Texas Housing, Decoded

The data behind the Houston housing market.

RealtyDecode publishes data-driven Houston and Texas housing research — median price, days on market, price cuts, neighborhood leaderboards, rental yields, and forecasts. Every number traced to aggregated HAR MLS data.

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The median price a Houston home actually sold for in May 2026 — up 5.1% from March and within 1% of the cycle peak, even with mortgage rates near 6.5%.

$346,990

Houston Is Cooling? Not If You Look at Closed Prices

“Higher rates will crash Houston” is the easy story. The closings tell a different one. In May 2026 the typical Houston home sold for $346,990 — a 5.1% jump from March and the highest monthly median since last June — and it changed hands in 26 days, down from 43 in January. Sellers still captured 96.4% of their original asking price. The honest catch: fewer homes are trading (volume −5.9% year over year) and buyers are paying a little less per square foot (−2.6%), so this is the market repricing its mix, not booming. And it’s wildly uneven — $1M+ homes sell in 12 days while sub-$200K homes take a month. Here’s what the closed-price data actually says about where Houston is heading.

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Houston metro · core residential · closed July 2026

Median sold

$355K

+3.8% YoY

Median DOM

28d

Months of supply

13.4

Active for sale

48,826

Sale-to-orig-list

96.5%

Median list

$360K

active

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Market PulseJun 3, 2026

Houston Is Cooling? Not If You Look at Closed Prices

The median price a Houston home actually sold for in May 2026 — up 5.1% from March and within 1% of the cycle peak, even with mortgage rates near 6.5%.

$346,990

6 min read

NeighborhoodsJun 2, 2026

Sellers Are Blinking — But Only in Certain ZIPs

The headline is true and useless: 31.6% of Houston listings have cut price. Underneath, the metro splits in two. Out past the Grand Parkway — Splendora 58.8%, Cleveland 54.1%, Manvel 51.9%, Willis 48.1%, Conroe and Hockley in the mid-40s — nearly half of every listing has already dropped its ask, and the cuts run two to three times deeper than the metro’s 4.5%. Inside the loop, sellers are barely flinching: Independence Heights 12.6%, Garden Oaks 14.7%, Montrose 15.7%. And the kicker — even with all that cutting, the typical Houston home still sold for 96.4% of its original list in May. This is selective repricing, not a fire sale. Here are the ZIPs where sellers are giving ground, and the ones where they still hold the cards.

Share of for-sale listings that have already cut their price in Splendora (77372) — the most seller-stressed ZIP in metro Houston, vs 31.6% metro-wide

58.8%

6 min read

Speed & DOMJun 1, 2026

The Exurban Trap: Where Houston Sellers Are Getting Stranded

The headlines say Houston is finally balanced. A 26-day median, 2.9 months of supply, prices flat. Underneath, the metro has split in half. Inner Loop ZIPs like West U (77005) and Bellaire (77401) still clear in 10–13 days at $329–$491/sqft. Outer-ring residential is on a different clock: Country Homes/Acreage closes in a median 95 days, Crystal Beach 86, Galveston 65 (with $/sqft down 15.6% year-over-year), and the under-$200K band is cutting prices 7.9% off ask. If you’re selling outside Loop 99, the metro average is lying to you — your market started cooling months ago.

Median days to sell a Country Homes / Acreage property in Houston (May 2026)

95 days

7 min read

Pricing & $/sqftMay 31, 2026

Houston’s Fastest-Selling Homes Cost Over $1 Million

Everyone is reading about Houston’s cooling market. The data says the cooling is a mid- and entry-market story. In May, $1M+ homes sold in a median 12 days — less than half the market’s 26 — only 18% had cut their price (vs 31% market-wide), and they were a record 6.0% of closings and 22.5% of all dollars spent. Memorial, West University, River Oaks, and Bellaire carry it. Above $5M, though, the rules change entirely.

Median days to sell a $1M+ Houston home (May 2026)

12 days

7 min read

Market PulseMay 30, 2026

Houston Buyers Came Back. The Prices Didn’t.

Houston’s spring market is busy, not strong. Demand is live — 7,229 homes under contract right now and selling in 26 days — but $/sqft is still down 2.7% from last May, 30.6% of active listings have cut their asking price, and the deepest discounts sit under $500K. A busy market and a strong market are not the same thing.

Median $/sqft sold (Houston homes, May 2026)

$162−2.7%

6 min read

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