Houston Market Report - 16262 Homes Listed and What the Numbers Say
Houston has 16,262 active listings and 3.1 months of supply, which technically favors sellers, but only 18% of homes are closing at or above asking price - meaning buyers have more room to negotiate than that headline number suggests.
The state of play
Houston currently has 16,262 active homes for sale, with 5,185 new listings hitting the market in the last 30 days alone. At a sales pace of roughly 5,241 closings per month, that works out to 3.1 months of supply - a level that technically puts this in seller's market territory, where anything under 6 months generally tilts leverage toward the people selling. That said, 3.1 months is closer to balanced than it might sound, and the sold-side data tells a more nuanced story about who's actually winning at the table.
Only 18% of Houston homes are closing at or above asking price - so even in a technical seller's market, most buyers are successfully negotiating the price down.
What prices are actually doing
The median list price on active Houston inventory sits at $319,188, while the median sold price over the last 12 months came in at $307,865 - a gap of about $11,323. That difference doesn't mean sellers are getting lowballed; it reflects the natural mix of homes that actually close versus those still sitting. The sharper signal is this: only 18% of Houston homes are closing at or above asking price. That means roughly 4 in 5 closed sales landed below list. Average days on market for sold homes runs about 74 days, which is not a fast-moving environment - homes that are priced right are moving, and homes that aren't are accumulating that time on market.
- Median list price: $319,188
- Median sold price, last 12 months: $307,865
- Closing at or above asking: 18%
What this means if you're moving this year
Sellers need to price carefully from day one. With 16,262 competing listings and only 18% of closings hitting asking price or better, an aggressive list price is more likely to extend your days on market than spark a bidding war. The $11,323 median gap between list and sold is the market telling you something. Price at market, not above it, and you stand a much better chance of closing in a reasonable timeframe. Buyers are in a stronger spot than a 3.1-month supply figure alone implies. When 82% of closings are happening below list price, you have real room to negotiate - especially on homes that have been sitting past that 74-day average. Use time on market as your leverage signal: a listing that has been active for 90-plus days is a listing where the seller has already absorbed the psychological cost of waiting, and a well-structured offer below ask has a genuine chance.
On the market right now
A few homes that just came up in Houston, pulled live from the MLS as you read this.
