Houston home sales shatter records in unprecedented year

Houstonians don't need a reminder on how brutal the pandemic was last year. But the despair of 2020 certainly didn't affect local real estate, according to a recent report.

In 2020, Houston-area home sales sailed by 2019, surpassing 2019 by more than 10 percent, according to data released by Houston Area Realtors (HAR).

Some 96,151 single-family homes sold in 2020, according to HAR's 2020 annual market report. Overall sales of all property types for the year totaled 115,523, which represents an 11.6 percent increase over 2019's record volume. It also marks only the second time in history that total property sales broke the 100,000 level, HAR notes.

How will 2020's record setting sales affect Houston's real estate market in 2021? One local expert told ABC13's Erik Barajas, "We're going to end up with a real shortage of properties." If you're in the market to buy or sell, watch his report tonight at 10 p.m. on when will be the best time to make a move this year.

For more on this story, continue reading from our ABC13 partners at Houston CultureMap.