May 1, 2012 (Shirley Allen)
Monthly property sales in Houston jumped by almost 30 percent from February to March leaving property inventories seventeen percent lower than a year ago according to the latest data from the Houston Association of Realtors® (HAR).
March sales for all property types totaled an estimated 5,908 in Houston. That was 29.5 percent higher than the 4,561 properties sold in February and 7.4 percent higher than the 5,499 properties sold in March 2011.
Existing single-family homes accounted for 4,996 of the total sales in March. That was 30.4 percent higher than the 3,832 homes sold in February and 7.8 percent higher than the 4,634 homes sold in March 2011.
The median sales price for an existing single-family home in Houston increased 7.9 percent to $161,750 from $149,900 in February and was 7.8 percent higher than the median price of $150,000 in March of 2011.
There was a 5.6 months supply of single-family homes available for sale in Houston, unchanged from February but down from a 7.5 months supply in March of last year.
Wayne A. Stroman, chairman of HAR, stated, “March was an excellent month for home sales in Houston and the healthy appreciation in pricing is welcome news as well. Inventory remains at its lowest level in more than three years and is outpacing the national real estate market. The moderation in pending sales in March could possibly translate to a leveling off of sales before we enter the summer buying season, but we will know for sure next month.”
Condominium sales accounted for 374 of the total sales in March, up 17.2 percent from the 319 sales in February but were 3.6 percent lower than the 388 units sold in March of 2011.
The median sales price for a condo in March was $135,000, which was 10.7 percent higher than the $122,000 median sales price in February and 17.4 percent higher than in March of last year.
The number of properties available for sale in the Houston area decreased slightly from 42,206 in February to 41,997 in March, but was still at their lowest level since December of 2008. A year ago there were 51,091 properties available for sale, 21.1 percent higher than last month.
Tags: existing homes, condos, sales, median home prices, Houston
