The Houston Association of REALTORS has now released our December/Full-Year 2021 Housing Market Update, revealing that "single-family home sales for 2021 rose 10.3 percent to 106,229. Sales of all property types for the year totaled 131,041, up 13.3-percent from 2020’s record volume and only the third time in history that total property sales surpassed the 100,000 level. Total dollar volume for 2021 shot up 28.2 percent to a record-breaking $40 billion."
HAR also announced that "consumers never eased up on their demand to buy or rent homes and paid more for them as the supply of housing grew smaller. Single-family home sales surpassed 2020’s record volume by more than 10 percent, and total dollar volume soared more than 28 percent to a record $40 billion...the strongest monthly sales volume registered was among homes priced between $500,000 and $999,999, which jumped 41.4 percent year-over-year. Homes in the $250,000 to $499,999 range came in second place with a 17.0 percent increase The luxury market, consisting of homes priced at $1 million and up, ranked third in sales activity, climbing 8.8 percent...
the median price of a single-family home – the figure at which half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less – established a new historic high of $319,000 in December. The average price reached the second highest level of all time – $392,449."
These outstanding results are due to local factors that ensured our community was able to remain both productive and safe during the pandemic. These advantages ranged from Houston Association of REALTORS (HAR) leadership-- who convinced local elected officials to designate real estate an essential service-- to virtual technology developed by HAR, which made it possible for consumers to attend open houses and property showings remotely. These innovations remain in place to ensure that buyers and sellers can continue to do business safely for as long as each individual's situation requires health precautions.