The Houston housing market continued to feel the effects of the troubled national economy in October and residual business interruptions caused by Hurricane Ike. New monthly data released by the Houston Association of REALTORS®  (HAR) reflects improvement from market performance in September, when Ike derailed thousands of real estate transactions. However, the number of property sales across the greater Houston area declined last month when compared to October 2007, with sales of single-family homes down 20.1 percent.

“Houston remains the envy of real estate professionals around the country, who discussed their sales and pricing concerns with us at this month’s National Association of REALTORS® conference in Orlando,” said Michael Levitin, HAR chairman and principal of HTownRealty.com. “Month’s inventory in Houston is about half the national average, and on a year-to-date basis, prices here are up about three percent from 2007. Nonetheless, we must watch closely to see what further action the federal government may take to stimulate the economy, particularly on behalf of homeowners.”

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Key Points:

The following statistics compare the subject month with the same month of the previous year.

• Average single-family home price dropped 1.6% for the month of October from $197,751 to $194,607
• Median single-family home price fell 2.7% for the month of October from $146,000 to $142,000
• Total home sales (all property types) fell 21.6% from 6,327 units sold to 4,962 units sold
• Total sales volume (all property types) fell 22.9% from 1.23B to $843Mil
• Total available active listings as of Aug 31^st 2008 fell 8.2% to 49,106
• The number of available properties, or active listings, at the end of October fell 8.2 percent from October 2007 to 49,016. That’s 1,139 fewer active listings than September 2008, and is seen as an indication that inventory levels are balanced and that home prices should remain stable. (6.0 months of inventory is considered an equilibrium market; higher indicates a buyer’s market, while lower indicates a seller’s market)

At $194,607, the average sales price for single-family homes reached the second highest level recorded for an October in Houston, down 1.6 percent from October 2007 when it was $197,751. The overall median price of single-family homes in October was $142,000. That compares to the national single-family median price of $190,600 reported by the National Association of REALTORS®. These data continue to demonstrate the higher value and lower cost of living that prevail in the Houston market.

Lease Property Update

Demand for single-family and townhouse/condominium rentals increased in October, continuing an upswing triggered by Hurricane Ike, as many sought short-term housing while engaging in storm-related recovery projects. Single-family home rentals rose 36.0 percent in October compared to a year earlier, while year-over-year townhouse/condominium rentals were up 34.1 percent.

Other Notables:

• Second highest average single-family home sales price for an October ($194,607);
• Highest average townhouse/condominium sales price for an October ($161,428);
• Second highest median townhouse/condominium sales price for an October ($129,000);
• Lowest month’s inventory of single-family homes since March 2008 (6.3 months).

Icon Realty Group, LLC is an independent real estate brokerage servicing Suburban North Houston, including The Woodlands, Spring, Conroe, Magnolia, Tomball, Cypress, and the surrounding area. Primary services include residential home sales, leasing, investing, and property management. Read more about Icon Realty at our website http://www.houstonicon.com/

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Information obtained from the Houston Association of Realtors Monthly Market Press Release. Accuracy is not guaranteed, and is subject to change. For more information, see http://www.har.com.

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