According to the latest monthly data compiled by the Houston Association of REALTORS (HAR), June sales of single-family homes throughout the Houston market rose 2.9 percent compared to June 2009. That follows increases of 11.3 percent in March, 27.8 percent in April and 18.2 percent in May. Sales volume showed gains in all single-family home pricing segments except the $150,000 to $250,000 market. The largest increase took place among homes priced from $500,000 and above. Sales of all property types combined climbed 4.1 percent in June on a year-over-year basis.

Closings of properties purchased through the federal homebuyer tax credit combined with the seasonal spring-summer uptick in consumer activity kept Houston-area single-family home sales in positive territory for a fourth straight month in June. However, expiration of the homebuyer tax credit slowed the brisk pace of sales volume that the market enjoyed in recent months.

“The Houston real estate market has benefited all that it can from the homebuyer tax credit and now comes the return of sales trends that are more typical for this time of year,” says Margie Dorrance, HAR chair and principal at Keller Williams Realty Metropolitan. “Heavy sales activity in the high end of the housing market boosted the average price in June, but growing inventory, an increase in months inventory and a slowdown in listings under contract point to a more flattened market in the coming months.”

The average price of a single-family home edged up 0.9 percent from June 2009 to $222,767, the highest price since July 2008. The June single-family home median price—the figure at which half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less—dipped 2.9 percent from one year earlier to $159,700, but still reached the highest level since August 2009.

Foreclosure property sales reported in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) rose 9.3 percent in June compared to one year earlier. The median price of June foreclosure sales increased 2.4 percent to $88,000 on a year-over-year basis.

Sales of all property types in Houston for June totaled 6,593, up 4.1 percent compared to June 2009. Total dollar volume for properties sold during the month was $1.4 billion versus $1.3 billion one year earlier, representing a 4.9 percent increase.