2005 Houston Real Estate Market Summary

2005 Real Estate Market for Houston and surrounding areas:

Houston Overall Statistics YTD 2005

• Single-family home sales were up in December by 9% in comparison to December 2004.


• Dollar volume sales in December were up by 15%, with $12,200,698,560.


• Average sales price was up in December 2005 over December 2004 by 6% and closed out at $188,221.


• Active listings December 2005 were 30,346, which represents a 4% increase over last year.


• Contracts written in 2005 were up by 9% and there were 44,149 single-family home sales that went into pending for the year.


• Commentary: There are no signs of a slowing market in Houston, Texas. In fact, while the rest of the nation shows signs of slowing residential home sales, Houston shows signs of speeding up! There are increases in number of sales, dollar volume sales, average sales price and contracts written through the year. Inventory, or number of active listings has experienced the smallest increase of all and that indicates that buyer demand is staying ahead of supply. This year should be an outstanding year for real estate in Houston, Texas.

Atascocita in Northeast Houston
Area 1

• Sales are up in Atascocita by 284 units, which brought the total sales year-to-date to 2270 home sales. These figures represent a 14% increase in number of homes sales over this time last year.


• Contracts initiated December YTD 2005 are up by 19% with 1811 contracts initiated as compared to 1520 contracts initiated during the same time frame last year.


• Listings are up by 10% in Atascocita with 1166 homes on the market as recorded in MLS YTD December 2005 compared with 1063 homes on the market last year during the same time frame.


• Average sales price is up by 6% and currently stands at $156,251.


• Days on the market to sell a home in Atascocita has declined 5 days since December YTD 2004 and in 2005; it averaged 88 days on the market.

Bellaire South Area 20

• Single-family home sales in Bellaire South are down 3% over 2004’s home sales with 1157 home sales recorded December YTD 2005.


• Pending sales are down 5% from last year with 655 contracts written as compared to 686 last year.


• Active listings in Bellaire South are up by 24 units with 496 homes on the market.


• The Bellaire South area Average sales price year-to-date is $165,405 or 4% greater than last years value during the same time frame.


• It’s a sellers market in Bellaire South with 5.1 months of inventory on the market.

Brazoria County / Pearland
Area 5

• Brazoria County/Pearland has experienced 403 more homes sales in 2005 than in 2004 with 2797 homes sold representing a 17% increase in home sales.


• Listings are up by 11% with 1402 homes currently on the market.


• Contracts written year-to-date are up by 15% which is a healthy increase in buyer demand over 2004. In 2005, Brazoria County / Pearland area experienced 2100 contracts written.


• The average sales price in Brazoria County / Pearland area is 4% higher, and is currently $170,025.


• There is currently 6.4 months of inventory on the market, which is more favorable than last years’ months-of-inventory, which was 7.1.


• The area shows no signs of slowing in 2006, and the 11% increase in inventory year over year, is expected to hold home prices to single-digit level increases.

Clear Lake
Area 7

• Clear Lake single-family home sales are up by 4% with 2314 homes sold in 2005 as compared to 2293 last year.


• Contracts written and pending to close year-to-date are down from this time last year by 73 units for a total of 1485 MLS recorded pending sales.


• Homes listed and on the market in Clear Lake are down by 4% from this time last year with 791 single-family homes on the market today as compared to 825 last year.


• Clear Lake’s Average sales price is up by 7% and currently stands at $178,850, as compared to $167,686 in 2004.


• Days on the market register at 67, which represents a decline of 3-days on the market to sell a home than in 2004.


• Clear Lake was ranked #3 on the December Houston Hotness Index because 15.8% of all its’ listings went under contract during that one month!

Champions / Spring
Area 13

• Sales are up in the Champions / Spring Market area over YTD December 2005 by 10% with 3207 MLS recorded home sales.


• Listings are up in the Champions / Spring Market area by 4% over this time last year with 1,612 homes listed and on the market.


• Contracts pending are up over 2004 by 10% with 2334 homes receiving contracts in 2005.


• Average sales price is up by 2% over 2004’s sales price and currently stands at $167,551. Last year, average sales price was $163,504.


• The Champions Market area has maintained a 6.5 months inventory in both 2004 and 2005 this year and last.

Conroe – Montgomery County NW –
Area 39

• Sales were up by 215 units in NW Montgomery County in 2005 over 2004 with 1409 homes sales recorded in MLS as compared to 1194 in 2004.


• Contracts written year-to-date are up 11% with 886 recorded pending contracts year-to-date.


• Listings [market supply] has remained fairly stable comparing 2004 with 2005. There are currently 941 homes on the market in the area and in 2004, there were 945 homes on the market.


• Average sales price is up over 2004 [10%] and currently stands at $208,023.


• The area has 8.9 months of inventory as compared to 10.2 months in 2004, which is an improvement in home supply. The average price per square foot is $90 as compared to last years $84 per square foot, and days to sell a home are 110, which is down by 6 days from 2004’s,’ 116.

Cypress-Fairbanks Houston Area
Area 10

• Sales are up in Cy-Fair by 76 units, which brought the total sales year-to-date to 2648 home sales. These figures represent a 2% increase in number of homes sales over this time last year.


• Contracts initiated in 2005 have declined by 4% with 1680 contracts initiated as compared to 1746 contracts initiated in 2004.


• Listings are down 11% in Cy-Fair with 1,181 homes on the market as recorded in MLS in December 2005 compared with 1,314 homes on the market last year during the same time frame.


• Average sales price is up by 2% in 2005 over 2004 and currently stands at $175,202.


• Days on the market to sell a home in Cy-Fair is down by 2 days since December YTD 2004 and is currently 83 days-on-the-market on average to sell a home in the Cypress Fairbanks area.

Deer Park / Pasadena
Area 6

• Single-family home sales in Pasadena / Deer Park increased 4% over 2004 home sales with 1530 home sales recorded December YTD 2005.


• Pending sales, [which are contracts written and scheduled to close], are 106 units up over 2004 with 1119 contracts written in 2005 as compared to 1013 in 2004.


• Active listings in Pasadena and Deer Park are up by 1 unit with 579 homes on the market.


• The Pasadena / Deer Park area Average sales price for 2005 is $111,699 or 8% greater than 2004.


• It’s a sellers market in Pasadena /Deer Park with 4.6 months of inventory on the market.

Galveston County
Area 33

• Single-family home sales in Galveston County are up by 329 units from this time last year or 10% with 3522 home sales recorded.


• Contracts written, a better indicator of “future demand”, show 2353 pending sales that were written in 2005. That is an 89-unit increase over this time last year or a 4% increase over 2004.


• Listings in Galveston County are up by 10% with 1,707 homes on the market at the closing of 2005 as compared to 1,546 in July 2004.


• Average sales price in Galveston County in 2005 was $173,301, which is 10% greater 2004.


• Galveston County has a 6-month supply of inventory, with 80 days on market to sell a home.

Hwy 6 North
Area 8
.

• Hwy 6 North has experienced a 4% increase in single-family home sales in 2005 with 2724 home sales as compared to 2629 home sales in 2004.


• Contracts written in Hwy 6 North increased 6% with 1901 units pending to close.


• Hwy 6 North’s average price is up 5% over year-to-date December 2004 and now stands at $161,754 as compared to last year’s $154,010.


• Hwy 6 North homes on the market were down in 2005 by 2% with 1193 homes on the market as compared to last year’s 1221.


• There are 5.3 months of inventory in Hwy 6 North as compared to 2004’s 5.6. It took 81 days on average to sell a home in Hwy 6 North in 2005, which is a 1-day increase in average days-on-market than in 2004.

Katy / Cinco Ranch
Area 36

• Single family home sales are up in Katy by a whopping 471 more units sold in 2005 over 2004 with 2869 home sales or an increase of 20%.


• Contracts written in the Katy / Cinco Ranch area year-to-date are up by 21% with 1901 units reporting with a sale pending.


• Listings in the Katy / Cinco Ranch area are down by 21% with 968 listings currently on the market as compared to 1,218 listings this time last year.


• Katy’s average sales price is $218,167 which is up by 6% over 2004’s average of $206,721.


• The Katy / Cinco Ranch area has 4.5 months of inventory which is a sellers’ market and has improved from last year, which held 6.3 months of inventory. It takes an average of 79 days to sell a home in Katy and that is down from last year’s 91 days.


• South Katy is ranked #1 on the December Houston Hotness Index because 18.1% of all its’ listings went under contract during that one month!

Kingwood
Area 32

• Single-family home sales are up in Kingwood year-to-date by 10% with 1268 home sales recorded in MLS year to date over 1152 closed year to date last year.


• Pending contracts scheduled to close are up by 8% compared to last year. Pending units recorded year-to-date currently stand at 890 whereas last year, pending units were at 822.


• Kingwood Homes on the Market are down 3% over last year. There are currently 518 homes on the market in Kingwood.


• Kingwood average sales price for 2005 was $193,813 and that figure is up by 4% over 2004.


• Kingwood has 5.3 months of inventory. Last year, Months of inventory was 5.4. Days on the market to sell a home in Kingwood is currently at 77 days and is slightly less than last year’s 80 DOM.


• Kingwood was ranked #6 on the December Houston Hotness Index because 14.5% of all its’ listings went under contract during that one month!

Southwest Houston Inner Loop
Area 17

• Single-family home sales declined by only 4-units in the Inner Loop from 2004 to 2005 with 1246 homes sales recorded in Houston MLS as compared to 2004’s 1250.


• Pending contracts, which represent buyer demand year-to-date, has experienced a 5% increase. Pending contracts currently stand at 547 pending sales and last year experienced 523 pending contracts year-to-date.


• Listings were up slightly in 2005 over 2004 by 4 units and the current inventory stands at 487 homes on the market.


• Average sales price has risen by 6% in 2004 over 2005 and is currently $530,913.


• The average price per square foot in the SW Inner Loop is $184 and last year the average was $175.


• Homes listed in the SW Inner Loop can expect to net 97% of the list price on average and sell on the average of 70 days on the market. Days on the Market have increased from 2004 to 2005 from 4.8 months to 4.4 months.

Sugar Land Area 29

• Sugar Land experienced a 3% decline in single-family home sales in 2005 with 2045 home sales as compared to 2098 home sales in 2004.


• Contracts written in Sugar Land are down 58 units with 1197 units recorded pending for 2005.


• Sugar Land’s average price is up 3% over year-to-date December 2004 and now stands at $225,931 as compared to last year’s $220,278.


• Sugar Land homes on the market were down in 2005 by 6.9% with 688 homes on the market as compared to 2004’s 736.


• There are 4.0 months of inventory in Sugar Land as compared to 2004’s 4.1, and that makes for a very healthy seller’s market. It takes 64 days on average to sell a home in Sugar Land and that is a shorter time-frame than in 2004 when it took 67 days.


• Sugar Land was ranked #9 on the December Houston Hotness Index because 13.7% of all its’ listings went under contract during that one month!

Tomball/Cypress
Area 35

• Single-family home sales were up a whopping 26% in 2005 in the Tomball/Cypress area with 265 more units sold than in 2004 and the area experienced a total of 1264 home sales.


• Contracts written in the Tomball/Cypress area year-to-date are up by 31% with 882 units reporting a sale pending in 2005.


• Listings in the Tomball/Cypress area are up by 6% with 629 listings currently on the market as compared to 629 listings this time last year.


• Tomball/Cypress’ average sales price is $186,555 which is up by 8% over last year’s $172,818.


• The Tomball/Cypress area has 6.7 months of inventory which has improved from last year, which held 7.8 months of inventory. It took an average of 95 days to sell a home in the area in 2005 which is up from 2004’s 91 days.

West Center Inner Loop
Area 16

• Sales are up by 5% in 2005 over 2004 in the West Center Inner Loop and 765 homes were recorded as sold in 2005.


• Contracts written, a better indicator of buyer demand, are up by 20% with pending contracts currently at 386 units and were at 320 in 2004.


• Listings in the West Center Inner Loop closed out 2005 at 461 units and that figure is up by 2% over 2004, which closed out at 453.


• Average sales price is up in 2005 by 10% over 2004 and is currently $566,830.


• Homes in the West Center Inner Loop sold in 2005 on the average of $206 a sq. ft and in 2004 that figure was $192. Homes that sell in the area can expect to render an average of 95% of the selling price and take approximately 107 days to sell.


• There are 7.5 months of inventory in the area. The West Center Inner Loop Area is a balanced market, and it should be noted that last year, there were 7.4 months of inventory.

West Memorial Area 23

• Sales in the West Memorial area increased by 8% 2005 over 2004 and ended the year with 768 units sold.


• Contracts written are up from this time last year by 20 units and there are currently 292 units recorded pending.


• Listings are down slightly from this time last year with 355 homes on the market as compared to 357 last year.


• Average sales price YTD in the West Memorial area is $624,310 and that is up 3% more than 2004’s average sales price of $607,552.


• Homes in the West Memorial area sell at an average sales price of $176 a sq. ft. A seller can expect to sell his home for an average of 94% of the list price and take 78 days on the market to sell. Months of Inventory currently stand at 5.8.

The Woodlands
Area 15

• Single-family home sales in The Woodlands were up by 558 units in 2005 over 2004 or a 19% increase, with 4102 home sales recorded in 2005.


• Contracts written, a better indicator of “future demand”, show 2860 pending sales that have been written year-to-date. That is a 474-unit increase or a 20% increase over 2004.


• Listings in The Woodlands are down by 6% with 1,784 homes on the market in 2005 as compared to 1,888 in 2004.


• Average sales price in The Woodlands for 2005 is $246,969, which is 11% greater than 2004.


• The Woodlands has a 5.7 month supply of inventory, which indicates the area is in a sellers market. Days on the market to sell a home has remained the same in 2004 and 2005 and is currently 85 DOM.


• The Woodlands was ranked #7 on the December Houston Hotness Index because 14.3% of all its’ listings went under contract during that one month!