SterlingResidential.com | Buying & Selling Residential Properties in Texas | Houses for Rent Houston Area | Humble Atascocita Kingwood & Spring Texas Realtors | Sterling Residential®, Realtors® | Real Estate Broker: Houston existing-home sales close out year on a down note

It’s been an interesting year — local housing sales were down from the record peaks of 2006, but still managed a second-place finish by beating 2005 in both transactions closed and dollar volume. On a national level, it’s been worse as sales for new and existing homes declined by double-digit percentages. Boosted by the local economy and job creation, Houston’s housing demand was stable for much of the year despite record foreclosure activity. Home buyers with good credit are securing financing despite the national mortgage crisis. While it’s uncertain how foreclosure and mortgage issues will affect local housing going forward, it’s important to note that there’s still a lot of real estate exchanging hands in Houston.

Looking back at 2007, here’s a brief rundown for December existing home sales — you can read the entire Houston Market Conditions Report here. Sales for all property classes declined 23.5% — sales for single-family homes declined 18% when compared to December 2006. Year-to-date Sales for 2007 were down 4.5% from 2006, but beat 2005 by 6%. Dollar volume for 2007 was $16,645,129,318 — .2 % ahead of 2006 and over 18% higher than 2005. Nationally, existing-home sales were down 22% from 2006. Sales were weakest for properties priced between $80,000 and $200,000, declining over 26% for the month. Except for properties priced below $80,000, all price classes were down for the month. Single-family prices were up again for December — the median single-family price was $152,000, up 1% from 2006’s median price of $149,610. In 2007, Houston prices appreciated 4.16% through November 2007.

Houston Residential Housing Sales 2005 — 2007

Existing home sales started 2007 with higher volume than any previous year on record. Beginning in May, sales dropped off previous record paces set in 2006, and stayed ahead of 2005 until August. Despite the slower sales for 2007’s second half, the current year still beats 2005 to become the second best sales year for Houston’s housing market. For the month, sales were down 23.5% from December 2006 and 12.5% from December 2005.

Homes priced between $80,000 and $200,000 make up more than half of area sales. Shopping for homes priced between $80,000 and $200,000 is down dramatically — and explains most of the sales declines for the second half of 2007. Sales for mid-price homes aren’t expected to expand until the credit markets shake off the current malaise, and buyers find their footing. Increased foreclosure activity could tamp down any recovery in mid-priced sales, but media reports indicate that the worst may be over by this summer. Lower interest rates may help strapped home sellers refinance and avoid foreclosure in coming months.

Read this month’s housing market conditions report