Realtors sold 4,832 single-family homes in the area last month, according to a monthly report from the Houston Association of Realtors.

That’s up 11 percent from the same period last year.

Realtors credit the spring selling season, a looming deadline for a federal homebuying tax credit and a growing optimism about the economy.

The tax credit has the greatest impact on home priced at $250,000 and higher, said Margie Dorrance, the real estate agent association’s chair.

“The credit is going to run out April 30, and houses need to be under contract by then,” Dorrance said. “That is having a bearing on sales and very substantially.”

During this time last year, lower priced homes sold better and activity in the $200,000 to $250,000 price range was slower. This year, it seems to be the opposite.

New listings of single-family homes jumped 34 percent to 11,399 in March, compared to 8,528 during the same month last year.

Home prices continued to climb for the 11th straight month on a year over year basis, boosted in part by the sale of luxury homes.

The number of homes that sold for $500,000 or more were up about 50 percent.

Every price segment was up except for the lowest end of the market, which saw an 8.4 percent decline.

The gains helped boost the median price of a single-family home to $154,250, up 6.4 percent over the year earlier.

Homes also seem to be selling faster than this time last year. Homes stayed on the market an average 79 days, down from 95 days a year ago.

Another great reason to get quaified as early in the process as possible is to insure the fastest closing possible. If there are multiple offers going in on a home, you may be at a disadvantage if you are not able to secure financing quickly. Don’t wait until the last minute!

We have home purchase specialists standing by that can give you FREE home purchase finance advice. Feel free to request a FREE Rate Quote or to Contact Us directly.

As the Real Estate and financial markets continue to move up and down, mortgage rates can also be affected. Since mortgage rates are more closely tied to the bond markets, an up or down move in the stock market may not have the result in mortgage rates that one might expects. In fact, many times the resulting mortgage rate changes are counter-intuitive.

More importantly, rates change daily and they can change quickly. Some mortgage professionals have recently noted that their rate quotes have only had shelf lives of three to four hours before market changes have deemed them inaccurate.

How does a consumer navigate fast changing markets in order to refinance their existing loan or purchase a home with the most favorable terms possible?

1. Plan – Define your needs ahead of time, do not wait until the last minute. This is especially true of home purchases.
2. Consult – Talk to your mortgage professional on a regular basis so they can interpret recent market events to you and communicate how those events can affect you.
3. Execute – When you have defined your needs and have determined that now is the best time to move forward, don’t shop yourself out of a good loan! What does this mean? It is easy to get caught up in shopping for the best rate, but it is not uncommon for home owners to miss locking their loan at a great rate because they are in search of better rates that do not exist or that they do not qualify for. It is important to shop to insure you are getting the best rate possible, but set limits to the number of companies you are going to consider doing business with and be careful of having your credit report needlessly and more times than is necessary!