Mortgage

Oil prices impact Houston housing market

Slowdown anticipated

The recent decline in oil prices is taking its toll on the Houston housing market, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal.

The article cites a report from the Houston Association of Realtors that shows the sales of homes in the metropolitan area increased by 6.1% in January from a year earlier.   

Economists and other housing observers have expected Houston to lose momentum because oil prices declined by roughly 50% since last summer. Robert Dye, chief economist at Comerica Bank in Dallas, expects home-construction starts in the Houston area to decline by 11% this year.

“January was a strong month overall for the Houston housing market, but we still expect to see sales cool as a result of lower oil prices and the limited supply of homes,” said Nancy Furst, chairman of the Houston Realtors association, in a statement. “We’ve already started to see declining townhome and condominium sales.”

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3d rendering of a row of luxury townhouses along a street

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