Texas Homes Sales, Prices Climb Towards Seller's Market
Posted: 9:03 PM Aug 2, 2012 Reporter: KBTX Staff, The Associated Press
Texas Homes Sales, Prices Climb Towards Seller's Market
After several years of either flat or declining sales, residential real estate may be on the rebound across the state and here in the Brazos Valley.
Home prices rose in May from April in all major U-S cities. It's a sign that increasing sales and tight inventories are supporting a modest housing recovery.
A report just out from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University shows more sales, higher prices and a declining inventory in most of the markets in Texas.
In the Bryan-College Station Metro area, sales are up 10 percent from a year ago. Prices are up more than four percent, and inventory is down almost 11 percent.
The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index released Tuesday showed increases in all of the 20 cities tracked. And a measure of national prices rose 2.2 percent from April to May, the second increase after seven months of flat or declining readings.
Chicago, Atlanta and San Francisco posted the biggest monthly increases. Detroit, San Diego and Charlotte posted the smallest gains.
The increases partly reflect the impact of seasonal buying. The month-to-month prices aren't adjusted for seasonal factors.
In the past year, the 20-city price index has dropped 0.7 percent, the smallest decline since September 2010. That's much lower than the 1.8 percent year-over-year decline in April.
David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P's index committee, cautioned that the trend would need to continue into the summer and fall to ensure that it isn't just a reflection of strong springtime and early summer sales.