Register Real Estate Advisors

COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Home sales in Texas cities were hot last month, rising in Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio.

According to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) report by the Austin Board of Realtors, 1,852 single-family homes were sold in the Capital area during March, up 15 percent over the same period in 2011.

The Dallas-Fort Worth region reported a 13 percent increase in single-family home sales, with 6,126 properties sold in March, according to a report from the MetroTex Association of Realtors.

The Houston Chronicle reported 4,996 single-family homes sold in Houston in March, up 7.8 percent from the 4,634 homes sold during the same month last year.

San Antonio also showed improvements in March, according to the San Antonio Board of Realtors, with 1,637 homes sold in the area, up 4 percent month-over-month.

The median sales price rose to $200,000 in Austin, up 8 percent from March 2011. The median price in DFW jumped 11 percent to $155,000, with San Antonio reporting a 4 percent increase to $155,600. The median sales price in Houston set a monthly record in March at $161,750.

COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Sales of existing single-family Texas
homes in October were up 8 percent from a year ago, according to the
most recent Multiple Listing Services (MLS) data compiled by the Real Estate
Center at Texas A&M University.

More than 15,600 existing single-family homes were sold, data showed. The
median home price was $147,500, up 2 percent from a year ago, and the state’s
overall inventory was at 6.9 months.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported
yesterday that, nationally, existing home sales rose 1.4 percent to a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.97 million in October from a downwardly
revised 4.9 million in September, and are 13.5 percent above the 4.38 million
unit level in October 2010.

The national median price for existing homes was $162,500, which was 4.7
percent below October 2010.

Talking about the national numbers, Center Research Economist Dr. Jim Gaines
said homebuyers continue to be frustrated by stiff mortgage underwriting and
appraisals despite favorable buying factors such as low interest rates,
sluggish but positive job creation and lower home prices.

“NAR reported contract cancellations at 33 percent in October, meaning that one in three sales contracts failed to close,” Gaines said. “Sales agents should be very circumspect when qualifying buyers for mortgages, rather than being frustrated later because the deal does not close.”

October 2011 MLS data for many Texas cities are available on the Center’s
website. Here is a sampling (data current as of Nov. 21, 2011):

COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Sales of existing single-family Texas homes in September were up 14 percent from a year ago, according to the most
recent Multiple Listing Services (MLS) data compiled by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.

More than 17,600 existing single-family homes were sold, data showed.

The median home price was $149,100, up 2 percent from a year ago, and the state’s overall inventory was at 7.1 months.

September 2011 MLS data for many Texas cities are available on the Center’s website. Here is a sampling (data current as of Oct. 27, 2011):

According to Rob Cook, the 2009 MLS Chairman and the Houston Association of Realtors, we met a few milestones back in August and I wanted to share them with you.  The median price for a single-family home rose for the 4th straight month to the 3rd highest level of 2009 ($160,880.00).  The average price of a single-amily home reached its 3rd highest level of the year ($213,396.00).  Month-over-month volume of single-family home sales reached the 3rd highest level of 2009.  Month-over-month volume of townhouse/condominium sales reached the 3rd highest level of 2009.  Month’s inventory of singel-family homes dipped from 6.7 to 6.5 months compared to the national average of 9.4 months.  This is all good news for the housing market that I wanted to share with you as you are making real estate decisions as we head into 2010.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – March pending home sales increased from February numbers and from March 2008, indicating that buyers think now is a good time to buy a house.

The Pending Home Sales Index from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) showed a 3.2 percent gain to 84.6 from February, when it was 82. The index stands 1.6 percent higher than a year ago.

The index is understood to be a forward indicator of home sales trends as it measures contracts signed, not completed sales. The uptick may indicate that home prices have fallen low enough for buyers to get off the fence.

“If inventory goes down — it’s at just under ten months now — to below eight months, that would mean we’re on the way to a sustainable recovery,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.

Anecdotal evidence indicates that trend may be happening. Realtors and other industry insiders are seeing rising open house attendance and multiple bids on some particularly desirable properties.

Today, buyers are more likely to bid because they perceive the market as at or near its bottom. An April Gallup Poll reported that 71 percent of Americans thought it was a good time to buy a house.

The South saw the largest gain of any region, with pending home sales jumping 8.5 percent from February to March. Pending sales were 7.7 percent higher in March compared with the same month a year ago.