Sales were down 3.9% in the Houston area in December, the sixth straight month of declining sales, the local real estate association reports.
The good news is that the decline was the smallest year-over-year drop off since the sale of single-family homes began their slide last July, the Houston Association of Realtors said.
On another positive note, at $221,613, the average price of a single-family home recorded in December was the second highest monthly price of 2010 and an all-time high for a December in the vast Houston market. And at $157,500, the median price also was the highest ever recorded for a December in Houston.
"We need to carefully watch how the Houston real estate market performs over the next couple of months before being able to truly determine how 2011 might pan out, but the December report contains encouraging signs," said HAR Chairman Carlos P. Bujosa, a vice president at Transwestern.
Despite the overall falloff in sales, activity was actually up in three of the five price segments covered by HAR's report, with the $150,000-$250,000 sector recording its first growth since last May.
Foreclosures accounted for one in every five sales in December, a level that was consistent for much of 2010. The median price of December foreclosures fell 7.8 percent to $82,750 on a year-over-year basis.
For the year, 51,42 single-family properties changed hands, a 5.7% dip from more than 54,000 deals in 2009. But the average sales price was up 4%, from $203,626 in ‘09 to $211,765 last year.
