The Houston housing market held to positive territory as 2012 began, with January marking the eighth consecutive month of increased home sales. The year also opened with a continued decline in active property listings and growth in pending sales—a combination that signals a healthy market with a balanced supply of housing inventory, and that puts Houston on enviable footing compared to many other markets around the U.S. that are slowly recovering from the housing downturn.
January sales of single-family homes climbed 9.2 percent versus one year earlier, according to the latest monthly data prepared by the Houston Association of REALTORS® (HAR). All segments of the housing market grew except the luxury segment—those homes priced from $500,000 and above—whose decline flattened the overall average price.
“The January report shows continued strength in the Houston housing market that we began seeing in the latter part of 2011, and it gives us cause for optimism as we look ahead to the typically active spring and summer buying months,” said Wayne A. Stroman, HAR chairman and CEO of Stroman Realty. “We have also seen more jobs being filled locally and you generally don’t experience a strong real estate market Read the rest of this entry »
Spoken by Julie Q. Fuelling |
Houston home sales rose for the second time this year in June, with the average price reaching an all-time high and the median price achieving the highest level in nearly two years. The sales increase reflects the slowdown in home purchases that set in a year ago following expiration of the home buyer tax credit. The credit triggered a surge in home buying during the spring of 2010 that resulted in slower sales volume during the remainder of that year.
According to the latest monthly data compiled by the Houston Association of REALTORS® (HAR), June sales of single-family homes edged up 0.6 percent versus one year earlier. That represents the first increase since January when sales volume rose 8.4 percent. The under-$80,000 segment of the market as well as homes priced from $250,000 and above experienced increased sales while the popular middle range, consisting of homes priced between $80,000 and $250,000, saw declines. Compared to June of 2009, a year with no unusual market factors such as Hurricane Ike in 2008 and the 2010 tax credit, single-family home sales were up 2.7 percent.
“We see the effects of the 2010 tax credit in the June Houston real estate market report in the form of a drop-off in sales that took place a year ago once the credit expired,” said Carlos P. Bujosa, HAR chairman and VP at Transwestern. “We expect these credit-skewed readings to taper soon, providing us with a more accurate gauge of market Read the rest of this entry »
Spoken by Julie Q. Fuelling |
HOUSTON — (June 21, 2011) — The 2010 home buyer tax credit continues to obscure an accurate gauge of how the Houston real estate market is performing. The 2010 federal incentive triggered a short-term surge in local home sales last spring that has skewed the year-over-year analysis most of this year.
When compared to the tax credit incentivized closed sales of May 2010, there were fewer home sales recorded in May 2011, according to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) report prepared by the Houston Association of REALTORS® (HAR). At the same time, the number of listings that went under contract this May and expected to close in the next 30 to 60 days was up more than 35 percent when compared to May 2010—yet another comparison that is skewed by the tax credit that required buyers to enter purchase contracts by the April 30, 2010 deadline.
“Getting an accurate read on the Houston real estate market remains challenging because the 2010 tax credit prompted a surge in home sales during the first half of last year that otherwise would have occurred throughout the summer,” said Carlos P. Bujosa, HAR chairman and VP at Transwestern.
The average price of a single-family home jumped 6.5 percent from May 2010 to $220,210. Read the rest of this entry »
Spoken by Julie Q. Fuelling |
Copyright © 2007 The Katy Texas Blog That Never Runs Dry 
