Methodology

Data source

All RealtyDecode research is computed from Houston Association of REALTORS® (HAR) MLS listing data. Our pipeline collects active and closed listings, geocodes addresses to ZIP/metro, and refreshes daily. We retain a rolling window of monthly closed-sale data and a complete snapshot of active inventory.

What we publish — and what we never publish

We publish aggregate statistics only: medians, counts, shares, and period-over-period changes across many transactions. We never publish individual listings, full street addresses, agent or office identities, listing remarks, or any other personally identifiable information. Geographies smaller than a ZIP are not used as the unit of publication.

Comparison standards

• Core residential only. Headline price, $/sqft, and speed metrics are computed on single-family, townhome/condo, and mid/hi-rise condo property types, so comparisons are apples-to-apples and not skewed by land or commercial parcels.
• Complete months only. The current (in-progress) calendar month is excluded from trend and year-over-year comparisons, because its sales are still accumulating.
• Small samples suppressed. Geography leaderboards require a minimum number of closed sales before we report an appreciation figure, to avoid small-sample noise.

Key definitions

• Median sold price / $ per sqft. Median of closed sales in the period for core residential homes.
• Days on market (DOM). Time from list to contract for closed sales.
• Sale-to-original-list. Close price divided by the original list price — a truer measure of negotiation than current-list, which is revised down before closing.
• Months of supply. Active inventory divided by the trailing monthly sold pace (core residential, like-for-like).
• Gross rental yield. Annualized median asking rent divided by median sold price for an area. This is a gross estimate — it does not net out taxes, insurance, vacancy, or management, and rent and sale unit mixes can differ.

Verification

Every published story carries a verification ledger that maps each claim to the exact metric file and field it came from. If a number can’t be traced, it doesn’t ship.

Accountability

Forecast and market-call stories declare a resolution window and explicit confirmation/invalidation criteria, so each call can be graded after the fact.

Source: Houston Association of REALTORS® (HAR) MLS, aggregated by RealtyDecode. Figures are aggregate statistics; individual listings, addresses, and agent identities are not published.

See also our disclaimer and the research team.