HAR’s September report shows fewer sales, more homes to choose from, and prices sitting about where they were a year ago. If you are buying, that mix is not bad news at all.
What the Numbers Say
The Houston Association of Realtors reported 7,030 single-family homes sold across the Houston area in September 2026, down 5.7% from September 2025. Total dollar volume came in at $3.45 billion, off 2.1%.
Prices barely moved. The median sale price was $325,000, essentially flat year over year, and the average price ticked up 0.7% to $421,311. That is this market in one line: demand cooled off, and prices mostly held.
What did move is supply. There were 40,192 single-family homes on the market, up 6.3% from a year ago. Inventory sat at 5.5 months, up from 5.1, and homes took 58 days to sell on average, up from 56.
HAR chair Theresa Hill put her finger on why: “Higher mortgage rates are making buyers look more closely at what they can comfortably afford.” That matches what we see across the desk every week.
The townhome and condo side had a slower month. Sales came in at 323, down 21%, with the median at $209,000, down 9.1%, and the average at $261,052, down 4.6%.
Montgomery County and Conroe
HAR’s market data for the Conroe Southeast area shows a median sold price of $318,546, inventory at 5.3 months, and homes taking about 65.5 days to sell. Listings in the area are up 1.6% from a year ago.
So Conroe is running a touch under the Houston median on price and a little slower on days to sell. Neither of those is alarming. It mostly means sellers up here are competing with each other, and buyers have some room to ask for things.
What It Means If You’re Buying
Five and a half months of inventory is a market where you get to think. You can see a house twice, order the inspections you want, and ask for repairs without worrying that four other offers are stacking up behind you. A couple of years ago that was not how it went around here.
The other thing worth noticing is seller concessions. A seller who will not come down $10,000 on price will often put $10,000 toward your rate buydown instead, and dollar for dollar that usually does more for your monthly payment than the price cut would have.
What It Means If You’re Selling
Prices are holding, and that is a good headline to have. But 58 days on market and 6.3% more listings than last year tell you the house that sits is usually the house priced on what the neighbor got back in the spring. Priced to today, it moves.