AREA HOME SALES FALL AGAIN, BUT IT’S A SOFTER HIT

Purchases climb nearly 9 percent for houses priced from $150,000 to $250,000, January report shows

Sales of single-family homes across the Houston area fell for the fourth straight month in January, but the dip was more moderate than previous declines and the midpriced segment of the mar- ket saw gains.

Buyers closed on 4,024 homes in January, down 2.1 percent compared with a year earlier, monthly data released Wednesday from the Houston Association of Realtors show. The realty group also revised its December home sales decline to 4.1 percent, instead of 9.7 percent.

Area home sales have been slowing since October, when the collapse in oil prices finally began to trickle down to the real estate market.

The most notable impact has been in the luxury market, which had driven much of Houston’s housing growth in recent years when oil prices were soaring and high-paying jobs were plentiful.

January sales of properties that sold for $500,000 or more were off 9.3 percent.

“Those higher-end jobs that were available, they’re no longer there,” said Mario Arriaga, chairman of the realty association.

Prices for luxury homes slipped 1 percent in the fourth quarter compared with the previous year and

4.4 percent from the third quarter, according to data from Seattle-based Redfin, which defines the luxury market as the top 5 percent of homesales.

The average high-end home price was $1.4 million. Largest segment

While overall sales declined last month, they were up nearly 9 percent among houses that sold for between $150,000 and $250,000, the largest segment of the market, data show.

Arriaga attributes some of that growth to demand carried over from the boom.

The energy downturn so far has not devastated the local real estate market, which has held up as a result of low interest rates and economic diversification, he said.

“Houston is much more diversified than it was back in the ’80s in the last oil and gas downturn,” he said. Median price

Houston’s median single-family home price — the figure at which half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less — was up5.3 percent in January to $200,000, according to the association, which tracks homes sold though the association’s Multiple Listing Service, which includes new and existing homes listed by real estate agents throughout Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties, as well as parts of Brazoria, Galveston, Waller and Wharton counties.

Based on the supply of homes for sale, many believe Houston remains a seller’s market, though housing options are growing.

An increase in new listings boosted inventory to a 3.3-month supply in January .

That means it would take that long to sell every listing on the market based on the prior year’s worth of activity. Nationwide, the supply is 3.9 months. Top five finish?

Arriaga said more inventory will help those who were unable to buy in the last several years because there was so little on the market.

Houses that did go up for sale were snapped up and often with multiple bidders.

“We’re not going to have another record-breaking year,” he said, “but we will probably be in the top five.”