In spite of the historically low mortgage rates and the government's homebuyer tax credit the housing market in the Houston area was slow in 2010. Following a period of rising sales, in January 2010 the sales of home took a double digit hit.
Real estate agent Charlie thinks that the market has gotten tighter than it once was. He believes that there are more obstacles that are the reason for him having many deals fall through recently.
Home sales had been rising for the three months leading up to December 2010. However, in 2008 Hurricane Ike brought the activity in housing to an almost complete stop and as a result those gains were skewed since those three months were being compared to the same three months in 2008.
According to a monthly report by the Houston Association of Realtors, in January 2010, realtors sold 2,514 single family houses which is a 12.3% drop as compared with the January's 2009 sales. It wasn't much better in February 2010. The month end pending sales which are those listing that expected to close within the next 30 days, for January 2010 were down 13.5% from January 2009.
It appears that the market is being hung up because of tougher lending standards which are causing properties not to appraise for their contract sales price. In addition, many buyers pay what the sellers are asking for. In fact, they feel that it's a buyer's market and are walking away and bidding on another home.
In 2010 the prices of home was up. The average price for a single family home was $144,500 which is an 11.9% average. In 2010 the sale of luxury homes rose 40% to an average of $500,000 and an increase of 21.6% for those that were priced from $250,000 to 500,000. In contrast, the home sales fell 28.9% for those priced below $80,000. The homes fell 19.3% for those homes that sold from $80,000 to $150,000.
In spite of the market being slower market, many agents say that there is still and demand and buyers are still out there. The problem is in getting the loans approved. In January 2010 the number of available properties was up to 45,210, up 2.3%.
Although the housing market in Houston was slow in 2010, it is expected to improve in 2011. Most realtors are optimistic.
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