Thursday, August 4, 2011

Texas Q2 Home Prices Rise

Restate prices during the second quarter of 2011 indicate strength in the Texas market: The median price was $150,400, 1% higher than the same quarter of 2010. The average price in 2011-Q2 was $201,288, 4.6% higher than 2010-Q2.

The increase in the average price of Texas homes indicates more activity among higher priced homes. Buyers of higher priced homes have been less affected by tightened mortgage lending standards, and real estate has been an attractive investment vehicle due to instability in other investments, such as securities.

Another important market indicator is the inventory of homes available for sale compared with the demand to buy homes. Measured in months, Texas had 8.1 months of inventory in the second quarter of 2011 compared to 7.2 months in Q2-2010. This is still fairly balanced, with some of the additional inventory believed to be banks resuming foreclosure proceedings.