DALLAS, TX--(Marketwired - Sep 26, 2017) - The pace of new home sales showed improvement in August for the second straight month as sales prices improved, according to the HomesUSA.com® New Homes Sales Index and other new home sales data it released today.
The pace of new home sales in three of the four of the largest Texas markets showed some improvement, according to the HomesUSA.com New Home Sales Index for August, with San Antonio the lone exception. The Texas new home markets in Houston (pre-Hurricane data), Dallas-Ft. Worth and Austin all saw their number of Days on Market decrease from July, 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 134.52 days in July, to 134.42 days in August. The number of Days on Market for new homes sold in Austin was 111.92 days in August, down from 112.10 from a rolling 12-month average in July. In Dallas-Fort Worth, the Days on Market for new homes showed the smallest improvement, posting 122.84 days in July and 122.83 days in August. San Antonio's new home sales pace, which last month, showed the biggest improvement in the state, saw its Days on Market increase from a rolling 12-month average of 105.53 days in July, to 105.60 days in August.
Statewide, the rolling 12-month average of total new home sales remained strong, 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 a rolling 12-month average in July of 3,076.33 to 3,169.92 total new home sales in August.
New home sales prices improved in August in all four major Texas markets, as the 12-month rolling average statewide new home price dropped in July from $365,993 to $364,747 in August, according to data compiled by HomeUSA.com. In Austin, the average new home sales price in July dropped from $384,934 to $382,930 in August. In Dallas-Ft. Worth, the average new home sales price in July dropped from $386,334 to $385,155 in August. In Houston, the average new home sales price in July dropped from $365,679 to $365,005 in August. And in San Antonio, the average new home sales price in July dropped from $293,466 to $292,748 in August.
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, while the Commerce Department's announcement today on New Home Sales for August reported new home sales slowing nationally.
"While we have not yet seen the impact of Hurricane Irma on new home sales in Texas, we do know that the like the Texas summer, new homes sales were hot," said Caballero. "And there was excellent news for home buyers, with new home prices showing improvement in every market," he added.
New Home Sales Up in Texas
According to HomesUSA.com, statewide, the rolling 12-month average of monthly new home sales increased from a 12-month rolling average in July of 3,076.333 to 3,169.92 monthly sales in August. Sales were up in three of the four major new home markets in Texas, with San Antonio, once again, the exception.
Austin posted a 12-month rolling average of total new homes sales of 540.92 for August, up from 535.67 in July. Houston posted a 12-month rolling average of total new homes sales of 1137.50 for August, up from 1123.50 in July. Dallas-Ft. Worth posted a 12-month rolling average of total new homes sales of 1057.75 in August, up from 1054.33 in July. San Antonio posted a lower 12-month rolling average of total new home sales for the month with a total new homes sales of 433.75 in August, down from 434.25 in July.
(CHART 1 - New Home Sales Texas - attached)
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 - attached)
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 - attached)
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
