Houston's Spring Market: Volume Roars Back, Prices Quietly Cool
Closings jumped 28% from February, but the median home sold for less per square foot than a year ago — and nearly 3 in 10 active listings have already cut their price.
Median $/sqft sold (Houston homes)
$159−3.1%
Spring buying surged
+28% closings MoM
The headline view
But pricing softened
-3.1% $/sqft YoY
What the data says underneath
More homes are changing hands — yet sellers are netting less per foot than they did a year ago.
The RealtyDecode read
RealtyDecode read: Houston's spring rebound is real in volume but soft in price. The median home sold for $330,000 ($159/sqft) in March — up seasonally from winter, but down 1.9% in price and 3.1% per square foot versus last March. With 2.2 months of supply and 29% of active listings already reduced, buyers have more room to negotiate than the headline closing count suggests. Watch April-May $/sqft and price-cut share to confirm whether the cooling is seasonal or structural.
In plain English
Two things can be true at once. The number of homes that sold jumped from February to March, which looks like a hot market. But the price buyers paid per square foot is lower than a year ago, sellers are taking less than they first asked, and a growing share of listings have cut their price. Volume is up; pricing power has shifted toward buyers.
01 · Market Pulse
Buyers came back in force
March closings rose 28% from February and edged 2.6% above last March.
After a slow winter — January saw fewer than 5,000 Houston home closings — spring demand snapped back. March recorded 7,501 closed single-family and condo sales, a 28.4% jump from February and the busiest month since last spring. On raw activity, the market looks healthy.
Houston homes sold per month
Source: RealtyDecode analysis of HAR MLS data · Mar 2026
Homes sold, March
7,501
single-family + condo
vs February
+28.4%
month-over-month
vs March 2025
+2.6%
year-over-year
02 · Market Pulse
But price per foot kept drifting down
At $159/sqft, the median home sold 3.1% cheaper per foot than a year ago.
Houston $/sqft peaked at $167 in June 2025 and has eased nearly every month since. March’s $159.49 is 1.2% above February but 3.1% below last March’s $164.57. The median sale price tells the same story: $330,000, down 1.9% year-over-year. Rising volume has not restored pricing power.
Median $/sqft, Houston homes sold
Source: RealtyDecode analysis of HAR MLS data · Mar 2026
Median $/sqft
$159
March 2026
YoY change
-3.1%
vs March 2025
Sale-to-original-list
95.6%
sellers accept ~4.4% under first ask
03 · Market Pulse
Where the leverage is: entry-level price cuts
Nearly 3 in 10 active listings have cut price — and the cheapest homes cut most.
Across active Houston listings, 28.8% have reduced their asking price at least once, with a median cut of 4.4%. The pattern is regressive: 31% of sub-$350K homes have cut, versus 17% above $1M. Affordability-tier sellers are competing hardest for a thinner pool of qualified buyers.
Share of active listings that cut price, by price band
Source: RealtyDecode analysis of HAR MLS data · active listings
Active listings reduced
28.8%
at least one price cut
Median cut
-4.4%
off original list
Cut most often
Under $200K
31.4% reduced
04 · Market Pulse
Homes still clear — in about five weeks
Median time to sell is 35 days; 46% of homes close within a month of listing.
Despite softer pricing, well-priced homes still move. The median Houston home that closed in March took 35 days on market. Just under half (46%) sold within 30 days, but the back half of the distribution is long — a quarter took more than 89 days. Pricing right, not waiting, is what clears a home this spring.
Share of March sales closed within N days of listing
Source: RealtyDecode analysis of HAR MLS data · Mar 2026
Median days on market
35
March closings
Sold within 30 days
46%
of March sales
Slowest quartile
89+ days
top 25% of DOM
Was this call right? (90d)
Confirmed if
April-June 2026 median $/sqft stays below the prior-year months and price-cut share holds above 25%.
Invalidated if
Median $/sqft turns positive YoY by June 2026 and price-cut share falls below 20%.
How we verified every number (9 claims)
March closings +28.4% MoM, +2.6% YoY
market_pulse.json · mom.sold_count_pct / yoy.sold_count_pct
Median $/sqft $159.49, -3.1% YoY
market_pulse.json · sold_latest_month.median_ppsf_sold / yoy.median_ppsf_pct
Median sale price $330,000, -1.9% YoY
market_pulse.json · sold_latest_month.median_close_price / yoy.median_close_price_pct
Sale-to-original-list 95.6%
market_pulse.json · sold_latest_month.sale_to_orig_list_pct
2.2 months of supply
market_pulse.json · months_of_supply
$/sqft monthly series (peak $167 Jun-2025)
price_trends.json · series[].median_ppsf_sold
Monthly sold counts
price_trends.json · series[].sold_count
28.8% of active listings reduced; by-band shares
price_cuts.json · share_reduced_pct / by_price_band[]
DOM 35; survival curve (46% ≤30d)
speed_dom.json · median_dom / survival_curve[]