Is now a good time to buy or sell a house in Houston?
Use the dated MLS analysis below to understand the recent market, then check the ZIP lookup and economic indicators for their displayed update dates. The historical analysis is a saved September 24, 2026 snapshot; the interactive panels have their own refresh schedules.
The short answer
Is now a good time to buy or sell a house in Houston?
I’m Eddie Weir, a REALTOR® with REMAX Signature. Whether a move makes sense depends on the home, your budget and your timing. Houston Association of REALTORS® MLS data shows 22,715 single-family homes in the nine-county Houston area closed June 1 through August 31, 2026, with a $345,000 median sale price and 29 median days to offer. Data was pulled September 24. Freddie Mac’s 30-year fixed rate averaged 7.03% for the week of September 24, 2026, a national survey average, not a Houston or borrower-specific quote (Primary Mortgage Market Survey). Compare the current rate quote and competing homes before deciding. Find the weekly reports in The Weekly Walkthrough.
Updated October 1, 2026 · Data: Houston Association of REALTORS® MLS
What are the numbers behind that answer?
This report covers closings recorded from June 1 through August 31, 2026, with a separate August comparison. Data was pulled September 24, 2026. August is the latest month covered here.
| Measure | June to August 2026 | August 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | $345,000 | $335,000 |
| Homes that closed | 22,715 | 6,533 |
| Days to offer (median) | 29 | 31 |
| Sale-to-final-list ratio (median of individual sales) | 98.4% | 98.4% |
Source: Houston Association of REALTORS® MLS. Single-family homes in Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria, Galveston, Waller, Liberty, Chambers and Austin counties, counted by closing date. Days to offer is the reported time to accepted contract: 22,141 homes reported it in June–August and 6,376 in August. Each sale-to-list ratio uses that home’s final list price; the table shows the median of those ratios. Later corrections to MLS records may change the figures. These figures use the nine counties and property type described here; HAR’s published monthly market report covers its own reporting market.
Where does the Houston market differ by county and price?
The September 24, 2026 snapshot has 37,067 single-family listings after removing duplicate MLS numbers and 287 Coming Soon listings. Dividing that inventory by the monthly pace of 20,547 closings from June 26 through September 24 gives 5.4 months of inventory. Higher supply generally gives buyers more choices; lower supply can mean more competition. Compare the location, price range, condition and competing listings for the home you are considering.
| County | Months of inventory | Median sale price | Days to offer (median) | Homes closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harris | 5.1 | $325,000 | 27 | 10,162 |
| Fort Bend | 5.3 | $389,250 | 31 | 2,976 |
| Montgomery | 5.5 | $337,651 | 37 | 3,545 |
| Brazoria | 5.4 | $341,476 | 34.5 | 1,296 |
| Galveston | 6.3 | $364,511 | 34 | 1,465 |
| Waller | 7.7 | $335,745 | 46 | 404 |
| Liberty | 8.4 | $252,900 | 51 | 360 |
| Chambers | 4.9 | $394,500 | 40 | 260 |
| Austin | 7.3 | $305,000 | 51.5 | 79 |
| Price band | Months of inventory | Days to offer (median) | Sale-to-list (median of individual sales) | Listings in snapshot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under $300,000 | 4.6 | 31 | 98.5% | 11,834 |
| $300,000 to under $400,000 | 5.5 | 32 | 98.6% | 9,814 |
| $400,000 to under $500,000 | 6.2 | 33 | 98.1% | 5,603 |
| $500,000 to under $700,000 | 6.1 | 31 | 98.2% | 5,185 |
| $700,000 to under $1 million | 6.4 | 26 | 97.8% | 2,572 |
| $1 million to under $1.5 million | 5.7 | 21 | 97.3% | 1,075 |
| $1.5 million and up | 6.4 | 21 | 96.9% | 984 |
Source: Houston Association of REALTORS® MLS, single-family homes in the same nine counties. Inventory excludes Coming Soon and is deduplicated by MLS number. Months of inventory = September 24 inventory ÷ (June 26–September 24 closings ÷ 3). Days to offer uses homes that report it. County rows require at least 50 closings. These historical counts do not establish availability today.
Which Houston ZIP is moving right now?
The metro numbers above hide 24 very different markets. Pick yours — or jump straight to a ZIP — for live inventory and list prices from the HAR MLS, refreshed hourly.
Tiles sort by number of homes currently for sale (activity, not desirability); complete, unranked data for every tracked ZIP is available in the lookup. Price comparisons are against the Greater Houston single-family list median computed from this same MLS feed. Area medians are listing-weighted approximations. Source: Houston Association of REALTORS® MLS — active single-family listings, median list price. Counts refresh hourly.
What do these numbers mean if you are buying or selling?
If you’re buying
More homes on the market means more choice and more sellers open to negotiating — the inventory and days-on-market charts below show exactly how much leverage you have right now. Rates get the headlines, but a half-point move changes the payment on the median Houston home by about $95/month. Shop the payment and the house, not the headline.
If you’re selling
When the typical Houston listing takes several weeks to go pending, pricing right in the first two weeks matters more than anything else you’ll decide. The data punishes aim-high-and-wait. Start with what the comps on your street actually support — I’ll run them for you.
The bigger picture
Through the entire 2008 cycle, Houston’s FHFA home-price index fell about 3.5% peak-to-trough and fully recovered within three years. Whatever headlines the current cycle generates, the 26-year chart below keeps it in proportion: Houston is a slow compounder, not a boom-bust market.
Which five charts explain the Houston market?
Every chart updates automatically from federal and MLS sources. Tap a range to zoom.
Mortgage Rates — 30-Year & 15-Year Fixed
Median List Price — Houston Metro
Active Listings — Houston Metro
Median Days on Market — Houston Metro
Houston Home Values — 26-Year Index
Buying in this market?
Search every Houston-area listing with the same live MLS data behind this page — then let’s talk strategy on the ones worth seeing.
Search the full MLSWondering what your home is worth right now?
Inventory changes the pricing math. I’ll run the comps on your specific street and give you an honest number — no obligation, no pressure.
Request your free home valuationWhat do people ask about the Houston housing market?
How many homes are for sale in Houston right now?
The live counter at the top of this page shows the current total — it comes straight from the Houston Association of REALTORS® MLS feed and refreshes hourly. The metro-level monthly figure (all property types) is in the Active Listings card above.
Is Houston a buyer’s market or a seller’s market?
Watch three lines on this page: active inventory, days on market, and median list price versus a year ago. When inventory is high and rising, market time is long, and prices are flat-to-down, buyers have leverage — and the reverse favors sellers. The current readings are always in the cards at the top. And remember “the market” is really 200+ ZIP-level markets: check yours in the area lookup above.
Will Houston home prices crash?
Nobody can promise what prices will do — anyone who does is selling something. For perspective: through the entire 2008 cycle, Houston’s FHFA house price index fell about 3.5% peak-to-trough and fully recovered within three years. The lines to watch are inventory and days on market, and both update automatically on this page. For the full quarterly write-up, see the Q2 2026 market report.
What is the median home price in Houston?
The metro median list price is in the second card at the top of this page, updated monthly from the Realtor.com listing database. The metro number hides an enormous range — ZIP-level medians vary by more than tenfold across the metro — so use the area lookup for your street’s reality.
Sources & methodology
Live MLS data (single-family active counts, ZIP-level medians, open houses): Houston Association of REALTORS® MLS via this site’s licensed data feed; refreshed hourly. Median values suppressed where sample sizes are too small to be meaningful.
Metro monthly series (median list price MEDLISPRI26420, active listings ACTLISCOU26420, median days on market MEDDAYONMAR26420): Realtor.com residential listing database, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED), updated monthly. Mortgage rates (MORTGAGE30US, MORTGAGE15US): Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey via FRED, updated weekly. House price index (ATNHPIUS26420Q): Federal Housing Finance Agency all-transactions index for the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land MSA, updated quarterly.
Payment examples assume 20% down, principal & interest only, and are illustrative — not a quote or an offer of credit. Metro list-price medians (Realtor.com) and MLS figures measure different things; this page labels each. Market data is informational only — no guarantee of outcomes. This product uses the FRED® API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
