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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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Texas has returned its housing inventory to pre-pandemic levels, according to a new report from the Intercontinental Exchange ( the ICE) and data from Realtor.com, having boosted its supply at a time when a historic shortage of homes across the United States is keeping prices up.
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The ICE Home Price Index (HPI) for April showed that nearly 90 percent of U.S. markets now have stronger inventory levels than at this time last year, with inventory in 14 of the largest markets having returned to pre-pandemic levels. Thirteen of these are in Florida and Texas—the two states that have been building the most homes in recent years.
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Data from Realtor.com compiled and shared by ResiClub show that a month later, in May, Texas had increased the number of homes for sale in the state by 42 percent compared to a year earlier—one of the highest rates in the country after Florida (70 percent), Arizona (68 percent), Washington (52 percent), Georgia (49 percent), South Carolina (47 percent) and Mississippi (43 percent).
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Compared to May 2019, Texas had increased its housing inventory by 2 percent as of May—the only boost in supply in the country, while the rest of the country reports drops compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Between May 2019 and May 2024, Florida reported a 5 percent drop in housing inventory for sale—a minimum difference compared to the huge drops reported by states in the Northeast, which are well over 50 percent.
"Inventory seems to be the primary differentiator when it comes to the bifurcation we're seeing in housing market temperatures across the country," the ICE's Vice President of Enterprise Research Strategy Andy Walden said in a press release.
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"Generally speaking, the Northeast and Midwest still face deep deficits in available homes for sale, helping prices continue to run hot. On the other end of the spectrum, prices are softening in Florida and Texas as for-sale inventories rise in both states," he added.
"Then you've got California, where affordability and inventory are in a steel cage match to determine dominance. In April, each of the state's top 10 markets either registered below-average growth or clocked adjusted price declines."
States like Texas and Florida are building more homes than others like California because they have less regulation, which allows them to issue more permits and facilitate the construction of properties.
Newsweek reached out to the Intercontinental Exchange for comment via email on Wednesday.
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Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows that housing inventory has steadily been on the rise in the Lone Star State since March 2023, when the active listing count in Texas was 68,521. In May, it was a total of 101,118.
The ICE report, published earlier this week, brings good news for the nationwide housing market at large. The number of homes for sale across the country in April was up 30 percent compared to a year earlier—its highest seasonally adjusted level since mid-2020.
According to ResiClub, this positive trend continued in May, when the active U.S. housing inventory for sale was up 35 percent between May 2023 and May 2024, though it was still 33 percent down compared to May 2019.
But despite improvements, the U.S. is still facing a widespread shortage of homes.
"While we've made meaningful strides in terms of inventory improvement, there are still roughly 36 percent fewer listings than normal for this time of year," Walden said.
"Likewise, in the face of higher rates as well as prices, purchase mortgage demand remains about 45 percent off comparable periods in 2018 and 2019. As we've seen in recent years, any substantial move in rates can result in those supply/demand dynamics shifting quickly, either bolstering or softening home prices."
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