Negotiating Power as Listings Rise: Houston Home Buyers Gain

In Houston, Houston home sales shot up by 12% in August, the biggest year-over-year rise yet in 2025, as buyers found more choices and steady prices.

A total of 8,138 single-family homes sold in the Houston area in August, up from 7,270 home sales in August 2024, as stated by a monthly report from the Houston Association of Realtors.

Active single-family home listing reached 39,374, up 30% from the 30,199 listings in August 2024, as stated by HAR.

“August brought the strongest sales gains we’ve seen so far this year, and that’s encouraging for both sides of the market,” said HAR Chair Shae Cottar with LPT Realty. “Buyers have more choices and negotiating power than they’ve had in more than a decade while sellers continue to benefit from solid demand. As mortgage rates continue to ease, I anticipate buyer activity will remain solid in the coming months.”

Home prices were little changed. The median home price was $335,000 in August, down 0.6% from $337,000 a year ago, as stated by HAR. The average price was $420,288, up 0.6% from $422,703 in August 2024.

The market continued to shift toward buyers reaching 5.4 months inventory, up from 4.4 months inventory in August 2024. Months inventory, which estimates how long it will take to deplete the current inventory based on the prior 12 months’ sales activity, in a balanced market typically ranges from three to four months in Texas, as stated by the Texas A&M University Real Estate Research Center.

Houston homes took longer to sell, rising from 52 days on the market in August, up from 47 a year earlier.

Sales were up across all price ranges. Sales of homes from $150,000 to $249,999 increased most at 21.2%. Homes in the $500,000 to $999,999 category increased 14.8%, while those selling for $1 million or more increased 12.9%.

Across the nation, home sales have been sluggish.

Redfin reports that homes are taking longer to sell because demand is shrinking due to high homebuying costs and economic uncertainty. Pending home sales fell 1.1 percent month-over-month in July to the lowest seasonally adjusted level since November 2023. Existing-home sales slid to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4,150,266, the lowest level in nearly a year.