Houston Real Estate by the Numbers - 14195 Homes Listed and What It Means for You
Houston has 14,195 active listings, a median sold price of about $315K over the last 12 months, and homes averaging 73 days on market - giving buyers real options while sellers still hold a narrow edge at 3.2 months of supply.
The state of play
Houston's active market currently holds 14,195 homes for sale, with roughly 4,482 closing each month. That puts months of supply at 3.2 - technically a seller's market, though one that's closer to balanced than the sub-2-month conditions that produce bidding wars. New listings are replenishing inventory steadily, so buyers aren't scrambling through a handful of choices. The leverage picture is nuanced: sellers have an edge on paper, but with 73 average days on market, most listings are sitting long enough for buyers to get a good look, run inspections, and negotiate.
At about 3.2 months of supply, Houston sits in a seller's market territory.
Source: Houston MLS · Houston · active inventory vs. trailing-12-month sales pace
Only 19% of Houston homes close at or above asking price - which means in 4 out of 5 deals, the list price is the starting point, not the finish line.
What prices are actually doing
The median list price on active Houston listings sits at about $322K, while the median sold price over the last 12 months is about $315K - a gap of roughly $6,500. That gap is meaningful. It tells you that most sellers are pricing slightly above where deals actually close, and buyers who come in at or near ask have room to negotiate rather than automatically overpaying. The sharper data point: only 19% of closings happen at or above the asking price. That means about 4 in 5 transactions close below list. If you're a buyer anchoring your offer to the list price as a ceiling, this market says you don't have to. If you're a seller expecting full ask, the numbers suggest pricing precisely from the start matters more than leaving room to negotiate down.
- Median list price: $321,757
- Median sold price, last 12 months: $315,272
- Closing at or above asking: 19%
Active listings carry a median of $321,757; homes have closed at a median of $315,272 over the last year — a $6,485 gap worth understanding before you price or offer.
Source: Houston MLS · Houston · active inventory vs. trailing-12-month closings
About 19% of recent Houston sales closed at or above the asking price — your read on how much room there is to negotiate.
Source: Houston MLS · Houston · last 12 months
What this means if you're moving this year
Buyers have more tools in Houston right now than the 3.2-month supply figure alone suggests. With 73 average days on market and only 19% of homes closing at or above ask, there's genuine room to negotiate on most listings - especially anything that's been sitting more than a few weeks. Use the $6,500 median list-to-sold gap as a calibration point when building your offer strategy. Coming in below list isn't lowballing in this market; it's reading the data correctly. Sellers need to be precise. The listings closing fastest and cleanest are almost certainly the ones priced in line with where sold comps actually land - around that $315K median. Padding the list price expecting buyers to meet you there is a riskier play when 81% of deals close below ask and the average home spends 73 days on the market before going under contract. Price to where the market is transacting, not where you hope it is, and you'll spend less time on the market and less time in negotiation.
On the market right now
A few homes that just came up in Houston, pulled live from the MLS as you read this.
