Houston Home Sales Setting Records as Local Economy Surges
By Ralph Bivins
The Houston Association of Realtors reported Houston area home sales were up 14 percent over June of last year.
For the month of June $1.7 billion worth of residential properties were sold – the highest monthly sales total since August 2007, the Houston Association of Realtors said.
The strongest segment was the market for upscale homes priced over $500,000, which were up 27.2 percent over last year, the HAR reported.
“I thank God every day I’m in Houston, Texas,” said John Daugherty, of John Daugherty, Realtors, which specializes in Houston’s upper-end homes. “The city is hopping again. The activity reminds me of the early ’80s.”
Foreclosures are down significantly from last year. The decline of the low-priced foreclosed homes, along with the strong sales in the upper-end of the market are pushing the price statistics upward dramatically.
The realty association reports June’s average home price of$236,656 was an all-time record for Houston as was the median single-family home price of $171,000.
“We see the strength of the Houston housing market as a direct reflection of improving consumer confidence in the local economy as a whole,” said Wayne A. Stroman, HAR chairman and CEO of Stroman Realty. “One of the principal factors in the demand for homes throughout greater Houston has been steady job gains that the Texas Workforce Commission reports has amounted to more than 90,000 hires over the past year. In its July economic outlook, the Greater Houston Partnership said ‘Houston is the strongest of all the major metro economies in the U.S., and if job growth continues at the current pace, this may be one of the best years on record for the region.’”
RealtyNewsReport.com editor Ralph Bivins was interviewed byAndrew Schneider of KUHF public radio.http://app1.kuhf.org/articles/1342531411-Houston-Home-Sales-Mark-13th-Straight-Month-Of-Gains.html
