Posted 1:57 pm Monday, October 12, 2009
September Home Sales Decrease; Tyler Ranks In Top 15 For Searches
By BRIAN PEARSON
Business Editor
Tyler area home sales in September dropped from the same month last year, but at least window shopping lately has ranked in the top 15 nationally.
Business Editor
Tyler area home sales in September dropped from the same month last year, but at least window shopping lately has ranked in the top 15 nationally.
The area's home sales last month were only five units shy of September 2008, according to Greater Tyler Association of Realtors figures released last week. The area saw 272 homes sold, compared with 279 the same month last year.
While sales did not show a decrease, September saw the year's highest median sales price at $141,450 -- the highest since June 2008's $145,400, according to figures from The Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.
"There are some good things happening," Ann Fitzgerald, Realtors association president, said. "This is the first time it's gone up. That means our prices are stabilizing."
Julie Reynolds, spokeswoman for Realtor.com, said the number of searches for Tyler-area homes increased 63.7 percent in August compared with the same month last year, with the percentage increase ranking 15th national and second only to Austin in Texas.
"So, folks are interested in real estate down there in Tyler," said Ms. Reynolds, whose Realtor.com is based in California. "We can't say why. There could be any number of possibilities of why consumers are searching more. It's a good sign.
"While searches don't always lead to sales, an increase of this size indicates increased interest and hopefully it will lead to sales."
Ms. Reynolds declined to provide more detailed Realtor.com Web search numbers.
Las Vegas ranked No. 1 in year-over-year search increases at 85 percent, a razor's edge above Austin's 85 percent.
Other Texas cities making the list of 145 markets researched were San Antonio (58.5 percent), Dallas (47.2 percent) and Corpus Christi (44.9 percent) Also: Fort Worth-Arlington (41.8 percent), El Paso (36.8 percent) and Houston (20.7 percent).
Reynolds noted that Tyler searches in July were up 91 percent from the same month last year, but the market ranked only 33rd nationally.
While September sales here were slightly slower, they beat the average for the decade of 265 units sold, according to real estate association figures. The best September of the decade was 304 units sold in 2006, while the slowest was 152 in September 2000.
"I'm OK with it," Ms. Fitzgerald said of this year's September sales, which followed a slow August that saw sales decrease to 280 units, a 17.6 percent dropoff from the 340 houses sold in August 2008. "We're off five units from this time last year, and that's OK."
She said the market has been buoyed by first-time home buyers taking advantage up a federal tax credit of up to $8,000.
Fitzgerald said time is running out for those who want to take advantage of the credit. Buyers must close by the Nov. 30 deadline, and it's taking an average 45 days to close on a home once a contract is signed, she said.
On Wednesday, National Association of Realtors representatives went before the U.S,. House Small Business Committee and asked the tax-credit program be continued and even expanded to include all home buyers.
Joseph L. Canfora, the association's president, said the credit has kept the home market afloat but warned that it was a precarious time to let the credit expire, according to a news release posted to the association's Web site.
"The credit is working," Canfora said, pointing to the 355,000 to 400,000 in transactions the credit has helped made possible since it was enacted in February.
Every home purchase pumps about $63,000 into the economy, the equivalent of one new job added to the work force, the association noted.
"The more robust the credit and the greater its duration, the greater the chance that the housing market can perform its traditional role of helping the economy move out of a recession," Canfora said
Canfora testified that the Federal Housing Administration has performed well compared to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
"That's because FHA has never strayed from the sound underwriting and appropriate appraisals that have traditionally backed up their loans," he said.
Ms. Fitzgerald said extending and expanding the credit program to include all buyers would dramatically impact the market.
It also would help jolt life into the flat-lining market for upper-end homes, those $250,000 or more.
The percentage of upper-end homes sold dropped 1.3 percentage points from 2008 through August of this year, according to A&M Real Estate Center figures.
Homes $250,000 and above represented 13.1 percent of the market this year, compared with 14.4 percent in 2008.
The $120,000-$139,000 range claims this year's biggest pie piece at 13.2 percent. The smallest piece goes to the $400,000-$499,999 range at 1.7 percent.
Total sales for the year as of September were down 14.8 percent, with 2,331 units sold compared with 2,737 for the same period last year.
Ms. Fitzgerald said the decrease is about what the association expected due to the economy.
