Report: Housing market still tight

Published 3:20 pm Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Staff report

The Texas Quarterly Housing Report, released Monday, says first-quarter home sales in the state rose slightly over the same three months of 2018. But the Beaumont-Port Arthur area did not match that success.

The publication of the Texas Realtors showed Beaumont-Port Arthur home sales decreased 2 percent to 828 single-family home sales. Meanwhile, median prices increased 9.5 percent to $150,500.

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Not to worry, says Realtor Edna Beard. The veteran Coldwell Banker Realtor said Beaumont-Port Arthur remains a seller’s market, with home prices increasing.

“Things are moving really quickly here,” she said. “If a home is priced decently, when it comes on market it is resalable. These homes are moving fast.”

Home that are selling are selling for more money, she said, “due to restoration from Hurricane Harvey.”

“A lot of homes were flooded and gutted,” she said, meaning they are redone and updated, which increases a home’s value.

The decrease in the number of sales is tied to many flooded homes not being ready for sale because construction is not complete. In some cases, she said, there are not enough licensed, bonded contractors available to do the work right away.

“You don’t want to hire just anyone off the street,” she said. Many federal assistance programs for flood victims mandate using credentialed contractors to repair homes.

Active listings for homes are up 27.1 percent, the report said, though closed sales were down 2 percent. On average, Beaumont-Port Arthur homes were on the market for 100 days until closing, up four days from the same period in 2018.

Statewide, Texas home sales increased 0.7 percent, year-over-year, to 70,827 home sales, while housing inventory increased to 3.6 months, a 0.4 months increase from 2018-Q1, the report said. Equilibrium for the housing market is generally thought to be six months worth of supply on the market.

“Housing market activity in Texas continues to break records,” said Tray Bates, chairman of Texas Realtors. “The number of sales and median price aren’t going up as steeply as in recent years, but Texas real estate remains in high demand as the Lone Star State continues to be a popular place to live and do business.”

During the first quarter of this year, 70,827 homes were sold in Texas, an increase of 0.7% compared to the first quarter of 2018. Statewide, the median price increased 2.7% to $230,000. Of all the homes sold in the first quarter in 2019, 32% were priced from $200,000 to $299,999, the highest share of sales among all price-class distributions. Homes priced from $100,000 to $199,999 represented the second-highest share of sales with 30.5%.

“Sales activity rebounded in March from negative showings in January and February as lower interest rates and winter’s colder weather diminished to increase buyer spirits. During the first quarter, sales increased by around 1% across the state with notable gains in sales volume in March in the major markets. The median price also continued to rise, but at a substantially slower rate. Furthermore, listings finally showed signs of growth with a corresponding rise in months inventory, but it’s still a tight market overall,” Bates said.

“Sales activity rebounded in March from negative showings in January and February as lower interest rates and winter’s colder weather diminished to increase buyer spirits,” said Jim Gaines, Ph.D., chief economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. “During the first quarter, sales increased by around 1% across the state with notable gains in sales volume in March in the major markets. The median price also continued to rise, but at a substantially slower rate. Furthermore, listings finally showed signs of growth with a corresponding rise in months inventory, but it’s still a tight market overall.”