Consumers kept Houston’s rental market jingling in November with strong activity among single-family homes as well as townhomes and condominiums. This comes as Houston home sales registered their first positive month of sales in 19 months, but as many would-be buyers admit that they are holding back on a home purchase in hopes that mortgage rates will come down in the new year.

According to the Houston Association of Realtors’ (HAR’s) November 2023 Rental Market Update, rentals of single-family homes rose 6.6 percent year-over-year with the average lease price climbing 5.0 percent to $2,220. A total of 3,133 leases were signed compared to 2,940 in November 2022.

New listings of single-family rentals rose 6.4 percent in November, providing a sufficient supply of homes to meet the ongoing demand. Days on Market, or the actual number of days it took to lease a home, increased from 32 to 36 days.

“The Houston rental market remains strong as we wrap up 2023 and has been the silver lining to a market that, throughout the year, posed inventory, affordability and mortgage rate challenges to many consumers,” said HAR Chair Cathy Treviño with LPT, Realty. “There’s no saying what mortgage rates will do in 2024, but inventory of both resale and rental homes has grown considerably, so consumers will have ample selections available no matter which direction they choose to go.”

The townhome/condominium rental market also had a solid November. Leases of those properties rose 9.7 percent with 520 units leased compared to 474 last year. The average lease price increased 3.1 percent to $1,849. New listings rose 5.2 percent and Days on Market went from 35 to 41 days.

Pre-pandemic Perspective: Compared to the last November before the pandemic, single-family home rentals are up 15.1 percent. In November 2019, leases were signed for 2,722 single-family homes. The average rent is currently 24.9 percent higher than it was back then – $1,778. Townhome/condominium rentals totaled 494 in November 2019. That is 5.3 percent below the November 2023 level. The average townhome/condo rent is currently 22.9 percent above its November 2019 price of $1,502.

HAR’s Rental Market Update is distributed on the third Wednesday of each month, one week after the release of the monthly Home Sales Market Update. An archive of all these reports is available in the HAR Online Newsroom.