TEXAS' EXISTING HOME SALES DROP, PRICES RISE

[Aggie]

TEXAS (Real Estate Center, CNNMoney.com) – A total of 22,511 existing homes were sold in Texas last month, a 4.8 percent decline from July 2008, according to MLS data compiled by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. The median price increased 0.6 percent to $153,800 during the same period, and the state finished the month with a 7.4-month inventory of existing homes.

Here is how select Texas cities fared in July (data current as of Aug. 28, 2009):

City,Sales, Change from Last Year, Median Price, Change from Last Year, Months' Inventory
Amarillo 254 down 21.6% $124,600 up 1.2% 7.2
Austin 2,288 down 0.2% $189,700 down 0.6% 7
College Station–Bryan 304 down 15.1% $151,000 down 2.3% 6.8
Dallas 4,815 down 6% $164,800 up 0.8% 6.5
El Paso 478 down 4.8% $135,200 down 2.4% 9.1
Fort Worth 840 down 12.3% $118,700 down 1.1% 6.6
Harlingen 78 up 20% $95,000 up 13.6% 28.7
Houston 6,393 down 4.8% $161,900 up 1.3% 6.8
Killeen–Fort Hood 257 down 6.2% $124,800 down 0.9% 10
Laredo 91 up 11% $122,800 up 2.3% 9
Lubbock 348 up 0.9% $110,300 up 0.3% 5.5
Palestine 21 down 16% $102,500 down 2.4% 10.1
San Angelo 125 down 5.3 % $121,700 up 10.6% 5.6
San Antonio 2,040 up 7.9% $156,900 up 2.3% 8.4
Waco 213 down 14.5% $114,600 down 1.4% 8.4


Additional home sales data for these and other major Texas cities are available on the Center’s website.

Nationally, sales of existing single-family homes last month were up 5 percent from July 2008, according to the National Association of Realtors.

[Aggie]

TEXAS HOME FORECLOSURE RATES LESS THAN NATIONAL AVERAGE


AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal) – RealtyTrac’s annual foreclosure report, released yesterday, revealed Texas metro rates to be under the national average of 2.21 percent.

Austin and Round Rock area foreclosure rates increased 39.5 percent between 2008 and 2009. About 1.25 percent of all housing units, or one in every 80 homes, foreclosed last year, and 8,002 homeowners filed. This was an increase of 54.6 percent from 2007. Of the 203 metros ranked nationwide for foreclosures, the area was ranked 117th.

Dallas–Fort Worth ranked 94th with a 1.5 percent foreclosure rate, and Houston was 111th with 1.3 percent of its area homes foreclosed upon. San Antonio ranked 109th in RealtyTrac’s report, with a 1.31 percent foreclosure rate.

[Aggie]

HOUSTON HOUSING STARTS INCREASE


HOUSTON (Houston Chronicle) – Housing starts increased 6 percent between fourth quarter 2008 and the same in 2009, according to a Metrostudy report released Wednesday.

Builders started 4,576 homes last quarter and closed on 6,323. There were 12,164 inventory homes either finished or under construction in the Houston area in December.

However, there were still 65,925 vacant lots ready for development at the end of 2009. That translates to a 42.3-month supply, well above Metrostudy’s idea of a healthy market equilibrium range of 20 to 24 months.

Builders are expected to develop and sell between 18,000 and 20,000 homes in 2010. Starts and closings in 2009 totaled 18,687 and 22,902, respectively.