July 2015 Home Sales in Houston Set Record, Despite Falling Oil Prices

Despite growing concerns in the Houston real estate market, declining oil prices have still not penetrated home sales in the area. In fact, July 2015 was the strongest month this year for home sales, with a total of 8,147 homes sold. According to the Houston Association of Realtors, Houston homes sales have only exceed 7,000 a few times in the past few years.

When oil prices fell last summer from over $100 a barrel to less than $50 a barrel currently, market experts were concerned about the market as we have discussed in previous blogs. However, homes sales have not plateaued and mortgage interest rates remain at 4 percent. Even with energy company layoffs, business hiring in Houston has remained strong and our economy has proven resilient.

Houston has proved that it is more than just an “oil town” as other parts of our economy are making up for the loss of jobs in the oil field. This resilience has carried the real estate market to new records. In fact, according to HAR, July 2015 home sales reflected a seven percent increase over July 2014.