State outpaces Houston in condo sales

The Houston region captured nearly one-third of the annual market for condominium and townhomes in Texas, a new report showed. However, the sales pace has been accelerating more quickly statewide than in Houston so far in 2017.

Texas buyers spent more than $5.4 billion on condos and townhomes during the 12-month period ending in July, according to the Texas Association of Realtors’ Texas Condominium Sales Report. That includes about $772 million in condo sales and $935 million in townhome sales in the Houston market.

The Dallas-Fort Worth market comprised $1.67 billion in condo and townhome sales, compared with $1.71 billion in Houston.

Texas condo sales increased 8.6 percent to 14,656 sales, while townhome sales rose 5.1 percent to 8,134 sales during the 12-month period. Houston condo sales rose by 2.2 percent to 4,235 sales during the period, while townhome sales increased 1.5 percent to 3,415 sales.

“The Texas condominium market has been one of the fastest-growing segments of the housing market this year,” the association’s chairwoman, Vicki Fullerton, said in an announcement.

Statewide, the median sales price year-to-date through July reached $179,900 for condos and $226,675 for townhomes. The amounts are up 9 percent and 8.5 percent respectively from the same period in 2016.

In the Houston area, the median condo price rose 3.9 percent to $135,000 year-todate through July. Townhome sales prices increased 8.2 percent to $237,900 in the local market.

Jim Gaines, chief economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, predicted the market will keep growing.