Sometime this week, expect HAR to close the books on September 2009 and report the statistics. Earlier posts have discussed how September results will be significantly higher than September 2008. Skeptics will point out that it is compared to the month in which Hurricane Ike hit. This fails to acknowledge the improvement we have been tracking since July. I have analyzed the quarterly sales comparing 2009 to 2008. First Quarter 2009 was down 20.3%, Second Quarter was down 19.1% and Third Quarter will be up close to 1% over 2008. Watch for a post soon that analyzes the comparison by price range. From earlier analysis we know that the upper end has not improved as much as lower priced homes. It will be interesting to see if the improvement is all in the segment affected by the $8,000 first time buyer's credit.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Houston Association of REALTORS®