Is Texas Hot New Homes Sales Market Finally Cooling?

DALLAS, Jan. 24, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Texas’ red-hot new home sales markets may finally be cooling according to new data released by HomesUSA.com for December. The new data shows total home sales and pending sales dropping statewide last month, including lower sales numbers in the nation’s biggest new home sales market, Dallas-Ft. Worth, as well as Austin and San Antonio. The HomeUSA.com New Home Sales Index, which measures the Days on Market for new homes before they are sold, was the silver lining in last month’s numbers as the pace of new homes sold actually improved from November.

Buyers of new homes benefited from lower new home sales prices statewide as prices declined in December. The average statewide new home price in Texas dropped from $357,828 in November to $357,607 in December, HomesUSA.com reported, based on data from local Multiple Listing Services, including the Houston Association of REALTORS, North Texas Real Estate Information Systems, San Antonio Board of REALTORS and the Austin Board of REALTORS.

New home sales statewide in December totaled 3,808, down from 3,842 in November and pending sales statewide dropped from 3,692 in November to 3,519 in December. The HomesUSA.com New Home Sales Index showed the Days on Market (DOM) for new home sales statewide in December dropped from 112.67 days in November to 112.23 days.

The HomesUSA.com Index shows the Days on Market for Dallas-Ft. Worth, the state and nation’s biggest new home market in total sales volume, dropped from 115.54 days in November to 115.42 days in December. Austin sales pace also improved as its DOM decreased from 114.55 days in November to 113.53 days in December. San Antonio sales pace improved from 103.90 days in November to 103.53 days in December. [Due to technical issues the Houston Association of Realtors is experiencing, they are unable to provide Days on Market data. This report will be updated when data is provided.] (See Chart 1: Texas New Homes Days on Market)

“2018 was still a record year for new home sales in Texas,” said Ben Caballero, owner of HomesUSA.com. “Do these numbers reflect cooling in the statewide new homes market? Or is a large part of this simply seasonal impact? Time will tell,” he added.

Caballero pointed out that only Houston turned in higher home sales and a higher average home price in December. Houston’s total home sales were up to 1,306 in December from 1,294 in November. Dallas-Ft. Worth new home sales dropped from 1,336 in November to 1,312 in December. Austin’s new home sales declined from 686 in November to 670 in December. San Antonio total new home sales dropped from 527 new home sales in November to 519 new home sales in December. (See Chart 2: Texas New Home Sales)

Houston’s average new home price for December was $357,600, up slightly from $357,582 in November. In Dallas-Ft. Worth, the average new home price in December was $375,960, down from $376,458 in November. In Austin, the average new home price in December was $369,331, down slightly from $369,392 in November. And in San Antonio, the average new home price in December was $296,019, down from $296,155 in November. (See Chart 3: Texas New Home Prices)

“Houston continues to show its comeback strength,” Caballero said. Real estate’s first Guinness World Record holder for home sales¹, Caballero, is sharing this Texas new homes data as the Commerce Department on New Residential Home Sales for December is not being reported because of the Federal government shutdown. The Commerce Department was scheduled to issue its nationwide new home construction data tomorrow at 10:00 am Eastern, Friday, January 25.

PENDING NEW HOME SALES DATA
Pending new home sales were lower in every market. Dallas-Ft. Worth posted a 12-month rolling average of 1,224 pending new home sales for December, down from 1,282 pending sales in November. Pending new home sales in Houston for December were 1,211, down from 1,266 in November.

Austin pending new home sales also were lower last month with 603 pending new sales in December, down from 637 pending home sales in November. San Antonio pending new home sales in December were 480, down from 508 pending new home sales in November. (See Chart 4: Texas Pending New Home Sales)

About the HomesUSA.com New Home Sales Index
The HomesUSA.com Index is a 12-month rolling average of the Days on Market (DOM) for new homes listed in the local Multiple Listing Services (MLSs) for the four largest Texas markets, including Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. Created by Ben Caballero, founder and CEO of HomesUSA.com and the most productive real estate agent in the world, it is the first index to track the sale pace of new home sales specifically.

About Ben Caballero and HomesUSA.com®
Ben Caballero is a Guinness World Record holder¹, earning him the reputation as the world’s most productive real estate agent. Top-ranked in America by REAL Trends since 2013, as published in the Wall Street Journal, he is also the only agent to exceed $1 billion in residential sales transactions in a single year; a feat first achieved in 2015 and repeated each year since. An award-winning innovator, Caballero is the founder and CEO of HomesUSA.com, Inc., working with more than 60 home builders in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. He recently released a podcast series available on iTunes and Google Play. Learn more at HomesUSA.com |Twitter: @bcaballero - @HomesUSA | Facebook: /HomesUSAdotcom.