The number of second quarter home sales declined 12 percent on a year-over-year basis, the report showed, while the median price increased 1 percent. Jim Gaines, an economist at Texas A&M, said this means higher priced homes accounted for a significant portion of last quarter's closings.
Gaines said high-end home sales were likely driven by the instability of other securities investments and high income buyers' ability to meet tighter mortgage lending standards. Consulting firm Capgemini recently announced Houston has the eighth-highest concentration of high net worth individuals among U.S. metro areas, and attributed the ranking to the city's low unemployment and robust business sector, led by energy companies.
Other reports indicate Houston is not the only healthy Texas real estate market. Housing Predictor says a growing military presence will motivate many people to move to El Paso. Dallas-Forth Worth and Austin made the OnNumbers top 10 best cities for young people list, and ProximityOne predicted Austin will have the second-highest growth rate of any U.S. city in the next decade.
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