February ‘25 Market Update

Texas’ four major markets (Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio) are showing green chutes in some markets, but in other markets they are a bit harder to find. Overall, these four markets are mixed and relatively in balance with inventory & pricing. We don’t find it to be a seller’s or buyer’s market, but it could be trending towards a buyer’s market should it not firm up over Spring.

According to recently released figures by Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center, all four markets continue with an upward trend of Active Listings, relative to the last 15 months, and the Days on Market for all 4 markets remain elevated over the recent past. Contrarily, we are noticing some firming in the average price per square foot in the Austin and Dallas markets, while Houston and San Antonio remained virtually unchanged in this early stage of the selling season.

Should the 30-year mortgage rates continue their recent modest lowering, the housing market is poised to firm up and bring buyers back into the market instead of having them sit on the sidelines.  According to a recent article by US News & World Report, 80% of buyers are waiting for rates to go lower as their primary reason for not purchasing a home. The monthly average of the 30-year mortgage rates has been 6.75% for the last 2.5 years. 20% of this time, the rates were above 7%, while 80% were below 7%, with a range between 6.15% to 7.62%. Should mortgage rates fall this selling season, the market should firm up noticeably, and if rates remain range-bound, then we believe the market will continue to be mixed and in relatively in balance.