Houston Market Update
Hurricane Ike Takes the Wind out of Houston Area Property Sales in September 

HOUSTON - (Oct. 21, 2008) - Property sales across the greater Houston area declined further in September, due largely to the widespread devastation caused by Hurricane Ike and the resulting interruption to business that included many real estate transactions. According to statistics released by the Houston Association of REALTORS® (HAR), sales of single-family homes dropped 30.2 percent for the month of September when compared to September 2007, marking the thirteenth consecutive monthly decline.

However, home values again remained the bright spot in the HAR monthly report. The average price of a single-family home rose by 4.4 percent in September to $211,660, the highest level ever for a September in Houston. The median price of a single-family home rose 5.0 percent last month to $157,500, also an all-time September high. The median price represents the figure at which half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less.

Sales of all property types for September 2008 totaled 4,189, reflecting a 29.5 percent drop compared to September 2007. Total dollar volume for properties sold during the month was $857 million versus $1.2 billion one year earlier, a 28.6 percent decline.

"Hurricane Ike effectively shut Houston's real estate business down for half of September," said Michael Levitin, HAR chairman and principal of HTownRealty.com. "Like other businesses, real estate agencies lost anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks due to power outages and damage caused by the storm, and thousands of property transactions were postponed so that sellers could make repairs. Ike did, however, help accelerate transactions involving rental properties as many people sought short-term housing." read more...

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