Quarterly Snapshot 1Q23 | Land | Houston Land Market Cools for Developers and Homebuilders
The land market in the Houston region is slowing down following the last decade of incredible growth. Single-family home sales fell 18.3% in March 2023 over last year; down 7,907 in 2023 from 9,693 in 2022. Even though home prices have started to level off in some areas, interest rates are still high making it difficult for many homebuyers. As a result, days on the market in 1Q23 have stretched out and is now taking twice as long to sell a home than it did a year ago. As these pressures have increased, it has slowed homebuilder and developer land sales while starting to close the gap between the bid vs. ask spread. Once inflation slows down and interest rates start dropping, then homebuyer consumer confidence will improve land tract sales and home sales will pick back up.