COMMENTARY – Houston home sales hit an annual record in 2013 with 73,232 sales. RealtyNewsReport predicts annual home sales in 2014 will surpass the 2013 total. Houston’s home sales in 2014 will set a new annual sales record. Those who are predicting a slow down are wrong.
Job growth, corporate relocation and population growth are exceptionally strong in Houston. Housing supply will tick up enough to keep the sale surge going. So, 2013 was the best year ever for home sales in Houston, but we believe 2014 sales will be even stronger.
The housing market is tight because Houston is gaining jobs faster than any other city in the nation – more than 91,000 new jobs were added over the last year. Energy firms, such as Exxon Mobil, are transferring hundreds of employees to Houston every month. Household formation is up also.
One way to get out of the inventory squeeze is for the home building industry to construct new homes, says Houston Association of Realtors chair Chaille Ralph.
Houston home builders have stepped up production, but they have been facing labor shortages and most builders have large backlogs of home buyers waiting for their homes to be completed.
The only way to get out of the inventory jam is to build homes, but home builders don’t have enough labor or lots to accelerate production to the Nth degree. Nevertheless, RealtyNewsReport predicts 2014 will have the highest annual home sales total Houston has ever experienced. The inventory will materialize and sales will get closed.
Don’t believe the downers who say Houston’s winning streak in residential sales is about to peter out. Houston’s home sales will have to taper off someday, but that day will not come in 2014.
By Ralph Bivins, Editor, RealtyNewsReport