As last month?s figures were finalized, Houston?s real estate market continued to show a steady growth pattern with good news for buyers and sellers. While national numbers have shown weakness, Houston continues to be highlighted as one of the remaining positive markets across the country.
Total property sales for the month registered 6,792, which was a 6.0 percent increase over October 2005. Properties sold during the month reached a total of nearly $1.3 billion, a 9.9 percent increase compared to last year?s more than $1.1 billion in October sales. Year-to-date dollar volume is just a hair shy of the full-year figure for last year, with $14.0 billion of property changing hands, compared to $14.2 billion for all of 2005. Additionally, the median home price for a single-family home reached a monthly record for October of $146,000, and the average single-family home price came in at $189,527, increases from last year of 2.8 and 0.4 percent, respectively.
?As we near the end of the year, we remain hopeful that these promising trends remain. This will be great news for those planning to complete a transaction before December 31 of this year. We continue to count our blessings for a healthy marketplace,? said Lorraine Abercrombie, HAR Chair. ?We keep a close eye on the nation, not as an indicator of the Houston market, but to make comparisons for those who may be considering a move from the east or west coasts to the Houston area. Fortunately, we can still share good news with them.?
The number of available homes (active listings) at the end of October was 46,673 properties, which was an increase of 7.8 percent versus last October and the fourth month with a year-over-year increase, after 10 consecutive previous declines. The figure was an increase of 173 properties from last month, which is an increase of more than 3,300 homes in the last five months and shows new listings are keeping up with increased sales activity. For buyers, this means the possibility of having a few more options depending on neighborhood, price range, size and other specifics.
Month-end pending sales ? those listings expected to close within the next 30 days ? reached 4,883, which was up 19.0 percent from last year, and signals an expected strong November for sales. The months inventory of single-family homes for October came in at 5.5 months. This statistic signals more of a seller?s market and also shows that demand is more than keeping up with the available supply of homes, as displayed by October reporting the 24th consecutive decline in year-over-year months inventory figures.
Source: Houston Association of Realtors
