Houston home prices didn't drop last month. Your payment went up anyway.
That's September in two sentences, and it's the part that gets lost the moment a headline says sales were down. The median price of a Houston single-family home was $325,000 — a hair under the $325,990 it was a year ago. What moved wasn't the price tag. It was what it costs to carry it.
By the numbers
Single-family sales: 7,030 homes, down 5.7% from September 2025
Median price: $325,000, essentially flat year over year
Average price: $421,311, up 0.7%
Active listings: 40,192, up 6.3% — more homes to choose from than a year ago
Months of inventory: 5.5, up from 5.1
Average days on market: 58, up from 56
Pending sales: 6,789, down 11.6% — this one is telling you about October, not September
Average 30-year rate for the month: 6.86%, up from 6.35% a year ago
Here's the number that explains all the others. On a median-priced Houston home with 20% down, the Houston Association of REALTORS® puts principal and interest at $1,705.41 a month, up from $1,622.29 last September. Same price, $83 more a month — about $997 a year. No seller's list price did that. Rates did.
If you're buying right now
You have 40,192 single-family homes to look at, 5.5 months of supply, and sellers averaging 58 days of waiting. A year ago you had less of all three. That's a real shift in who's uncomfortable in the negotiation, and it hasn't shown up in list prices yet.
So ask for things. Closing cost help, repairs after the inspection, a seller contribution toward buying your rate down — that last one often does more for your monthly payment than the same dollars off the price, and a licensed lender can run both side by side in about ten minutes. Get your actual number from that lender before you fall in love with a house, not after.
And don't waive your inspection to look competitive. In a 5.5-month market, you don't have to.
If you're selling right now
Straight talk: your buyer got poorer in September and your house didn't get cheaper. Their payment on your exact home went up $83 a month. Pending sales across Houston fell 11.6%, which means fewer of them are even in the pipeline for October.
If your home has been sitting, the market usually isn't the problem. The first two weeks were the market telling you your price, and the next eight are you deciding whether to listen. Homes priced to where buyers actually are still move. The ones chasing last spring's comps are what a 58-day average is made of.
A rate buydown you help fund is often a cheaper concession than a price cut, and it reads better to someone staring at a payment — your lender and I can show you both numbers on your own house. And I'll commit to telling you the truth about your price even when it isn't the number you were hoping for.
The honest take
Everybody is going to read “sales down 5.7%” as “prices are falling in Houston.” They aren't. They're flat. What's actually happening is narrower and far more useful than a crash, and it's sitting in HAR's price-segment table where nobody looks.
Sales between $150,000 and $249,999 fell 8.4%. Between $250,000 and $499,999, down 5.7%. That's the heart of this market, and those are the buyers who feel every basis point. Meanwhile the $500,000 to $999,999 band grew — by 0.6% — and homes over $1 million fell 8.2%. This isn't a city losing confidence in itself. It's a market where the payment math is deciding who's still shopping, band by band. Which band you're in matters more this month than any citywide average.
The other thing worth saying out loud: if you own a townhome or condo, you are not in the same market as your single-family neighbor. Those sales fell 21% last month, the median there dropped 9.1% to $209,000, and there are 9.3 months of inventory sitting on that side of the street. Same city, completely different conversation about price. If someone hands you a single-family stat and tells you Houston held steady, they're not doing you any favors.
HAR's video and the full report
Every number above comes from the Houston Association of REALTORS® September 2026 MLS report. You can read HAR's full release and the one-page activity snapshot (PDF) for yourself. I'd rather you check me than take my word for it.
If you have any questions, call me — 281.944.5484. LaShambra Ewing, MBA, Broker Associate, Keller Williams Realty Southwest. Serving Houston and surrounding communities.
