July best month in home sales for Houston, despite oil crash

HOUSTON – July was the best month ever for home sales in Houston, despite the economic woes generated by the decline of the energy industry.

Houston Association of Realtors reported 8,147 single family homes were sold last month, the first time more than 8,000 homes have been sold in a single month, the Houston Association of Realtors reports.

Rising apartment rents are also driving apartment dwellers into purchasing a home, said Ted C. Jones, chief economist of Houston’s Stewart Title Guaranty, because today’s higher rents make purchasing a house an attractive proposition.

After a record setting year in 2014, home sales are running slight ahead of last year’s fiery pace. So far this year 43,559 single-family homes have been sold in the Houston area, up slightly from 43,482 sales at this point in 2014.

Single-family home sales in July represented almost a 7 percent gain over sales in July of last year, HAR reports.

The previous record for home sales in a single month was set earlier this summer when 7,669 homes were sold in June 2015. Sales of townhouses and condominiums were up about 7 percent in July, compared to a year ago.

Home prices continued to rise. The average price of a single-family home sold in July was $293,790, up over 6 percent from last year, HAR reports. The inventory of homes for sale remains tight with less than a four-month supply.