Houston-area new-home sales volume and prices continued on an upward track in July for the second straight month as mortgage rates fell to historic lows, according to HomesUSA.com.
The sales of new homes, based on a 12-month rolling average, totaled 1,411 in July in the area, up from 1,373 in June, according to HomesUSA.com. The average new home price in the Houston region was $348,543 in July, up from $347,120 in June.
The houses sold for 97.7 percent of their list price in July, according to HomesUSA.com, which tracks a 12-month rolling average for new homes listed in the Multiple Listing Services in Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio.
"Houston-area new-home sales took a nice bounce up last month," HomesUSA.com CEO Ben Caballero said in an announcement. "Coupled with a surge in pending sales in July, we can expect this strong sales trend to continue locally and statewide."
Pending sales, which rose across all four markets, averaged 1,744 in Houston in July, up from 1,685 in June.
Sales of new homes also increased in other Texas markets in July, rising to 1,495 in Dallas-Fort Worth, 687 in Austin and 584 in San Antonio.
Prices were up in Austin and San Antonio in July, reaching an average of $382,280 and $297,448, respectively. Prices in Dallas-Ft. Worth declined slightly to $370,209 in July.
The average rate for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell below 3 percent for the first time in July, according to Freddie Mac. The current rate is 2.96%.
