Sometimes, I hate it when I am right—at the beginning of January, I announced
that we would sell most of our real estate in the first six months of the year for two
reasons: 1) the real estate market in Houston always slows in July and August and 2)
We are in a Presidential election year, which typically slows home sales by about 10%.

The good news is that I also stated that if interest rates drop, this could be a
game changer for our Fall market, and the interest rates just dropped by 0.12% on a 30-
year mortgage, according to this CNET article. With the predictions that we could see
interest rates drop to as low as 6% this Fall, buyers that have been fatigued by high
interest rates, low inventory, and the rising cost of homeowner’s insurance may get off
the fence and buy a home.

I for one would love to see our Fall market pick back up, because the market
slowed earlier than expected this year as the reported home sales in June, 2024 were
even lower than 2023, according to the article in the Greater Houston Partnership.
“Brokers closed on 7,718 single-family homes in June, an 11.6 percent dip from June of
last year, according to data provided by the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR),” the
article said.

The housing market shifts quickly, so while May was a strong Seller’s market, as
home sales slowed, the inventory rose to 4.3 month’s supply in the city of Houston,
which moved us past a balanced market into a Buyer’s Market. This is why I always say,
“Sell when homes are selling!”

August will bring another challenge to the real estate market as August 17 marks
the change in Buyer’s Agent commission on the HAR website. If you want to learn more
about this change, please join Energy Realty at a public Q&A on September 10 at Café
Benedicte. We will send Evites and post on social media in the upcoming months.