Monthly Housing Update

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Matthew Burrus

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David Mendel

Public Relations Manager

Multiple Listing Service of the Houston Association of REALTORS® includes residential properties and new homes listed by 50,000 REALTORS®

November 2002 Sales
Houston's High-End Home Sales Defy National Trend
 
HOUSTON (Dec. 17, 2002) – Sluggish is the term used by many national reporters when discussing the nation’s high-end home market recently. However, according to the latest home sales figures released today by the Houston Association of Realtors,® the Houston market is beginning to show significant growth in sales when compared to this time last year.

“Total sales in the River Oaks/Avalon area are well ahead of the same period last year. Year-to-date sales numbered 88, compared to 69 on the same date last year,” said HAR Board of Director and Greenwood King Properties Marketing Director Lorraine Abercrombie. “In direct contrast to the brisk sales activity, new listings were down in November with only three new properties placed on the market – a marked change from recent months when 16 to 20 new listings debuted each month. Agents believe that the neighborhood may be returning to a more traditional holiday observance when many listings were routinely withdrawn from the market starting in November before the Thanksgiving holiday and then re-listed sometime in January.”

This year, 1,471 single-family homes priced at $500,000 and more have sold, representing a 19.3 percent increase from the same period in 2001, where Realtors sold 1,233 homes in the same price range. Even though sales in this market are up, there are currently more high-end homes on the market than there were last year. Currently, there are 1,713 active listings on the market as opposed to last November’s inventory of 1,447 homes.

All price ranges combined, Houston’s market overall remained stable throughout November.
November Market Comparison
November 2001 November 2002 Percent Change
Total property sales 4,014 4,009 +\- 0%
Total dollar volume $ 601 million $ 681 million + 13.4%
Active listings 28,540 33,810 + 18.5%
Pending sales 3,060 2,601 - 15%
“Year-to-date sales for the entire Houston market total 54,798. This puts us way ahead of last year at this time when we had 51,672 sales.” said HAR Chairman Shad Bogany. “In addition, the total dollar volume for the year thus far is $8.9 billion, which is the highest it has ever been, and has already surpassed the total dollar volume for all of 2001, which was $8.8 billion. So, we are expecting to break the total sales record again this year.”

Single-family Homes Update

Total sales for single-family homes dropped to 3,342, a decrease of one sale from this time last year. The median price of single-family homes in November reached $133,000, representing an 8.1 percent increase from last November’s $123,000 and the highest median price ever recorded for the month of November.

The following chart displays the number of single-family homes sold in November based on price range.
November Price Class Comparison
Price Class November 2001 Sales November 2002 Sales
$1 - $149,999 2,182 1,988
$150,000 - $299,999 905 1,014
$300,000 - $499,999 178 221
$500,000 - $999,999 61 96
$1 million and more 16 21
 
Townhouse/Condo Update

The sale of homes in the townhouse/condominium market decreased last month to 401 from 416 in November 2001, while the median price increased to $87,500 from $80,000 respectively. Realtors currently have listed 2,586 properties in the townhouse/condo/loft category on the Multiple Listing Service, with 253 sales slated to close within the next month.

“The Houston townhouse/condo market seems to be steady when compared to the past three Novembers,” said HAR Chair-Elect Dovie Morgan. “For example, last month, 96.4 percent of the homes sold at listing price.”
 
The computerized Multiple Listing Service of the Houston Association of Realtors includes residential properties and new homes listed by 16,000 Realtors throughout Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties, as well as parts of Brazoria, Galveston, Waller and Wharton counties. The Houston Association of Realtors is the largest trade association in Houston and the largest local Realtor association in the nation. Residential home sales statistics as well as listing information for more than 25,000 listings can be found on the Internet at https://www.HAR.com.

The information published and disseminated to the HAR Multiple Listing Services is communicated verbatim, without change by Multiple Listing Services, as filed by MLS participants. The MLS does not verify the information provided and disclaims any responsibility for its accuracy. All data is preliminary and subject to change. Monthly sales figures reported since November 1998 include a statistical estimation to account for late entries. Twelve-month totals may vary from actual end-of-year figures. (Single-family detached homes were broken out separately in monthly figures beginning February 1988.)