Stephen Reddell's Katy Texas Blog

Townhome/condo prices reach an all-time high while the average sales price of a single-family home increases to the second highest level ever

The average price of a single-family home rose by 0.6 percent last month to $214,732 from $213,430 in May 2007. That’s the second highest average price since the figure peaked at $218,583 in June 2007. At $155,000, the median price of a single-family home in May represented the highest point for 2008, but was unchanged from one year earlier.

Sales of all property types for May 2008 totaled 7,110, reflecting a 17.1 percent drop compared to May 2007. Total dollar volume for properties sold during the month was recorded at $1.4 billion versus $1.7 billion one year earlier, a 14.9 percent decline.

“Appreciating home prices remain the bright spot in our monthly report of property sales activity in the Houston market, with homeowners deriving solid value from their properties,” said Michael Levitin, HAR chairman and principal of HTownRealty.com. “Buyers are benefiting from an attractive selection of housing inventory from which to choose along with historically low interest rates. We continue to look forward to the start of a turnaround in overall sales performance later this year.”

May Monthly Market Comparison

All listing categories combined, Houston’s overall housing market saw mixed results in May. The average single-family home sales price rose on a year-over-year basis while the median price held steady; total property sales and total dollar volume dropped.

The number of available homes, or active listings, at the end of May was 53,305 properties, a 3.2 percent increase over May 2007. The figure was up 225 properties from April 2008.

Month-end pending sales – those listings expected to close within the next 30 days – totaled 4,828, which was 15.6 percent lower than last year and hints at the possibility of another sales decline next month. The month’s inventory of single-family homes for May came in at 6.6 months, a slight increase from April’s 6.4-month figure. This compares to the May 2007 single-family homes inventory of 6.0 months.