DALLAS, Aug. 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New homes in Texas are selling at their fastest pace ever recorded, according to a new monthly report from HomesUSA.com. In Austin, new homes were on the market for an average of just 29 days last month, down from 88 days in July 2020, according to the 3-month moving average of the HomesUSA.com News Home Sales Index. Statewide new homes were selling in just 62 days on average, down from nearly 100 days in July 2020.
The HomesUSA.com August new homes report – covering Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio – is based on data from the North Texas Real Estate Information Systems, Houston Association of REALTORS, Austin Board of REALTORS Multiple Listing Services, and San Antonio Board of REALTORS.
“New homes are flying off the shelves,” said Ben Caballero, owner of HomesUSA.com and a current Guinness World Record title holder for home sales. “Demand for new homes continues to exceed supply and the time it takes to sell a new home, known as Days on Market (DOM), has collapsed,” Caballero explained.
In Dallas-Ft. Worth, the 3-month moving average for DOM dropped to 53 days in July, down from 57 days in June 2021 and 96 days in July of last year. San Antonio’s DOM plummeted to 58 days in July, down from 95 days the year before. In Houston, the DOM fell to 77 days in July, dropping from 110 days in July 2020.
Caballero notes that HomesUSA.com first start tracking DOM data with the launch of its News Home Sales Index in 2017. Historically, in a typical real estate market, he notes that new homes take about 100 days or more to sell. When the HomesUSA.com index was launched in April 2017, the statewide DOM market average based on a 12-month moving index was 123 days.
“Builders are selling homes so fast they are not even making it into the MLS (Multiple Listing Service),” Caballero added, which means some new home sales are not being tracked and reported timely by a central source. “We really don’t know the total for new home sales, as non-MLS sales data is not available,” he notes.
Based on MLS data, the HomesUSA.com August new home sales report for Texas shows that new homes sales are falling, as low inventory continues to help drive down Texas new home sales statewide. The 3-month moving average for new sales in Texas was 3,608 last month versus 3,953 in June. Home sales were lower in all four of the state’s major new home sales markets.
Surprisingly, the average new home prices were mixed, with the statewide 3-month moving average increasing to $391,122 in July, up from $387,312 in June. San Antonio and Houston both saw significant increases in average new home prices, but in Dallas-Ft. Worth and Austin, new home prices in July were lower.
“It’s important to note that while we may see home prices month-to-month fluctuate, the trend is that builders are offering new homes at their highest average prices ever,” Caballero said.
As reported by MarketNSight, national builders are attempting to slow down their home sales pace to match current production levels as they simultaneously build out the new infrastructure need to support more housing starts. MarketNSight notes 70% of the builders they polled said homes are being released for sale only after the framing stage.
Builders cite the “unpredictable nature of current supply pricing” (58%) and “cannot keep up with demand” (11%) with 32% of builders naming “both” reasons for slowing sales, the MarketNSight survey showed.
In fact, Texas pending new home sales are trending down, based on MLS data. The 3-month moving average of pending new home sales statewide in July was 3,764 versus 4,111 in June. Pending sales statewide totaled 6,606 in July 2020.
The 3-month moving average showed 11,073 active new homes listed for sale statewide in July versus 11,096 in June. A year ago, there were 22,953 active listings, a year-over-year decline of more than 50 percent.
Caballero is sharing the HomesUSA.com New Homes Report in advance of the release by the Commerce Department of its nationwide New Residential Sales report for August, set for Tuesday, August 24 at 10:00 am Eastern.
Caballero noted the monthly HomesUSA.com report includes both 3-month and 12-month moving averages for all essential market data, including Days on Market, sales volume, sales prices, a sales-to-list price ratio, pending sales, and active listings. The 3-month moving average indices track market seasonality, while the 12-month moving average removes the seasonality and tracks the longer trend.
Days on Market – New Homes in Texas (Exclusive Data)
The HomesUSA.com New Home Sales Index showed the 3-month moving average of Days on Market fell in all four of Texas’s major new home markets. Austin's DOM was 28.54 days in July versus 38.29 days in June. The DOM for Dallas-Ft. Worth was 53.32 days in July versus 57.29 days in June. Houston’s DOM was 77 days in July versus 84.64 days in June. In San Antonio, the DOM was 58.45 days in July versus 60.87 days in June. (See Chart 1: Texas New Homes Days on Market)
Texas New Home Sales Data
Total new home sales based on MLS data declined statewide in Texas and in all four major new home markets last month, according to the 3-month moving average. In Dallas-Ft. Worth, July sales dropped to 1,140 versus 1,257 in June. Houston sales decreased with July sales totaling 1,548 versus 1,711 in June. Austin’s July new home sales totaled 375 versus 395 in June. San Antonio also posted lower sales, with July totaling to 544 versus 589 in June. (See Chart 2: Texas New Home Sales)
Texas New Home Prices
The average price of new homes was higher statewide but mixed in Texas's four major new home markets. Austin's 3-month moving average price – the highest among the top four markets – declined to $437,693 in July versus $442,691 in June. Dallas-Ft. Worth reported its 3-month moving average price for new homes was $414,444 in July versus $416,057 in June. In Houston, the average new home price increased to $387,712 in July versus $378,102 in June. Also, the San Antonio average new home price in July increased to $320,365 versus $316,570 in June. (See Chart 3: Texas New Home Prices)
Texas Sales-to-List Price Ratio
New home sales statewide and in Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston and San Antonio were closer to the asking price than ever before. In Austin, new home sales exceeded the asking price. Statewide, the 3-month moving average of the sales-to-list price ratio in July was 99.391 percent versus 99.290 percent in June. In Dallas-Ft. Worth, it was 99.878 percent in July versus 99.707 percent in June. In Houston, it was 98.988 percent in July versus 98.914 percent in June. In Austin, the average new home sale price for the third straight month exceeded the asking price, registering a sales-to-price ratio of 100.026 percent in July versus 100.177 percent in June. San Antonio's ratio was 99.075 percent last month versus 98.896 percent in June. (See Chart 4: Texas Sales-to-List Price Ratio)
Texas Pending New Homes Sales Data
Pending new home sales, based on MLS data, were lower statewide and in Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth and San Antonio. Statewide MLS data shows pending sales dropped in July to 3,764 versus 4,111 in June. Houston’s July pending sales were 1,635 versus 1,890 in June. Dallas-Ft. Worth pending sales were down last month to 1,198 vs. 1,275 in June. In San Antonio, pending sales last month were 517 versus 608 in June. Austin was the anomaly, reporting pending sales in July of 413 versus 337 in June. (See Chart 5: Texas Pending New Home Sales)
Texas Active Listings for New Homes
The 3-month moving average shows active listings fell slightly statewide in July to 11,073 versus 11,096 in June, due to both declining inventory and fewer new homes being listed in the MLS. However, in three out of four markets – Houston, Austin, and San Antonio – active listings were higher. In Houston, last month’s active listings were 6,050 versus 6,040 in June. San Antonio reported active new home listings last month were 1,489 versus 1,487 in June. Austin’s active listings were 1,196 in July versus 882 in June. Dallas-Ft. Worth was the exception, reporting a decline in active listings of 2,338 in July versus 2,687 in June. (See Chart 6: Texas Active Listings and Chart A: 12-Month Moving Averages)
About the HomesUSA.com New Home Sales Index
The HomesUSA.com Index is reported as both a 3-month and 12-month moving 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, it is the first Days on Market index to track Texas's new home market, which includes homes listed while under construction.
About Ben Caballero and HomesUSA.com®
Ben Caballero, founder and CEO of HomesUSA.com, holds the current Guinness World Record title for "Most annual home sale transactions through MLS by an individual sell side real estate agent." Ranked by REAL Trends as America's top real estate agent for home sales since 2013, Ben is the most productive real estate agent in U.S. history. He is 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 through 2018 when he achieved more than $2 billion. An award-winning innovator and technology pioneer, Ben works with more than 60 home builders in Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. His podcast series is available on iTunes and Google Podcasts. An infographic illustrating Ben’s sales production is here. Learn more at HomesUSA.com |Twitter: @bcaballero - @HomesUSA | Facebook: /HomesUSAdotcom.
Note for journalists: You may contact Ben Caballero directly on his cell at (214) 616-9222 or by email at ben@homesusa.com.
"REALTOR® is a federally registered collective membership mark which identifies a real estate professional who is member of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® and subscribes to its strict Code of Ethics."
Media Contact:
Kevin Hawkins
(206) 866-1220
kevin@wavgroup.com
Image: Ben Caballero
https://www.homesusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Ben-Caballero-Portrait-Grey-4288x2848.jpg
Individual Chart images:
Chart 1: Texas New Homes Tracking - Days on Market – July 2021: https://homesusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Chart-1-Texas-Days-on-Market.jpg
Chart 2: Texas New Home Sales – July 2021: https://homesusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Chart-2-Texas-New-Home-Sales.jpg
Chart 3: Texas New Home Sales Prices – July 2021: https://homesusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Chart-3-Texas-New-Home-Sales-Prices.jpg
Chart 4: Texas Sales-to-List-Price Ratio – July 2021: https://homesusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Chart-4-Texas-Sales-to-List-Price-Ratio.jpg
Chart 5: Texas Pending New Home Sales – July 2021: https://homesusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Chart-5-Texas-Pending-New-Home-Sales.jpg
Chart 6: Texas Active Listings for New Homes – July 2021: https://homesusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Chart-6-Texas-Active-Listings.jpg
Chart A: Texas 12-Month Moving Averages – New Homes – July 2021: https://homesusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Chart-A-12MonthChart-DataOnly.jpg
