The December housing statistics were released today (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).  Nationally, the numbers show a dramatic 16.7% decrease in the number of homes sold (the biggest monthly drop in 40 years).  The big drop is a result of the first-time homebuyer credit which was originally supposed to expire on November 30, 2009.  Because many first-time buyers rushed to complete their sales by November 30, there was less demand for these properties in December (43% of purchases in December were to first-time buyers compared to more than 50% in November).  Distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales) accounted for 32% of the national sales in December.  On the positive side, prices were up 1.5% over December of last year.   There were two competing forces with prices in December.  Because fewer of the sales were to first-time buyers who usually buy entry-level homes, the prices should have tended to increase, which they did.  However, the increase was tempered because almost one-third of all sales were distressed properties, which generally drag down prices.

In Austin, the numbers are certainly better.  The month-to-month decline was only 11.0% and we increased the number of sales by 7.3% in the year-to-year comparison.  Prices were also up more than nationally.

December 2009 Existing Home Sales

 

Austin

Texas

USA

Number of Homes Sold

 

 

 

vs. Dec 2008

7.3%

1.1%

15.0%

vs. Nov 2009

-11.0%

-8.1%

-16.7%

Year-to-Date vs. 2008

-7.0%

-8.4%

*

Year-to-Date vs. 2007

-25.6%

-22.8%

*

 

 

 

 

Price of Homes Sold

 

 

 

Average vs. Dec 2008

5.0%

5.6%

3.6%

Median vs. Dec 2008

5.2%

3.6%

1.5%

 

 

 

 

Housing Inventory

 

 

 

Months Supply vs. Dec 2008

0.0%

1.6%

-23.4%

# Homes for Sale vs. Dec 2008

-7.2%

-7.9%

-11.1%

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