by Calculated Risk on 11/11/2020 11:46:00 AM

From the HAR: Houston Real Estate Soars Again in October

Even with an ever-dwindling supply of housing and a lingering pandemic, consumers bought homes at a frenzied pace in October, keeping the Houston real estate market on the path to a record year. The high end of the market once again registered the greatest sales volume increase, with mid-range homes also attracting heavy activity.

According to the latest Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) Market Update, 9,287 single-family homes sold in October compared to 7,187 a year earlier. That represents a 29.2 percent increase and marks the fifth straight month of positive sales.
...
Sales of all property types totaled 11,232 – up 31.5 percent from October 2019. Total dollar volume for the month rose 46.1 percent to $3.5 billion. The lease market had mixed results in October with a 5.1 percent decline in single-family housing while townhouse/condo leases jumped 11.0 percent.
emphasis added

Inventory declined 25.9% year-over-year from 42,374 in October 2019 to 31,384 in October 2020.

Note that the closed sales in October were for contracts that were mostly signed in August and September.