July has been a healthy month for the Houston residential market. This month recorded an increase in total sales as well as the value of sales compared to a year earlier.
When sales of all property types in Houston saw a 24.6 percent increase, total dollar volume for houses sold during the month rocketed 29.9 percent, data released by Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) showed.
This is the steepest one-month sales gain in a year.
One of the key reasons for steady growth, Wayne A. Stroman, HAR chairman, said was Houston’s steady employment growth.
“We see the strength of the Houston housing market as a direct reflection of improving consumer confidence in the local economy as a whole,” Stroman told Yourhoustonnews.com. “One of the principal factors in the demand for homes throughout greater Houston has been steady job gains. 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.’”
However, robust sales have brought the inventory to its lowest in the last five years. The data shows that inventory of homes, especially of townhouses and condominiums, dropped by 31.1 percent to 6 months from 8.7 months the previous year.
Single-family homes
The sale of single-family homes in July was 6,324 units, an increase of 27 percent from June 2011. According to HAR, this marks the 14th straight monthly increase and represents the largest one-month jump in single-family home sales since August 2011.
On the price front, a 3.7 percent increase was recorded from last year. At $231,484, the single-family home average price reached the highest level for a July in Houston, the data showed. The average rent among single-family lease homes also reached an all-time high of $1,669.
However, the inventory of single-family homes fell to 5.3 months in July, the lowest in more than five years.
Townhouse and condominium
In July, a total of 536 units were sold compared to 455 in July 2011. This is a 17.8 percent increase from one year earlier.
The average price also went up by 6.3 percent to $165,747.
"July was another very healthy month for the Houston real estate market with strong sales across all housing segments, from lower-priced homes to luxury homes," Stroman, said in a statement. "Sales volume isn't achieving the record levels we experienced in 2006, before the recession, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a market performing as well as Houston, even as the national housing recovery continues."