Houston Market Report · May 2026
The Houston Market in April 2026
Sales climbed for a second straight month, mortgage rates dropped to 6.33%, and Houston's own sales volume is now running ahead of pre-pandemic 2019 — while the national market still lags well behind it.
The Numbers
April kept March's momentum going: single-family sales rose 4.4% year over year to 8,196 homes, the second consecutive monthly gain. Mortgage rates helped — Freddie Mac's average 30-year rate dropped to 6.33% from 6.73% a year earlier, saving a median-priced buyer nearly $100 a month. Houston's affordability has now improved year over year in 18 of the past 21 months.
The more striking number is a longer-view one: Houston single-family sales are now running 6.8% above April 2019 levels — genuinely ahead of the last normal pre-pandemic year. Nationally, existing-home sales remain 22.4% below that same 2019 benchmark. Houston isn't just recovering; on a sales-volume basis, it's outperforming where it stood before the pandemic, while most of the country still hasn't gotten back there.
Prices kept easing gently (median down 1.6% to $332,000, average down 1.4% to $428,709) as inventory kept growing — active listings up 6.5% to 36,572 homes, with days on market rising to 60 from 55. Put together, April looked like a market genuinely gaining energy on the buyer side without prices spiking to meet it.
Houston Buyers Are Getting More for Less
Lower rates plus easing prices is a rare, genuinely favorable combination for buyers — the math on a monthly payment improved twice over in April, not just once, which is worth acting on rather than waiting to see if it lasts.
For sellers, a 4.9-month supply and rising days on market mean this isn't the moment to price optimistically and wait for a bidding war — homes priced at real April comps, with professional photos and a clean prep list, were still the ones moving in a reasonable window.
The bigger picture is worth remembering when a client asks 'is now a good time?': Houston's market has already recovered past its pre-pandemic pace. This isn't a market waiting to bounce back — it's one that already has.
Sales data sourced from the Houston Association of Realtors' (HAR) monthly Housing Market Update, covering April 2026. Shopping in the luxury tier instead? See our Luxury Market Report.
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