The Houston real estate market seems to be in continued trouble, despite some distortions in the market caused due to a recent hurricane strike. According to the business portion of the Houston Chronicle published on October 20, 2009, “September ended a two-year run of monthly home sales declines, but it didn’t have much to do with an improving market. Single-family home sales in the Houston area soared 32 percent last month, in large part because housing activity came to a near halt at the same time last year when the region was still reeling from Hurricane Ike. ‘We all didn’t literally get our lights turned on for a week to two weeks,’ said Steve Barnes, president and chief operating officer of the Houston Division of Coldwell Banker United, Realtors. The startling year-over-year comparison showed up in foreclosures, too.”

A smidgen of good news for Houston homes for sale was reported by the Houston Business Journal on November 10, 2009. According to the piece, “The median price of an existing home in the Houston area rose by 0.2 percent to $160,600 during the third quarter, according to figures released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors. The median price in the same quarter last year was $160,200. Total sales in Texas for the third quarter were up 9.8 percent from the second quarter, but were down 1.9 percent year-over-year. For the nation as a whole, the median price of an existing home fell 11 percent in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, NAR reported. Existing home sales rose 11 percent between the second and third quarters, and were also up 5.9 percent from the third quarter of 2008.”

Foreclosures were another significant problem for real estate in Houston, according to another article in the Houston Business Journal.  This piece, written on November 5, 2009, found that “The foreclosure rate in the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown area in September this year was 0.5 percent higher than in the same month last year, according to a new report from First American CoreLogic. The rate measures the percentage of loans in some stage of foreclosure.”

The Austin real estate market continues to be relatively affordable compared to other comparable cities throughout the United States. The city faces a mixed bag of real estate news, combining increased foreclosure rates with improved home sales and prices. This positive news was reported in a November 9, 2009 article from KVUE news, which found that the eight thousand dollar tax credit offered by the federal government to some homeowners has energized home sales in many suburban neighborhoods. A November 5, 2009 article in the Austin Business Journal also found that college students have a much easier time paying for off-campus housing at Austin compared to other cities. The piece found that “Austin is one of the most affordable college towns in the country when it comes to buying a home, according to this year’s Coldwell Banker College Home Price Comparison Index.”

Additional positive news for Austin homes for sale was offered by an October 26, 2009 article also in the Austin Business Journal, which found that “Austin area home prices have begun to stabilize, according to the Fiserv Case-Shiller Home Price Index, a home price trends analysis released by Fiserv, a financial services company. From the first quarter 2009 to the second quarter 2009, home values in Austin fell about 1.3 percent the report said. Home prices in the area have rise 0.1 percent in the past 12 months, the report said, but are projected to slowly decline over the next year with a forecasted negative 1.8 percent price change. Several markets in Texas, such as College Station, Brownsville, and San Angelo, saw increases of over 3 percent in home price values during the past year, according to the report.”

Unfortunately, some negative news was also reported for real estate in Austin by an October 16, 2009 article in the Austin American-Statesman, which stated that “More than 1,300 properties have been posted for foreclosure for the Nov. 3 auction, a 52 percent jump from the same month last year, according to the Addison-based firm that tracks the numbers. With only one more auction to be scheduled this year, the annual total is expected to hit about 14,000 – the highest level since Foreclosure Listing Service Inc. began tracking the numbers locally in 2001, said George Roddy Sr., president and CEO of the company.”