Houston's average home price breaks $200,000-mark for first time

Houston Business Journal - 2:00 PM CDT Thursday
by Allison Wollam
Houston Business Journal

Houston home prices broke records in May, with the average single-family home price surpassing the $200,000 mark for the first time.

The average single-family home price for May was $204,005, up 8.2 percent over last year, according to statistics from the Houston Association of Realtors.

The median price -- which is the typical market price where half of the homes sold for more and half of the home sold for less than that figure -- also reached an all-time record of $152,000, up 5.6 percent from last year.

Houston's current median price of $152,000, while a record for the Houston market, is 31.7 percent less than the national median price, which reached $222,700 in April, according to statistics from the National Association of Realtors.

"While the rest of the country is talking about bubbles deflating, we continue to reach new heights in the Greater Houston real estate market," says Lorraine Abercrombie, HAR Chair and marketing director for Greenwood King Properties. "We know that for most people a home is their largest investment, so while we help them achieve their housing dreams, it is also good to know their investment will prove to gain value in the future. These numbers are definitely good news for our area."

Total property sales for the May 2006 totaled 8,629, an 11.6 percent increase over May 2005.

Properties sold during the month reached a total of nearly $1.7 billion, a 20.9 percent increase compared to last year's nearly $1.4 billion in sales.

Houston's overall housing market in May saw increases in most categories, including total property sales and overall total dollar volume on a year-over-year basis.

Month-end pending sales reached 5,892, which reversed last month's decline and was up 14.6 percent from last year.

Additionally, total sales for single-family homes in Houston continued a streak of year-over-year increases, marking 28 consecutive months that sales have been higher than the same month of the previous year.

For May 2006, single-family home sales increased by 11.7 percent to 7,199, up from last year's 6,443.

Meanwhile, the number of available homes at the end of May was 43,362 properties, which was a decrease of 3.6 percent versus last May and the sixth consecutive month with a year-over-year decline.