DALLAS, TX--(Marketwired - Aug 23, 2017) - Pending new home sales are up in Texas and the pace of new home sales showed improvement in July as sales prices stabilized, according to HomesUSA.com® New Homes Sales Index and other new home sales data it released today.
The rate of new home sales for all four of the largest Texas markets showed some improvement, according to the HomesUSA.com New Home Sales Index for July. This is the first time in recent months that all four major Texas new home markets saw the number of Days on Market decrease from the prior month, the Index shows.
In Houston -- the largest new home market in Texas -- the total Days on Market for new homes dropped from a rolling 12-month average of 134.25 days in June, to 133.73 days in July. The number of Days on Market for new homes sold in Austin was 112.15 days in July, down from 112.74 from the rolling 12-month average in June. In Dallas-Fort Worth, the Days on Market for new homes showed the smallest improvement, posting 122.23 days in June and 122.18 days in July. San Antonio's new home sales pace showed the biggest improvement in the state, with its average Days on Market declining from 106.15 days in June, to 105.53 days in July.
Statewide, the 12-month average of total pending new home sales, according to data compiled by HomesUSA.com from local MLS and trade associations (Houston Association of REALTORS®, North Texas Real Estate Information Systems, San Antonio Board of REALTORS® and the Austin Board of REALTORS®), increased from 3394.25 pending new home sales to 3428.33, the highest level in the last 12 months.
New home sales prices statewide remained relatively stable in July, as the 12-month rolling average was $366,383 for July compared to $367,073 for June, according to data compiled by HomeUSA.com. In Austin, the average new home sales price in July was $385,273 compared to $385,368 in June. In Dallas-Ft. Worth, the average new home sales price was $386,839 compared to $387,061 in June. In Houston, the July average new home sales price was $366,318 compared to $367,774 in June. And in Austin, the July average new home sales price was $294,209 compared to $294,440 in June.
Ben Caballero, owner of HomesUSA.com and the number one real estate agent in the U.S., notes the fact that the Days on Market showed an overall decrease for the state of Texas, aligning with the Commerce Department's announcement today on New Home Sales for June.
"New home sales are showing summer strength," said Caballero. "And with new home prices stabilizing after months of steady increases, this is good news for home buyers," he added.
New Home Sales
According to HomesUSA.com, statewide, the rolling 12-month average of new home sales dropped slightly to 3084.92 monthly sales in July from 3098.25 in June. Sales of new homes were up in July, looking at the 12-month averages, in Austin and San Antonio: Austin posted a 12-month rolling average of total new homes sales of 530.17 for July, up from 526.33 in June, and San Antonio posted 12-month rolling average of total new homes sales of 420.75 in July, up from 418.75 in June.
Both Houston and Dallas-Ft. Worth posted a lower 12-month rolling average of total new home sales for the month. Houston posted a 12-month rolling average of total new homes sales of 1112.92 for July, down from 1119.25 in June, and Dallas-Ft. Worth posted 12-month rolling average of total new homes sales of 1021.08 in July, down from 1033.92 in June.
(CHART 1 - New Home Sales Texas)
Understanding the new "Days on Market" Index
The HomesUSA.com New Home Sales Index is a first of its kind index to track the sales activity of new home sales. Created by Caballero, who was named "Most Innovative Real Estate Agent" by real estate news firm Inman News, the index is an analysis by HomesUSA.com of sales of homes listed in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio local Multiple Listing Services (MLS).
(CHART 2 - New Home Sales Index - Days on Market - Tracking)
Caballero notes the average Days on Market for New Homes "is about 65 days higher for new homes than for existing or 'pre-owned' homes."
Why? "There's a huge difference between selling a new home and a pre-owned or existing home," Caballero explained. "New homes are often listed for sale during the early stages of construction. This early market exposure gives homebuilders the ability to allow buyers the opportunity to customize the home. Plus, by placing more inventory on the market as soon as it is being built expands the inventory of available homes, and that's especially helpful for buyers and agents in a tight housing market."
Caballero adds, "So there really is no apples-to-apples comparison for the Days on Market for new homes under construction with existing homes."
(CHART 3 - New Home Sales Index - Days on Market - Monthly numbers1)
1Prior month DOM numbers are subject to adjustment
Please note that the monthly data is based on information reported to the MLS that may be incomplete or subject to further revision by the MLS. While licensed real estate professionals are required to report closed sales to their local MLS in Texas within 72 hours of a closed sale, not all sales, unfortunately, are reported promptly and some are reported more than 30 days later. This late reporting causes the prior month's reported index number to change to include newly reported sales. Only the prior month index number is impacted and that number, once adjusted, is the final and correct index number.
About Ben Caballero and HomesUSA.com®
Ben Caballero is the #1 ranked real estate professional in the U.S. in two categories: (1) number of real estate sales transactions and (2) cumulative transaction (dollar) volume. In 2016, he completed 3,565 home sales totaling $1.444 billion in volume. Between 2010 and 2016, he had more than 20,000 home sales totaling $7.2 billion in volume. Ben has been the #1 agent in the nation in these categories for the last 6 years and is the first and only agent in U.S. history ever to exceed the $1 billion mark for residential sales transaction volume in a single year, accomplished in both 2015 and 2016. Caballero is an acclaimed innovator and technological pioneer within the real estate industry. His drive to leverage technology has allowed him to reach unprecedented, historic levels of sales, as he developed a proprietary SaaS platform, HomesUSA.com, to aid him in servicing his clients. His individual record-setting production is only possible due to the efficiencies it enables. He was named a 2017 Inman Influencer and a SP2017 Trendsetter by Swanepoel T3 Group. Caballero received the 2014 Pinnacle Award for Real Estate Entrepreneurship, presented by Keller Williams Realty. He was named the Most Innovative Real Estate Agent by Inman News in 2013 and a finalist in 2016. He is founder and CEO of HomesUSA.com®, Inc., operating in Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio and Houston. A lifelong Realtor and former homebuilder, Caballero has been a real estate broker since age 21. Follow Ben on Twitter at @bcaballero and learn more about HomesUSA.com online.
Note: You may contact Ben Caballero directly on his cell at (214) 616-9222 or by email at ben@homesusa.com.
Contact Information:
Kevin Hawkins
(206) 866-1220
kevin@wavgroup.com
