What’s the deal with asking prices in our metro area?

Creative Commons: Ingmanjc, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Captain_Calvin_and_Pamela_Case_House_Bay_window.JPG

Asking prices in the Houston area remained positive in November, and they seem to be showing no signs of slowing down, according to the newly released Price Monitor from Trulia.

Per Trulia’s analysis, Houston asking prices were up a whopping 12.10 percent year-over-year in November, which is far above the national average. In addition, prices were up 4.7 percent quarterly, which is similarly above the national average of 3.4 percent; asking rents, by contrast, were up 4.2 percent year-over-year, which was behind the national average.

When Do Rising Prices Become a Bad Thing?

On one hand, strong price growth – particularly beyond national averages – would appear to be a great thing, the ultimate sign of a strong housing market; on the other hand, though, in a housing market that is in the throes of an affordability crisis, above-average increases could begin to pose problems, especially considering the economic challenges that continue to plague Millennials, aka the next great source of housing demand – and we did recently report, after all, that affordability in Houston may not be quite as high as initially thought.

Of course, this is only one month of data, so it’s dishonest of us to suggest any kind of trend just yet; however, should Houston’s price increases continue, we’ll have to keep in mind how it compares and contrasts with wider market trends.

Interested in how Houston compares with other metro areas? Check out our graph below for additional perspective: