Spring home selling! Do open houses really make a difference?

​HOUSTON, AUSTIN – Open houses—with their big signs, bright balloons and baked cookies—may seem like a great way to market a home.
However, open houses rarely lead to a higher price or quicker sale in Houston, according to a new report.

Redfin Corp. released its open house “scorecard,” which looked at home sale data in 27 major housing markets, including Houston. The real estate brokerage and technology company found that outside of ultra-competitive markets like San Francisco, open houses rarely make a difference for sellers.

Open houses often don’t result in higher home sale prices. In Houston, only 10 percent of homes that held an open house sold above asking price.

Nationally, 22 percent of homes that held an open house sold above asking price, according to Redfin.

Furthermore, open houses often don’t result in quicker home sales.

In Houston, 83 percent of homes that held an open house sold within three months. Nationally, 83 percent of homes that didn’t hold an open house sold within three months.

In Austin, 26 percent of homes that weren’t held open sold above list price, while just 17 percent of those with open houses did.​

In Austin, 26 percent of homes that weren’t held open sold above list price, while just 17 percent of those with open houses did. That’s likely because the best homes there sell within days, leaving the less-desirable ones on the market a week or so later when it came time for an open house.

Nationally, only 9 percent of buyers found their home through an open house in 2015, according to the latest homebuyer and seller trend report from the National Association of Realtors.

Less than half of buyers—48 percent—visited an open house during their home search. Gen X buyers were the most likely to visit an open house.