Houston

According to a recent report by the Houston Association of Realtors, single family home sales in the area rose 4.7% in October following a September dip. Some experts believe the uptick can be traced to fear about spiking mortgage rates. The report indicated that 6,716 homes were sold at a median price of $234,653 - which was also up 3.6% from Oct. 2017. Hurricane Harvey is also being blamed for market fluctuations during August and September.

“October seemed to mark a return to normalcy in terms of overall market activity,” Kenya Burrell-VanWormer, chair of the Houston Association of Realtors, said Wednesday in the association’s monthly report. “However, we are prepared for slower sales as we wrap up 2018, between the tight supply of homes and the fact that we typically see less activity around the holidays.”

Inventory fell below 4 months in October, indicating the market remains more favorable to sellers, though each neighborhood is different.

Sales were up among all price segments, except for homes priced at $150,000 and below. The strongest segment was the luxury market — homes priced at more than $750,000 — where sales rose 12 percent from the previous October. Homes sales in the first 10 months of the year were running 5.3 percent ahead of the same period in 2017, which had record sales, the realty association said.

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