Single-Family Homes Update (Houston Association of Realtors)

At $160,880, the median sales price for single-family homes reached the third highest level of 2009, up 0.6 percent from August 2008, when it was $159,900. August also marked the fourth consecutive monthly increase in the median price. The national single-family median price reported by NAR is $178,300, illustrating the continued higher value and lower cost of living that the Houston market offers consumers. The average price of single-family homes in August was $213,396, slipping 4.2 percent from one year earlier.

August sales of single-family homes in Houston totaled 5,058, down 10.1 percent from August 2008, and accounted for the 24th consecutive monthly drop. However, on a month-over-month basis, that volume is the third highest of 2009, and the 10.1 percent decline is the second smallest fluctuation of the year following July’s 6.1 percent (corrected) slide.