Houston real estate market posts record year in 2017

HOUSTON, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Houston's housing market hit a new high for home sales in 2017, besting the previous year's record by 3.5 percent amid an unexpectedly strong rebound after Hurricane Harvey, according to a report released on Wednesday.

By the end of December buyers had closed on 79,117 single-family homes across the Houston area, the fourth largest city in the United States, representing 23 billion U.S. dollars, said the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR).

The average sales price of single-family homes for the year 2017 was 291,340 dollars, up 2.9 percent from 2016, and the median price was 229,900 dollars, up 3.8 percent. The strongest sales performance took place among homes priced between 250,000 and 500,000 dollars.

"No one could ever have imagined 2017 turning out to be a record-setting year for the Houston real estate market, which had weathered the effects of the energy slump only to have Harvey strike such a devastating blow," HAR chair Kenya Burrell-VanWormer said in a statement.

"We know that many are still working tirelessly to rebuild their lives after Harvey, but overall, this clearly illustrates the incredible resilience of the people and the economy of Houston, Texas," she added.

While the Houston's economy is expected to grow this year, with some projections showing the area creating 75,000 jobs, the property market faces headwinds.

The supply of available homes, which had begun moving to more sustainable levels earlier this year, has fallen off considerably since Harvey. Changes in the federal tax policy may also have a negative influence on the market.

Harvey blew ashore on Aug. 25, 2017 as the most powerful hurricane to hit Texas in more than 50 years, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and damaging nearly 200,000 homes. Enditem