The mercury wasn't the only thing that soared in the month of August in Houston. Single-family home sales shot up more than 30 percent when compared to August of last year. August marked the third consecutive month of increased sales and the fourth time in 2011 that sales volume entered positive territory.
According to the latest monthly data prepared by the Houston Association of REALTORS® (HAR), August sales of single-family homes climbed 30.2 percent versus one year earlier. This increase follows home sales gains recorded in January, June and July of this year. All segments of the housing market, from the sub-$80,000 to the $500,000 and above, experienced positive sales in August. On a year-to-date basis, sales rose 1.8 percent. Compared to August of 2009, a year with no unusual market influences such as Hurricane Ike in 2008 and the 2010 tax credit, single-family home sales were up 10.4 percent.
Sales of homes that make up the luxury market—priced from $500,000 and up—jumped 22.4 percent.
"The Houston real estate market's vital signs appear to be quite healthy as we move from the summer buying season into the fall, but we must remain mindful that we are still comparing 2011 home sales to that period last year when transactions slowed dramatically after the tax credit expired," said Carlos P. Bujosa, HAR chairman and VP at Transwestern. "It is encouraging to see how well the August numbers stack up against August of 2009, which was the last 'normal' year for our housing market."
August sales of all property types in Houston totaled 6,524, up 29.0 percent compared to August 2010. Total dollar volume for properties sold during the month soared 29.4 percent to $1.34 billion versus $1.03 billion one year earlier.
August active and pending listings on MLS
Month-end pending sales for August totaled 3,970, up 21.0 percent from last year. The rate is slightly above levels typically observed during the late summer home sales period, continuing to reflect the rapid pace at which 2010 sales went under contract prior the tax credit closing deadline.
The number of available properties, or active listings, at the end of August declined 11.5 percent from August 2010 to 48,752. The inventory of single-family homes was reduced to 7.1 months compared to 7.8 months one year earlier. That means it would take 7.1 months to sell all the single-family homes on the market based on sales activity over the past year.