Entry-level homes are sitting longer than luxury ones this week

Verdict: this is a market that is dividing against expectation, not a straightforward seller's or buyer's read, and it is moving toward more active repricing at the top end.

Across the territory, 5,001 homes sat active this week. Split evenly around the median list price of $449,000, the two halves behaved in opposite ways. The 2,499 listings below that median carried a median 39 days on market. The 2,505 listings above it carried a median 34 days on market. That is backwards from the usual assumption that cheaper homes move faster.

Territory-wide, the median days on market came in at 37, flat against the four-week average of 37. So the overall pace has not shifted. What shifted is the shape underneath it: entry-level homes are now sitting longer than the luxury half, and the gap runs the opposite direction most buyers expect.

One thing helps explain why the upper half isn't dragging: fast, aggressive repricing. Several of the territory's largest price cuts this window landed within days of a listing hitting the market. In 77024, one home cut $249,000 to $5,750,000 after just 3 days on market. In 77027, a listing cut $125,000 to $2,750,000 after 4 days. In 77005, a listing cut $150,000 to $2,699,000 after 3 days, and another in the same zip cut $100,900 to $2,499,000 after 9 days.

Not every upper-end cut moved that fast. In 77018, a listing cut $145,000 to $2,350,000 after 46 days on market, and another in the same zip cut $120,000 to $1,075,000 after 68 days. In 77025, a listing cut $135,000 to $1,450,000 after 109 days. In 77019, a listing cut $125,000 to $1,375,000 after 71 days. So the top of the market isn't uniformly fast either. It is a mix of quick corrections and slower grinds, but enough of the largest cuts came early to suggest sellers up there are pricing to react rather than waiting it out.

If you are selling below $449,000 right now, expect a longer runway than the headline pace suggests. The below-median half is carrying 39 days median, two days above what the above-median half is seeing. Pricing precisely at the outset matters more here than it might elsewhere in the territory.

If you are selling above $449,000, the data suggests that a fast, decisive cut when a listing stalls is common among your peers, not a sign of a weak listing. Several of the largest cuts this window came inside the first week.

If you are buying below $449,000, patience may pay off. That half of the market is moving slower, which can mean more room to negotiate before a seller feels pressure.

If you are buying above $449,000, watch for early cuts. Several sellers in 77024, 77005, 77018, 77025, 77019 and 77027 moved on price within days to weeks of listing, which suggests some upper-end pricing this window was tested and adjusted quickly rather than held.

New listings territory-wide came in at 407, down 4.9% from the four-week average of 428. Sold count came in at 98, up 3.2% from the four-week average of 95. Active count came in at 5,001, down 4.8% from the four-week average of 5,252 (rounded). Price cuts came in at 210, down 22.2% from the four-week average of 270. Median list price held essentially flat at $449,000, down 0.1% from the four-week average. Median price per square foot came in at $189.77, down 19.1% from the four-week average.

What would change this read: if next week's below-median days-on-market figure narrows back toward the above-median figure, this week's split looks like noise rather than a real divergence. If the upper-end cuts keep clustering in the same handful of zips and keep landing within the first week of listing, that would support reading this as a durable repricing pattern rather than a one-week event.

This read rests on 98 sales and 5,001 actives across a 20-zip territory this week. Only 3 of 20 zips had enough priced sales to report a reliable median sale price, so zip-level pricing conclusions are largely withheld here. Months of supply could not be verified this run and is not included.

Listing Leads