Houston Real Estate Bucks National Trends

NEWS RELEASE
Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors
10575 Katy Freeway, Suite 100, Houston TX 77024
www.GaryGreene.com

CONTACTS:
Toni Nelson
Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors, 713-826-1187
toninelson@garygreene.com

Susan Love Fitts Communications, 936-597-8825
susanlovefitts@consolidated.net

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


HOUSTON REAL ESTATE BUCKS NATIONAL TRENDS

HOUSTON, TX. — "Single-family home sales year-to-date in Houston are up by 11 percent over last year with a record breaking average sales price of $199,262, which is the highest in its history," reports Toni Nelson, Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors strategic initiatives director and immediate past chair of the Houston Association of Realtors. "Dollar volume sales are almost $10 billion or 19 percent ahead of last year. In fact, every housing category - single-family, townhouse, condominiums, high rises, country homes and multi-family homes - has seen an increase year-to-date over last year in number of units sold and dollar volume sales."

These statistics are the opposite of a national press covering regions that are in deceleration. Houston is not one of those areas. The market categories in Houston that are down are the metrics that make a better real estate market. Active listings in single-family properties are down by one percent, yet buyer demand (sales pending to close) is up by eight percent. This means more buyers have less inventory to choose from than they did last year and this generally occurs in an appreciating market. It also takes less time to sell a home in Houston than it did a year ago, five percent less time or 77 days on average. Houston's median price (where half the homes sold above the median and half sold below) is seven percent above last year and is now $149,000. In short, there are no signs of a slow down for Houston or that deceleration is even on the brink of occurring.

In a broader comparison of the region, the House Price Index (HPI) is published by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) and gives some insight on how the region's real estate market is fairing on a national basis.

The Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown region has a national House Price Index ranking of 147 out of 275 in the Metropolitan Statistical Area's category of regions that experienced 15,000 transactions or more. From second quarter 2005 to second quarter 2006, the house price appreciation for the region was 6.87 percent. In comparison to five years ago, the home price appreciation has been 25.55 percent. The Dallas- Plano-Irving region has not appreciated as well. It has a national ranking of 224 with a one-year appreciation of 3.38 percent, and in comparison to five years ago, the home price appreciation has been 17.39 percent.

In rankings by state, Texas is ranked 35 out of 50 states in home price appreciation and has seen a one-year increase of 6.45 percent and five-year appreciation of 22.64 percent, which is similar to the Houston region. Since 1980, home prices have appreciated in Texas by 111.87 percent. Although Texas home price appreciation has been moderate in relation to 34 other states over the last year, states that incurred the most appreciation are also the states currently incurring the most amount of depreciation in what has been termed a housing deceleration. "In this instance," remarked Nelson, "it is far better to experience moderate appreciation than to be part of the deceleration being experienced nationally."

The House Price Index is a measure designed to capture changes in the value of single-family homes in the U.S. as a whole, in various regions of the country, and in the individual states and the District of Columbia. The HPI is published by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) using data provided by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. OFHEO began publishing in 1995.

ABOUT PRUDENTIAL GARY GREENE, REALTORS:
Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors has grown to include 25 offices in the Greater Houston Area - 16 company-owned offices and nine affiliated offices - representing over 1100 agents. Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors is ranked #14 in the Prudential Real Estate Network. With annual written sales in excess of $2.4 billion, it is the area sales leader and serves every major residential neighborhood in Houston and surrounding areas. As partners in the company, Marilyn Eiland and Mark Woodroof are actively engaged in the daily operations. Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors has a national referral base of over 1,600 real estate offices, and it is the Houston area's exclusive member of The Vision Group, whose member brokerages represent major markets throughout the United States and produce in excess of $30 billion in residential sales annually. www.GaryGreene.com.

-30-