January Houston Townhome and Single Family Statistics

The Houston Association of Realtors released the numbers for the month of January and they paint an early picture of the real estate market. Houston single family homes sales dropped 27{ef6a2958fe8e96bc49a2b3c1c7204a1bbdb5dac70ce68e07dc54113a68252ca4} from the same time last year and the Houston townhome market which also includes condiminiums plummeted over 40{ef6a2958fe8e96bc49a2b3c1c7204a1bbdb5dac70ce68e07dc54113a68252ca4}.

It appears that the foreclosure bug has hit the Houston market. Of the homes that sold in January, 34{ef6a2958fe8e96bc49a2b3c1c7204a1bbdb5dac70ce68e07dc54113a68252ca4} of them were foreclosures which is above the national average. The numbers for the month of February will be very telling for how the year may go for 2009. In the early part of the year many homebuyers have not started their search in earnest, while investors will buy whenever the deals appears. This may account for the high number of sales involving foreclosures.

Several banks have had a moratorium on foreclosures and have not added any new inventory to the mix of Houston properties over the last several months. The number of foreclosed homes may steadily increase over the next several months and we will have to watch to see how this affects the homes that are being purchased.

Another interesting number that came out in the January report was the number of people that chose to rent instead of purchase. Single family home leases were up almost 5{ef6a2958fe8e96bc49a2b3c1c7204a1bbdb5dac70ce68e07dc54113a68252ca4} while the Houston townhome market saw an increase in rentals of almost 25{ef6a2958fe8e96bc49a2b3c1c7204a1bbdb5dac70ce68e07dc54113a68252ca4} on a year over year basis. Hang on folks, this year is shaping up to be another wild ride.