Home prices edge up
The area’s median figure lags behind the nation’s, but it rose more than Austin’s.
Houston-area home price gains lagged the nation and some other Texas markets but outpaced Austin in the fourth quarter, a report showed.
The median existing singlefamily home price reached $247,800 in the U.S. at year’s end, a gain of 5.3 percent from $235,400 in the fourth quarter of 2016, the National Association of Realtors reported. Sales prices rose in 162 out of 177 metro areas tracked by NAR, with Sherman-Dennison, Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio showing the highest percentage gains in Texas.
Houston-area home prices reached a median of $229,800 during the quarter, up 2.4 percent over the previous year.
Sherman-Denison in north Texas was one of 26 metro areas that had double-digit price gains. The median price there rose 10.2 percent year-overyear to $164,200 in the fourth quarter.
Homes in the Dallas metro rose 6.7 percent year-over-year to $246,000 in the fourth quarter; San Antonio rose 5.6 percent to $218,700; Abilene rose 5.1 percent to $158,600.
Texas’ priciest market was Austin, where homes sold for a median of $293,200, up 1.9 percent.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said home prices in most markets continued to rise at a steady clip as more homes sold and the supply of houses on the market diminished.
“A majority of the country saw an upswing in buyer interest at the end of last year, which ultimately ended up putting even more strain on inventory levels and prices,” Yun said.
“Remarkably, home prices have risen a cumulative 48 percent since 2011, yet during this same time frame, incomes are up only 15 percent. In the West region, where very healthy labor markets are driving demand, the gap is even wider.”
Existing home sales, including condos, rose 4.3 percent to 5.62 million on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis, NAR said. At the end of the quarter, the number of homes for sale nationally was 10.3 percent below the 2016 level.
Prices rose most in the nation’s most expensive market: San Jose, Calif., up 26.4 percent to $1,270,000. San Francisco, in second place, gained 10.8 percent to $920,000.
Wichita Falls, where prices dropped 7.1 percent to $110,400, ranked among the five lowest-cost metro areas in the fourth quarter. Others were Cumberland, Md. ($84,600); Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio ($90,200); Decatur, Ill. ($100,000); and Binghamton, N.Y. ($108,900).
Prices also fell in BeaumontPort Arthur and Corpus Christi, NAR reported.