******Guess what I found something else we haven't seen......
This article from the Houston Chronicle adds dimension to the recent acquisition of the real estate company.
9:25 PM 7/14/1998
June sales of used homes set record
Houston-area demand raises prices
By RALPH BIVINS
Copyright 1998 Houston Chronicle
The Houston home resale market sizzled hotter than ever in June as new
sales records were established and prices hit a record high.
Local realty agents say desirable homes can be snapped up only hours after they are put up for sale. The soaring demand gives prices strong upward momentum.
The Houston Association of Realtors reported 5,315 Houston-area properties were sold in June -- the first time the monthly sales total had passed 5,000 transactions. It was a 31 percent increase over last June's sales total for used homes.
The big sales results come one month after another record sales total was reported in May.
"I've been selling houses in Houston for 19 years and I've never seen such an active market," said realty agent Elaine Allen of Elaine Allen & Associates. "The sales are up and the inventory is down."
If a home is in good condition and in a good area, it often attracts more than one buyer, Allen said. It is common for such a house to receive multiple sales offers.
"In some cases it gets to be a bidding war," Allen said.
Jerry Blum of Aker-Blum & Associates said his firm recently sold a
three-bedroom, 1,500-square-foot bungalow in the Montrose area only 24
hours after the house was placed on the market. The sales price was
$185,000. A year ago a similar house would have sold for about $140,000, Blum said.
Blum said duplexes are also in high demand. A duplex in Montrose recently had five offers from buyers, three willing to pay the full price the day after the house was put up for sale. The duplex sold for $175,000, which was $10,000 more than the asking price.
A buyer paying more than the asking price was unheard of in Houston until recent months. Now it happens frequently. In years past, sellers usually were expected to accept low-ball offers. Deep discounts were common.
The Houston Association of Realtors reported the median price for a
single-family home sold in the Houston area in June was $104,000 -- a record high. It was the first time the median price in Houston had ever surpassed $100,000. It represented a 7.2 percent increase over the median in May and a 9.6 percent increase over that of June 1997. The median price indicates half the homes sold for more and half for less.
Houston's home prices have come a long way over the last decade. In 1988, when the local housing market was in a troubled period, the median price dipped below $60,000.
But the inventory of foreclosed homes has been sold off and the glut of unwanted houses is gone.
Houston added about 90,000 jobs in 1997, topping a run of several
consecutive years of strong job growth. That has ignited the housing market. The apartment market also is surging and home builders have been reporting record sales in 1998.
In addition to job growth, low mortgage interest rates have boosted Houston's housing market. Rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages have been around 7 percent for months.
Low interest rates can make buying a home very affordable.
A number of first-time home buyers have been purchasing homes in the Katy area, where used homes can be purchased for less than $70,000, said realty agent Arnold England of Century 21 Katy Realty.
"The market is strong. We're running very, very low on listings," England said.
Today, housing is in short supply. The inventory of homes for sale in Houston and the surrounding area totaled less than 25,000 properties in June -- a tiny supply when 5,000 homes per month are sold. In the troubled 1980s, the inventory often exceeded 40,000 properties.
Homes sold through the Houston Association of Realtors' Multiple Listing Service in June were on the market an average of about 81 days from the time the property was listed until the sales was finalized. That is a marked decrease from earlier in the 1990s, when the average time on the market often was more than 100 days.
The dollar volume of homes sold in June was $700 million, the highest
monthly sales total ever recorded by the Houston Association of Realtors. A number of other cities around the nation, boosted by the conditions found in Houston, are also reporting very strong housing markets, said George Stephens, chairman of the Houston Association of Realtors.
The surge experienced in Houston seems based on solid economics, not wild speculation, said Bill Jones of Wayland Hancock Properties.
In the boom of the early 1980s, people were buying houses -- sometimes in questionable areas -- just so they could resell them for a quick profit, said Jones, who served as president of the realty association in 1995.
Buyers seem more reasonable today and prices seem realistic, Jones said.
Economic trends seem to indicate that the Houston housing market could stay healthy for awhile, he said.
"The economy has been good. Inflation has been low. Interest rates have been low. The city is undergoing economic revitalization," Jones said. "As long as these conditions are in place, it ought to last."
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