December 14, 2017 — Austin
The number of Texas homes sold for $1 million or higher jumped 19.1 percent and topped $7.5 billion in total sales dollar volume in 2017, according to the 2017 Texas Luxury Home Sales Report released today by the Texas REALTORS®.
Vicki Fullerton, chairman of the Texas REALTORS®, commented, “Despite slowing growth trends across the Texas housing market, job market and economy in 2017, Texas luxury home sales volume has continued to grow at a booming pace. Rising home prices, high-end remodeling activity in major metro areas and relocation activity from out-of-state residents all continue to be drivers for Texas home sales of $1 million and higher.”
From October 2016 to November 2017, Texas luxury home sales jumped 19.1 percent to 4,622 sales, making luxury home sales the smallest but fastest-growing segment of the Texas housing market in 2017. During the same time frame, the sales dollar volume of Texas homes sold for $1million and higher was $7,558,278,236, a 19.9 percent increase from the same time frame the year prior.
Despite the surge in sales volume, the median price for Texas luxury homes in the first 10 months of 2017 remained unchanged year-over-year at $1,350,000. The average price per square foot for luxury homes was $349, a 1.9 percent increase from the first 10 months of 2016 and more than doubles the $122 average price per square foot for the median Texas home.>
It is typical for luxury homes to spend significantly more time on the market than lower-priced segments of the housing market. From January to October 2017, luxury homes in Texas spent an average of 98 days on the market, an increase of three days from the same time frame in 2016.
“Signs of a softening housing market are historically first seen among luxury price classes, but there’s been no such evidence of a softening market among Texas luxury home sales this year,” concluded Fullerton. “Slowing luxury home price appreciation in Texas, however, could indicate that home price growth among the Texas housing market at large could begin to normalize in 2018, which would help curb growing housing affordability challenges throughout the state.”