The Texas Association of REALTORS (TAR) released its 2017 Texas Luxury Home Sales Report on Wednesday, Dec. 20. The report detailed that 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 this year.
“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,” Vicki Fullerton, chairman of the TAR, said in a news release.”
“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,” Fullerton continued.
According to the report, from October 2016 to November 2017, 4,622 Texas luxury homes were sold, a 19.1 percent increase from the precious year. This jump made luxury home sales the smallest but fastest-growing segment of the 2017 Texas housing market, TAR said.
Additionally, during that same interval, the sales dollar volume of Texas homes sold for $1 million and higher jumped 19.9 percent over the year before to $7,558,278,236.
“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,” Fullerton said in the release.
“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,” she added.
The report found that the median price for Texas luxury homes in the first 10 months of 2017 remained unchanged year-over-year at $1.35 million. However, the average price per square foot for luxury homes did see a 1.9 percent increase from the first 10 months of 2016 to $349, a number which is more than double the $122 average price per square foot for the median Texas home.
According to the TAR, it isn’t uncommon for luxury homes to spend more time on the market than lower-priced homes. TAR’s report found that from January to October 2017, luxury homes in Texas spent an average of 98 days on the market, a three day increase from the first 10 months of 2016.