3rd Look at Local Housing Markets in July
First, here are some comments from the Houston Association of REALTORS®: HOUSTON HOME PRICES EASE IN JULY AS SUPPLY HITS RECORD HIGH
According to the Houston Association of Realtors' July 2025 Housing Market Update, single-family home sales increased 9.2 percent year-over-year. A total of 8,300 homes were sold compared to 7,601 last year, when Hurricane Beryl temporarily halted market activity for several days.
July marked the largest year-over-year decline in home prices since 2023. The median price was down 3.1 percent to $339,000. The average price was $434,664, which is 1.9 percent below last year’s level.
Active listings reached an all-time high in July, exceeding 40,000 available homes in the Houston area. This represents a 38.2 percent increase from the same time last year.
emphasis added
Active listings hit an all-time high in Houston leading to some price declines. This is something we are seeing everywhere inventory has increased sharply. Note that sales were partially up year-over-year in Houston due to the hurricane depressing sales last year.
Note that closed sales in July were mostly for contracts signed in May and June, and mortgage rates, according to the Freddie Mac PMMS, 6.82% in May and 6.82% in June (somewhat higher than for closed sales in June).
Closed Sales in July
In July, sales in these markets were down 0.6% YoY. Last month, in June, these same markets were up 4.3% year-over-year Not Seasonally Adjusted (NSA).
Important: There were the same number of working days in July 2025 (22) as in July 2024 (22). So, the year-over-year change in the headline SA data will be similar to the NSA data.
Notes for all tables:
New additions to table in BOLD.
Northwest (Seattle), Jacksonville Source: Northeast Florida Association of REALTORS®
Totals do not include Atlanta and Denver (included in state totals)
Comparison to 2019 ONLY includes local markets with available 2019 data!
For the previous month (June), there were more working days in June 2025 (20) than in June 2024 (19). So, the year-over-year change in the headline SA data was lower than for the NSA data. The NAR reported sales seasonally adjusted were unchanged year-over-year although the NSA data showed a gain (+4.0%) although there are other seasonal factors.
Sales in all of these markets are down compared to July 2019.
This graph shows existing home sales by month for 2024 and 2025, on a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) basis. Last year, the NAR reported sales in July 2024 were at 3.98 million SAAR.
The previous month, June, and the next three months - July through September - will be the easiest year-over-year comparisons.
This data suggests that the July existing sales (as reported by the NAR will likely be mostly unchanged from June, and down slightly year-over-year.
New Listings in July
For these areas, new listings were up 7.1% year-over-year.
Last month, new listings in these markets were up 5.2% year-over-year.
New listings are up solidly year-over-year, but down 8.7% compared to July 2019 activity.
Active Inventory in July
Inventory was up 23.7% year-over-year. Last month inventory in these markets was up 26.7% YoY. Inventory picked up more than usual this Spring and Summer.
There are significant regional differences in inventory.
More local markets to come!