Houston Home Sales Rebound After Hurricane, Record November Results
HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – Houston’s housing market remained resilient in November, posting record sales despite the lingering effects of Hurricane Harvey. The Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) reported 6,184 single-family home sales in November, an increase of 7.4 percent compared with November 2016, making it the strongest November on record for Houston real estate.
Even after Harvey damaged more than 100,000 homes and briefly halted sales activity in late August, the market recovered and stayed active. Year-to-date through November, single-family home sales were up 3.3 percent compared with the same 11-month period in 2016, putting 2017 on track to be the strongest year ever for home sales in the region.
Amy Bernstein
“After Harvey, people feared that the market would be silent. It wasn’t silent. The market was very, very busy in November,” said Amy Bernstein of Bernstein Realty. Her observation reflects a market where demand rebounded quickly as buyers returned and sellers adapted to new conditions.
Many flood victims remain in rental housing while they wait for repairs or for new homes to be built. Some homeowners chose to sell flood-damaged properties for the value of the lots and move on. The floods prompted a shift in buyer and seller behavior, with neighborhoods being redefined as individuals and families assess risk, damage and recovery options.
Several homeowners are opting to demolish older houses and construct new, more resilient homes. Others are investing significant sums to elevate existing homes above current floodplain levels. These choices reflect both personal recovery strategies and broader efforts to mitigate future flood risk.
Neighborhoods that historically experienced little flooding faced pronounced changes. Meyerland, a southwest Houston area developed in the 1950s and 1960s, endured catastrophic flooding during recent major storms. That experience exposed shortcomings in local flood control and highlighted the need for faster drainage improvements. In west Houston, communities near the Addicks and Barker reservoirs suffered when emergency releases inundated neighborhoods and left homes submerged for extended periods.
Mold remediation and repairs are underway across affected areas. Many homes are being repaired or elevated; some are being torn down altogether as Houston’s housing market adjusts to post-Harvey realities. “The landscape for those neighborhoods will change tremendously,” Bernstein said, pointing to long-term adjustments in housing stock and community structure.
Demand for rental housing surged following the storm. HAR reported that lease activity for townhomes and condominiums rose 20 percent in November, while single-family leasing increased by 7 percent. Apartment communities also saw strong occupancy, with many complexes reaching more than 95 percent leased as displaced residents and others sought temporary housing.
Inventory for homes on the market remained tight. HAR reported a 3.7-month supply in November, well below the six-month supply typically considered a balanced market. Low inventory continues to put upward pressure on prices and creates challenges for buyers looking for move-in-ready homes.
“The key to boosting supply will be restoring salvageable homes to sellable condition and ramping up new construction, both of which we want to see sooner than later,” said HAR Chair Cindy Hamann. Accelerating repairs and permitting, along with expanding construction capacity, are central to increasing available housing stock.
Lawrence Yun, chief economist of NAR, addresses a press conference at the NAR convention in Chicago in November. Photo credit: Ralph Bivins, Realty News Report
Housing inventory is a national concern, not just a Houston issue. Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, told reporters at the Realtors annual convention in Chicago that expanding homebuilding is essential to resolving the nationwide supply shortage. In Houston, limited inventory has been a persistent problem for the past five years and remains a primary factor driving price appreciation.
Houston’s median single-family home price in November was $225,725. For context, the median price in November 2007 was $148,950, and during the economic downturn of the 1980s, Houston’s median home price dropped below $60,000. These long-term comparisons highlight the region’s price growth over time.
Affordability remains a significant barrier to home ownership across the country. Yun noted that since 2011, incomes rose about 15 percent while home prices climbed roughly 48 percent, a gap that has made purchasing a home increasingly difficult for many prospective buyers. “Affordability is getting out of hand,” Yun said, urging increased residential construction to help bring prices more in line with incomes. “We need to get home builders to build more homes.”
