Days on market and price cuts in Houston and Texas
Why a Montebello Home Sits Unsold and How Price Cuts Are Running in 2026
Updated October 2026
Why isn't my Montebello home selling, and when should I lower the price?
In its August 2026 report, the Texas Real Estate Research Center shows unsold Texas homes lagging sold ones by nearly 30 days; at Montebello, reprice to your stack's closed sales.
Paige Martin, Houston Properties Team, Montebello
Source: Texas Real Estate Research Center, Texas Housing Insight report for August 2026, August 2026.
Why does a Montebello home sit unsold past the building's median?
As of October 2026, the median Montebello home took 38 days to reach an executed contract. Sales closed at 96.0 percent of final list price. A listing that has outlasted that median is often priced above the sales closest to it.
The closest sales here are architectural. Montebello has four homes to a floor, so the home in your corner a few floors up is your plan with another view. Its last sale is where a price starts, and three or four sales like it are often the whole set.
A building-wide figure cannot do that work. Homes here run from 2,000 square feet to more than 4,800, and floor, exposure, balcony placement and the kitchens and bathrooms all move a price. The median of $1,825,000 and the average of $490 per square foot describe the homes that closed, not yours.
The pace matters too. With 6.0 months of inventory and a marketing period counted in months, a slow first month is ordinary in this tower.
How are price cuts running statewide and in Houston in 2026?
In its August 2026 report, the Texas Real Estate Research Center put the median seller price cut at $12,000, equal to 3.3 percent of the initial listing price. The same Texas Real Estate Research Center report called that figure unchanged from the previous two months and down slightly from $13,000 a year earlier.
The Texas Real Estate Research Center's summer 2026 quarterly measured Houston price concessions at 4.9 percent in the first four months of the year. The same Texas Real Estate Research Center report put Austin at 5.9 percent, San Antonio at 5.6 percent and DFW at 4.1 percent.
Time on market shows the same pressure from the other side. In its August 2026 report, the Texas Real Estate Research Center found June-end unsold inventory had been on the market 90 days, nearly 30 days longer than homes that sold.
The Texas Real Estate Research Center's summer 2026 quarterly says seller expectations are perhaps lagging and contributing to frequent and significant price cuts. For a Montebello seller, the useful check is whether a list price starts from a past peak or from the stack's recent closings.
Coming off the peak prices of 2021-22, many homeowners may be slow or reluctant to price their properties to current market conditions, especially if those peak values have become key pricing anchors.
When should a Montebello seller lower the price?
Lower it when the asking price sits above what the closest homes in its own stack have closed at. Waiting does not close that gap. A home opened above its stack usually sits through the median and then takes the reduction anyway.
Check the number against those sales rather than against the calendar. A slow first or second month is ordinary in a tower where buyers take their time, so weeks on the market prove little alone. A price set above every comparable closing is the clearer signal.
Then look at what touring buyers asked. Buyers here compare full-service towers across the Houston luxury condo market, so questions about the fee, what it covers and the building's capital work come early. Answer them from the association's documents rather than from memory.
Paige Martin of Real Broker, LLC has 18 closings at Montebello, most recently June 2026, in a 98-unit building. Send your unit number and ask for a written valuation that names the closed sales it relies on and what would change it.
Questions & answers
Montebello questions, answered
Are Houston home prices still falling in 2026?
Houston prices softened over the winter and looked steadier by summer, according to the Texas Real Estate Research Center. In its February 2026 report, the Texas Real Estate Research Center showed Houston prices down 0.6 percent year over year in December. In a later report, from March 2026, the Texas Real Estate Research Center showed that decline widening to 1 percent entering 2026.
In its July 2026 report, the Texas Real Estate Research Center said Houston and San Antonio continued to experience inventory gains and pricing pressures. By its August 2026 report, the Texas Real Estate Research Center described Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston as moving closer toward stabilization. The same Texas Real Estate Research Center report called price corrections more pronounced in Austin and San Antonio. Those are metro readings. Montebello recorded 4 closings in twelve months, so a Houston trend is background. The closed sales in your own stack set your number.
Did the jump in mortgage rates this spring make it harder to sell my Montebello home?
Rates rose sharply in April, and the Texas Real Estate Research Center tied that to a softer, more negotiable spring. In its May 2026 post, the Texas Real Estate Research Center said the average rate on 30-year conforming mortgages jumped by 50 basis points in April. That Texas Real Estate Research Center post linked the rise to re-accelerating inflation amid rising energy costs.
The same Texas Real Estate Research Center post said rising inventory is expected to put additional pricing pressure on sellers. The Texas Real Estate Research Center named rising mortgage rates, renewed inflation and heightened economic uncertainty as weighing on consumers. It is the Texas Real Estate Research Center that read the signs as more price adjustments and a generally more negotiable market. Those are statewide readings. At Montebello, the 38-day median and closings at 96.0 percent of final list price already describe buyers who negotiate. Against that backdrop, your stack's closings matter more than the rate headline.
Should I take my Montebello home off the market and try again next season?
Many Texas sellers did that last year. In its March 2026 report, the Texas Real Estate Research Center described a noticeable wave of delistings in fall and winter as the market cooled. The same Texas Real Estate Research Center report showed sellers re-entering ahead of the spring market. A pause changes the season, and it leaves the gap between your price and your stack's closings where it was.
In its February 2026 report, the Texas Real Estate Research Center said active inventory stood at a 4.6-month supply in December, down sharply from November as sellers accelerated delistings. In its March 2026 report, the Texas Real Estate Research Center put average days on market for unsold inventory at 104 days, against 97 days in 2025 and 93 days in 2024. At Montebello, coming back means the same three or four comparable sales, plus any that closed while you were away. Re-price against those before the listing returns. Count the months off the market in your holding cost too.
How long are Texas homes taking to sell in 2026 compared with past years?
Longer than a few years ago, by the Texas Real Estate Research Center's count. In its February 2026 report, the Texas Real Estate Research Center found homes sold in December sat 77 days on the market. That Texas Real Estate Research Center figure was up sharply from 69 days in 2024 and 63 days in 2023. Spring and summer readings came in shorter.
In its July 2026 report, the Texas Real Estate Research Center put the May average at 64 days on the market before selling. In its August 2026 report, the Texas Real Estate Research Center put homes sold in June at an average of 62 days, slightly above 60 days a year ago. Montebello keeps its own clock. The median home here took 38 days to reach an executed contract as of October 2026, and days on market stops at the contract. Funding, the resale certificate and the lender's review of the association all come after it.
Why doesn't Montebello's sale-to-list ratio show how much sellers actually cut?
Because the ratio compares each sale with its final list price, not the first one. Closings ran at 96.0 percent of final list price as of October 2026. Any seller who reduced along the way had already moved before that comparison began. The distance from the original asking price is larger than the ratio shows.
Figures measured against the initial ask show how common that distance is. The Texas Real Estate Research Center's summer 2026 quarterly said that two years ago, 58 percent of Texas homes sold closed at least 3 percent below sellers' initial ask prices. In its February 2026 report, the Texas Real Estate Research Center found over two-thirds of closed sales in November and December involved price cuts of 3 percent or more from the initial listing. When you compare your home with a Montebello closing, ask what that home first listed at, not only what it sold for.
What does it cost to keep my Montebello home on the market while I decide whether to cut the price?
We publish a verified holding cost of about $1.03 per square foot per month, derived from a named unit. Multiply it by your square footage and by the months you might wait. Set that figure beside the reduction you are weighing, so the delay carries a number of its own.
Four costs recur while the home is listed: the association fee, Harris County property taxes assessed on the individual unit, an owner's unit policy, and flood cover where it applies. A special assessment can arrive on top of those, so ask the association whether any has been levied or discussed. The association's own current documents state the fee, so take it from the resale certificate rather than a website.
Can one Montebello sale make my asking price look wrong overnight?
It can move the building figures without saying anything about your home. Montebello recorded 4 closings in the trailing twelve months as of October 2026. One sale entering or leaving that window shifts the median and the days-on-market reading. That change reports which homes closed, not that values moved.
The sale that matters is one in your own stack or plan. If a home in your corner of the building closes below your asking price, a buyer's agent and an appraiser will reach for it. If a larger or higher home closes and lifts the median, it says little about yours. Ask whoever prices your home to name the closed sales the number rests on. Then ask which new closing would change it.