The August housing statistics were released late last week (the national numbers are provided by the National Association of Realtors while the Texas numbers are from The Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University).

The numbers continue to be anemic.  While NAR will promote the 7.6% increase compared to the July sales, the reality is that August was the second worst month over the past year.  Contributing factors include the end of the tax credit and the continued high unemployment.

Nationally, the number of homes sold last month compared to August 2009 declined 19.0%.  I expect that we'll see poor numbers for at least the next three months.  31% of the buyers in August were first-time buyers, 21% were investors, and 48% were repeat buyers.  Distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) accounted for 34% of the national sales in August (up from 31% in August 2009 and 32% in July 2010).  72% of the sales were financed with a mortgage.

The Austin numbers look pretty similar.  Compared to August 2009, the number of homes sold was down 15.4%.  This is the third month in a row that this number has declined (after 9 months of increases).  I expect that the next three months will also show declines.   Prices, however, were up again.  This does not mean that prices have jumped in Austin.  Because the tax credits skewed to the lower side of the housing market, far fewer of the entry level homes sold in August.  As a result, the percentage of homes with higher prices increased, tilting the average and median prices.  The number of contracts being accepted on homes continues to decline (down 5.6% this month through today compared to the same time frame in August)

August 2010 Existing Home Sales

  Austin Texas USA
Number of Homes Sold

 

    
vs. August 2009 -15.4% -14.4% -19.0%
vs. July 2010 0.7% 1.7% 7.6%
Year-to-Date vs. 2009 4.9% 0.7% *
Year-to-Date vs. 2008 -13.7% -15.9% *
       
Price of Homes Sold      
Average vs. August 2009 10.3% 5.4% 2.9%
Median vs. August 2009 5.1% 2.0% 0.8%
       
Housing Inventory      
Months Supply vs. August 2009 6.0% 8.2% 26.1%
# Homes for Sale vs. August 2009 15.0% 14.3% 1.5%

* National numbers are seasonally adjusted so no year-to-date numbers are provided.