Here we are half way through the second quarter of 2009. In another six weeks we will be thinking about how the second quarter of the year compared to the second quarter of last year.
For a moment let's reflect on how our home sales and prices held up in the first quarter. You can see from the graphic that home sales in the first quarter of 2009 were almost identical to the number of home sales in 2008. You can also see that the median price of homes sold increased this year. In the first quarter of 2008 the median sales price was $125,333 while in 2009 the median price is $132,067.
You can check out Beaumont's home sales statistics for yourself at The Real Estate Center Website. Texas A&M keeps track of all Texas metro areas.
The April numbers are in and we were off the sales pace of 2008 by just a little. It will be interesting to see what happens in May and June. There has been a lot of stimulus thrown at the housing market on a national level. Most experts seem to think we have reached the bottom of the housing market and nationally there will be signs of stabalization in the second half of this year.
What's going to happen in Southeast Texas' housing market? We were lucky to avoid the home price depreciation faced by so many markets. Our median home sales prices have remained on an upward climb. One thing that is starting to rein back the home appreciation in our area is the new appriasal guidelines set forth by the FHA. When homes don't appraise for the sales price that can cause a sale to fall through. The potential home buyer can't get their financing approved. Some sellers insist on the contract price not the appraised value. That's a hard sell if you are a home buyer not wanting to over pay for a home. The appriasal topic deserves a whole post on its own so I'll save that for another day.
Today's post is a happy one. Southeast Texas homes continue to go up in value.
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