Trulia: Houston Rents Outpace Home Prices in June

by Peter Thomas Ricci

July 03, 2013

Asking prices in Houston were on a tear in June, according to the latest Trulia Price Monitor, though rents posted even stronger increases.

Asking prices and asking rents in Houston showed considerable strength in June, according to the latest Price and Rent Monitors from Trulia.

Not only were asking prices up 9.4 percent year-over-year and 3.7 percent quarter-over-quarter, but asking rents in Houston rose 11.1 percent; that’s not only the fourth-highest increase in the nation, but Houston is one of only three metro areas nationwide where rents continue to outpace asking prices.

Trulia Price Monitor – No Signs of Cooling?

Nationwide, asking prices continued their double-digit spectacles:

Year-over-year, asking prices rose 10.7 percent in June, and excluding foreclosures, prices were up 11.4 percent.
In addition, asking prices were up 1.5 percent from May and 4.1 percent from the last quarter.
Ninety-nine of the 100 markets that Trulia tracks saw their asking prices rise from last year (Philadelphia was the one exception, though prices fell a minuscule 0.01 percent).
Consistent with past Price Monitors, asking prices exceeded asking rents by a hefty margin, with rents rising just 2.8 percent year-over-year; in fact, only three markets – Houston, New York and Philadelphia – saw rents rise faster than home prices.

Jed Kolko – Home Price Gains “Won’t Last”

Jed Kolko, Trulia’s chief economist, said that though the universality of June’s home price gains is certainly a good thing, we shouldn’t grow too comfortable with double-digit increases.

“Rising home prices have swept the country,” Kolko said. “Local markets that suffered most during the housing crisis are seeing the biggest price rebounds today. Now even markets that escaped the worst of the bust, like Chicago and Baltimore, are seeing prices climb.

“However,” he continued, “these runaway price gains won’t last: both rising mortgage rates and slowly growing inventories should start tapping the brakes on home prices, preventing them from rising back into bubble territory.”