Mischer News

For developers and builders in Houston, weary from slow sales and pessimistic forecasting, it appears the tides may be turning in their favor. In a new statistic released this week, the government says sales of new homes surged 26.9 percent in March. This is the largest one-month gain in five decades.

The Department of Commerce report “Texas sales of single-family homes were at an annual rate of 411,000 in March and new home sales were up 23.8 percent from a year earlier.”

Sales of single-family homes in the Houston market posted a 10.8 percent increase in March which was more good news for the approximately 7 month supply (nearly 230,000 in inventory) of new homes on the market at the end of March.

According to Jeff Clabaugh of the Washington Business Journal, “earlier this week, the National Association of Realtors reported sales of existing homes — the lion’s share of housing sales transactions — rose 6.8 percent in March compared to February. Existing home sales last month were up 16.1 percent from a year ago.”

The rise in March sales is partially due to beautiful weather, encouraging shoppers to get out and tour inventory homes, and the rush to beat the April 30 deadline for the expiration of the government’s homebuyer tax credit.

The true “economic recovery” test for new home sales will begin in May, post tax credit, and if the sales continue to increase, our confidence in market recovery will be solidified.