Increases in home sales volume, price indicate momentum for Texas real estate in 2012
May 1, 2012
The Texas real estate market gained positive
momentum in the first quarter of 2012, according to the 2012-Q1 edition
of the Texas Quarterly Housing Report issued today by the Texas
Association of REALTORS®. The volume of single-family home sales in
Texas was 12% higher than the same quarter of 2011 and the median price
increased by almost 3% over the same time frame.
“The watchword for Texas real estate in 2011
was ‘consistency,’ in both sales volume and price. That allowed us to
emerge from last year with stable sales volumes and strong property
values,” said Joe Stewart, chairman of the Texas Association of
REALTORS. “Now, in 2012’s first-quarter results, we see a strong
increase in sales volume and a meaningful increase in the median price.
That indicates positive momentum for the year ahead.”
For the period of January through March 2012,
the volume of single-family home sales in Texas was 45,502, 12% more
than the same quarter in 2011. The median price for Texas homes during
the quarter was $147,100, 2.7% more than 2011-Q1.
Jim Gaines, Ph.D., an economist with the Real
Estate Center at Texas A&M University, expanded on the report: “We
believe several factors are driving the strong performance of the first
quarter, including continued job growth in Texas and some increased
access to credit for homebuyers. Most of all, we’re starting to see a
shift in Texans’ attitudes toward real estate. Essentially, buyers and
sellers have higher expectations for the market, so they’re beginning to
take action and we’re starting to see the impacts.”
Looking ahead, the “months inventory”
calculation can provide insight into future demand for homes and that
figure decreased from 7.6 months in 2011-Q1 to 6.0 months in the first
quarter of this year. “Months inventory” is an indicator of the balance
between demand for homes and supply in the market and the Real Estate
Center at Texas A&M University cites 6.5 months of inventory as a
balanced market.
Gaines continued, “In Texas, our inventory of
homes for sale has been decreasing for about six months now. That’s due
in part to the fact that some homeowners who don’t have to sell have
chosen to wait for prices to improve before selling their homes. In
addition, the slower processing of foreclosures and fewer distressed
properties may reduce the number of listings. However, a decrease of
more than 20% in the inventory of homes compared to the same quarter
last year is significant and may be an indication of price increases in
the future.”
Chairman Stewart concluded, “If all the
indicators play out as we expect, the Texas real estate market is in for
a busy spring and summer.”
The Texas Quarterly Housing Report is issued
four times per year by the Texas Association of REALTORS® with multiple
listing service data compiled and analyzed by the Real Estate Center at
Texas A&M University. #realestateallaround
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