Congrats to all of Houston's newest residents. You've nabbed a beautiful home in a thriving market, and Houston area sellers deserve congratulations, too.

While 2020 was far from perfect by any standard, Space City saw an exciting uptick in home sales and pricing. According to a new report by the Houston Association of Realtors, December was a particularly active month for the market as home sales rose and prices enjoyed a boost.

New listings were up 12 percent compared to December 2019, with a total of 7,782 fresh properties. This was the fourth consecutive month in a row to see positive growth for new listings, which is great news for Houston as it climbs out of a historically-low housing inventory. Even better is how quickly these homes get swept off the market. Active listings were down 36.7 percent compared to last year's numbers, a trend that continues from earlier in the year.

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Best of all for sellers, the average list price for Houston homes bumped up 11.2 percent, growing from an average of $322,985 in December of 2019 to last month's average of $359,012. Hopefully those values continue to climb throughout the city's market as more people move in, taking advantage of Houston's strong job market, high-qaulity health care and lack of income tax.

Houston remains one of the most affordable and ammenity-rich cities in the United States, but there's plenty of luxury to be had in the right neighborhoods. We took a look at some of the most awe-inspiring properties sold in the Houston area during the month of October 2020, and it seems like the Tanglewood, River Oaks and Memorial Village neighborhoods are among the most jaw-dropping. Check the full list to learn more.