Home sales in Texas increased 3.4 percent month over month in January 2023, the largest month over month increase since the second half of 2022. However, compared to the frenzy of last January, sales were down 20 percent. Austin and Houston rebounded the most, with more homes in Austin selling than in San Antonio and more homes in Houston selling than in Dallas, atypical for both.
In Texas, the largest segment of homes is the $300k and under price range. Comprising 40 percent of overall sales, it actually had the lowest rebound at only 0.5 percent growth month over month. Most other ranges grew by low single digits, with the notable exception of high end homes. Homes that sold for $750k and over increased 21.6 percent month over month and accounted for nine percent of sales.
As far as employment, 48,600 new jobs were created in Texas in January, and the unemployment rate dropped to 3.9 percent. Austin had the lowest unemployment rate, at 2.9 percent. Houston had the highest.
Read more in the Outlook for the Texas Economy by the Texas Real Estate Research Center, which stated 2023 is “marked by optimism in the economy—optimism that inflation will be brought under control, the housing market will return to some veil of normalcy, and the goods-producing and service-providing sectors will see upward growth trends.”