The holidays are in full swing, and it appears that everyone was in the mood to bring on the holidays early as I saw the Christmas lights go up immediately after Halloween this year!

With the uncertainty of an election year (I will never understand why this affects the housing market) and the higher interest rates, home sales continued to decline into November and will probably remain flat until the end of the year.

While I remain firm that Houston’s housing market will not follow the rest of the United States as long as oil prices remain strong, we also saw a drop in oil prices last week due to the decreased demand of oil across the world. As oil prices hover in the $80 per barrel range, oil companies are still hiring and relocation remains strong.

There is no need to panic as everything has a cycle, including housing and oil prices. Consumers can enjoy lower gas prices at the pump over the holidays, which will again increase consumer demand.

The bright light on the horizon is that mortgage rates also dropped in the last few weeks and may continue to head downward again as inflation seems to be under control once again. Remember inflation is caused by increased consumer spending so everything is cycling around again.

According to article by the Greater Houston Partnership, “The median price for a single-family home sold in Houston has jumped 37.7 percent over the past three years, more than 45.9 percent over the past five, and has more than doubled over the decade. ”Based on this data, home prices had to come down or we would have outpriced the average homeowner.

I will continue to repeat, “You can refinance your mortgage, but you cannot change the price that you paid for a home. I would rather buy a home in today’s market verses what buyers were paying at the beginning of the year.”

Now if we can just see more homes come on the market for the buyers that are earnestly looking to buy. With inventory levels just under a 3 month’s supply, we are by technical terms in a Seller’s market, but sellers are hesitant to sell and let go of their lower interest rate.

Our homes will remain the center of everything we do, and I wish all of our clients, friends and family a wonderful holiday whether you are enjoying home ownership or renting a home for now!