Houston Having Record Buying Season

Houston's spring buying season is setting records, with 7,070 single-family home closings at a median price of $240,000 in April, per the latest Houston Association of Realtors report.

Homebuyer demand in Houston has moved from the luxury-end of the market to the affordable segment, homes priced under $300,000, and developers are taking notice. Friendswood Development Co. is building a new community that will add 1,400 affordable homes. “The opportunity to acquire more acreage in this area along with the strong demands create an ideal setting for this new community,” community development manager Robert Santini said in a statement, The Houston Chronicle reports. For its part, Houston's luxury market closings were up five percent in April.

Sales across the region were up 7 percent in April, rebounding after falling in March for the first time since Hurricane Harvey. Buyers have been active across the region, from Conroe and The Woodlands to Fulshear and Richmond. Still, the hurricane’s impact on the market continues to be felt. Homes that flooded have lost value and investors are out buying. Over the past year, the local office of real estate investor group We Buy Houses purchased more than 100 homes in the Houston area. Unlike other investors, the company is shying away from flooded homes and instead buying fixer-uppers that stayed dry in Harvey.

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