Hurricane Ike Takes The Wind Out Of Houston Area Property Sales In September
Sales of single-family homes fall while average and median pricing continues to climb; demand for rental properties is up.. Source: Houston Association of Realtors.

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.” September Monthly Market Comparison Despite Ike’s rampage, the month of September brought Houston’s overall housing market mixed results when considering all listing categories. Total property sales and total dollar volume fell, however average and median single-family home sales prices continued their steady increase on a year-over-year basis.
The number of available properties, or active listings, at the end of September fell 6.6 percent from September 2007 to 50,155. That’s 2,676 fewer active listings than August 2008, and is seen as an indication that inventory levels are balanced and that home prices should remain strong.
Month-end pending sales – those listings expected to close within the next 30 days – totaled 2,583, which was 37.9 percent lower than last year and strongly suggests the likelihood of another sales decline next month. The month’s inventory of single-family homes for September came in at 6.4 months, the lowest level since April of this year. That compares to the September 2007 single-family homes inventory of 6.3 months.