Bauer Blogging Challenge #6

During the summer, I followed the Real Estate market and summarized what I observed.

In June, the median price of single-family homes sold reached its highest since August 2008. Also, foreclosure properties showed a further decline making up 16.8% of all single-family home sales in the Houston. This is a great decline compared to 34% in January, 28%  in February, 24% in March, 23.6 %  in April and 19.9% in May.  In July, total single-family properties sold increased and foreclosure sales continued to decline to 16.6%.

The Real Estate market in Houston has been showing some improvement, and as a Realtor, I receive many calls of customers asking about the $8,000 tax credit. Is this $8,000 tax credit really working? Are there other factors involved?

I do think that the first time home buyers $8,000 tax credit is giving many people an incentive to go out and try to purchase a home, but historically low interest rates are really helping as well. With today’s economy, the only problem is that many people don’t meet the credit requirements. Lenders  are much more conservative in their lending practices, and financing seems to be the most difficult part of purchasing a home. Furthermore, there are many investors taking advantage of great deals, and it seems as though this is hurting the small number of qualified buyers.

Regardless, I do think that the Real Estate market will continue to improve throughout the rest of the year.

P.S.: In July, Governor Rick Perry signed two appraisal reforms into law. They will help slow the pace of increasing property appraisals and provide additional oversight for the appraisal process. This will is important because Texans won’t end up with higher property taxes.

So what event did you follow?