999: decreased 39.2 percent
• $250,000 - $499,999: increased 17.0 percent
• $500,000 - $999,999: increased 41.4 percent
• $1M and above: increased 8.8 percent

Days on Market (the number of days it took the average home to sell) was 37 days in December ’21, down from 47 days in December ’20. 

Houston’s lease market showed gains for single-family homes and losses for townhomes/condominiums. Single-family home leases rose 5.9 percent year-over-year, while leases of townhomes and condominiums plunged 23.0 percent. The average single-family rent climbed 7.5 percent to $2,042, while the average rent for townhomes and condominiums increased 5.5 percent to $1,731.