Houston home prices must be the best kept secret in real estate. I write this as I shake my head in frustration. I was speaking to a friend about the real estate market this week. “Things are just SO CRAZY,” he said. “I don’t know how anyone is buying a house right now!”

As Realtors, we must do a better job telling everyone about what’s actually going on. Because while we are seeing a very dynamic market, things in Houston are going a lot steadier then everywhere else in Texas.

This past week, I caught a seminar about Houston home prices. It was led by Harris County Appraisal District (HCAD) Chief Appraiser Roland Altinger. There were three pieces of information that I thought were most relevant (and perhaps would be the most surprising to would-be buyers and sellers).

Houston Homes Are Being Sold Closer To List Price

Check out the above graph. This shows what a home actually sells for compared to its list price (or asking price). In a sellers market, it is likely that the sales price will be higher than the list price. This is due to competition among buyers. Of the major metros of Texas (with DFW split into Dallas-Plano-Irving and Forth Worth-Arlington), Houston has the lowest Sales-To-List price at roughly 101%. Austin-Round Rock is almost 2% higher than that. San Antonio, Fort Worth and Dallas are about 1% higher.

Houston Median Price Per Square Foot Is Lowest

Wish I could show these other graphs, but apparently I can only add one picture per post! So, you can check out the information from the Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M. Austin was infinitely higher than most at roughly $240/sf (square foot). Houston was the lowest at just under $140/sf. ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS LESS per square foot!

Houston Has The Most New Home Inventory In Texas

As I’ve spoken about many times on Tuned In Realtor, one of the ways that we determine whether we are in a sellers market or a buyers market (or a neutral market) is measuring how long it takes for a home to sell. A sellers market is usually when it takes three months or less. A buyers market is 6 months or more. Clearly, we are still in a sellers market. Houston inventory is about two months. Dallas-Plano-Irving, Fort Worth-Arlington, and San Antonio are about a month. So again, Houston is double. That makes things steadier. Yes, in case you’re wondering, Austin was about half a month. Yikes!

So, yes. We are still in a sellers market. But “it’s so crazy?” Clearly, Houston home prices are less crazy than elsewhere.