Fall in real estate sales shows signs of moderating - Houston Business Journal:

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March sales of single-family homes in Houston totaledc 4,355, down 16.1 percent from March 20008 and the 19th consecutivrmonthly drop, according to statisticds released by the . The median price of single-family homes in March was off 4.4 percent from one year earlier, and equapl to its December 2008 Thenational single-family median price reported by the is While sales of foreclosure properties, which typically sell below market prices, continued to weigg on home prices last month, the effectg was milder than in previous In March, foreclosures made up 24.5 percentt of all single-family home sales in the Houstobn area compared to 34 percent in January and 28 percenyt in February.
The median price of March foreclosure saled reported in the MLStumblesd 11.3 percent from $94,700 to $84,000 on a year-over-yearf basis. Overall March property sales fell 18.9 percenft compared with the same monthglast year, however, from Februar y to March of this year, overall property salesa volume increased 26.1 percenrt while sales of single-family homes rose 27.8 Total dollar volume for properties sold during the monthh was $940 million versus $1.2 billion a year earlier, a 23.2 percen t decline.
“It’s too soon to predict exactly when the Houston real estatde market will be inhealthier territory, but the recent moderation in sales and pricing trend is an encouraging sign,” said Vicki Fullerton, HAR chair and broket of record at RE/MAX of The Woodland s & Spring. “For consumers with good credit, this is an outstandiny time to buy a home in the greater Houstonj area because mortgage interest rates areat 50-yeaer lows and there’s a plentiful supply of reasonably pricedr housing inventory.
” She added that first-time home buyers have until December 1 to take advantage of an $8,000 tax crediy that does not require Demand for rental properties rose again in with leases of single-family homes up 4.3 percent on a year-over-yeard basis and leases of townhousesa and condominiums up 26.6 percent.