Home sales in Texas are up for the year, but the Houston area is a truly booming in comparison, according to the third quarter report from the Texas Association of Realtors.

Texas home sales are up 4.4 percent on an annual basis to 95,225 homes sold in the third quarter of 2018. The median home sale price also grew 4.4 percent to $235,000.

Affordable homes continue to be driving sales as more than 36 percent of homes sold last quarter were priced under $200,000 and another 31.5 percent were in the $200,000 to $299,999 range.

“Our market remains extremely strong but is still slowly moving toward normalization. Median home prices and home sales are up, but the rate of increase statewide is beginning to slow compared to prior years,” said Jim Gaines, Ph.D., chief economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. “With inventory levels for homes priced under $150,000 remaining low, we’re seeing a concerted effort from homebuilders to build lower-cost housing to fit the entry-level homebuyers’ market.”

Active listings in the state are up 4.7 percent with 111,144 units and inventory is up to 3.9 months worth.

The Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land MSA saw an 11.6 percent increase in sales with 24,028 homes sold in the third quarter of the year. The median home price is up 2.6 percent on a year-over-year basis to $236,000.

More than 35 percent of homes sold in the MSA were under $200,000 while 32.4 percent were in the $200,000 to $299,999 range.

“The record-breaking home-sales activity this summer in Texas is an example of the strong economy, job growth and quality of life in our great state that keeps driving demand for home ownership,” Kaki Lybbert, chairman of the Texas Association of Realtors, said. “At the current rate that home sales and active listings are increasing, we are trending towards another record-breaking year in Texas real estate.”