The housing market in the Victoria region in 2010 is one of three different periods. Through May, the market was influenced by the federal "first time buyer tax credit". After that, the market took a breather as did the national and state markets. The last quarter we saw an in migration of new buyers that caused the market to end on a high note.
The "first time buyer tax credit" created a flurry of activity as new buyers entered the market. The majority of these buyers were local and bought in the lower end of the market. The realty of this was the number of transactions accelerated while the median price declined slightly.
At the end of this artificially created market, we experienced a slow down in activity. For some reason, this occurred throughout the country and affected all markets. One explanation is that about mid-year, underwriting for new loans tightened significantly. Not only were lenders looking much harder at buyers, they also began to look closely at the property. This resulted in delays in closings.
The last quarter of 2010 Victoria enjoyed something we haven't experienced much of in years, new buyers coming to town. We have relied on the "move up - move around" buyer to support our market. (This is confirmed by the number of new homes built - less than 50 in 2010). As the oilfield, petrochemical and medical industries begin to expand, we are finally experiencing new jobs and new people. Add the Caterpillar project to the mix and it looks like we may be entering a period of growth we haven't seen in a long time.
Things to watch are inventories and prices. Inventories are moving downward, especially in some price points that are in demand. Median prices are moving up as witnessed at year end. Median price for the year was $124,000, while median price the last quarter was well above $130,000. We are still well below the state and national median home prices, making our homes very affordable.
Victoria should continue to outperform other markets in the region and state. Keep in mind that we are a small market and it does not take much to move it one way or another.
For more information, contact Lee Swearingen/President
lees@ronbrown.com
(361) 575-1446
Offices in Victoria, Rockport, Ingleside, Cuero and Wharton, Texas
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