Housing prices are still on the rise in the U.S., according to the National Association of Realtors. Its Single Family report for the third quarter of 2012 showed a 7.6% gain in the median home price of existing single-family homes located in major metropolitan areas. On a sequential basis, this same measurement is up 2.6% nationwide from the second quarter of this year. The West may have skewed the numbers with gains of 20.2% from the third quarter of 2011 due to huge snap-backs in Arizona and large gains in California, but home owners in major metro areas in Texas will have a lot to smile about here. The median gain in the third quarter for the Southern region was 5.7% year over year, and Texas was above that in many major metro areas.

Many markets saw the traditional spring rush as home buyers want to get into a home before or during the summer ahead of what is back-to-school season. That has brought on some softness in median housing sale prices sequentially from the second quarter to the third quarter. It is important to note that these figures are raw median prices and are not seasonally adjusted.

24/7 Wall St. has tallied up the median sales prices for major metro markets in Texas of Abilene, Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and their surrounding areas.

Abilene was the big kahuna in Texas according to the NAR report. This metro area saw prices rise by 12% to $135,700 from a year ago. This market trough was not seen until the first quarter of 2012 and this year over year gains was effectively all seen in the third quarter as a catch-up quarter for the market. The median sales price of existing apartment or condo sales was not measured.

Amarillo was up 6.9% to $140,000 and this was also up by 2% sequentially from the $137,200 median home price in the second quarter. The median sales price of existing apartment or condo sales was not measured.

Austin-Round Rock was up 6.7% to $207,900 but this showed a significant drop from the second quarter to the third quarter of 2012. Sequentially, the median housing price fell 3% from $214,500 down to the $207,900 reported. The median sales price of existing apartment or condo sales rose by 7.9% to $178,300 from a year earlier.

Beaumont-Port Arthur was actually down, but only by 0.8% to $128,400. The good news about the Beaumont and Port Arthur drop is that the fourth quarter of 2011 was the deep trough when median single-family house prices bottomed out at $117,100. This region has seen sequential increases each quarter since. The median sales price of existing apartment or condo sales was not tracked.

Corpus Christi was up 8.1% from teh third quarter of 2011 to $146,600. Sequentially this was a tad lower but only by $300 for the median price versus the second quarter of this year. The median sales price of existing apartment or condo sales was not tracked by NAR.

Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington was up by 8.8% to $165,200. Sequentially the median housing price was up 1% from the second quarter of this year. The median sales price of existing apartment or condo sales saw a large gain of 12.2% from a year ago to $140,700 per unit, but that is down from $146,200 in the second quarter.

El Paso was up 4.7% to $142,100 and that was up almost 5% on a sequential basis as the first quarter of 2012 was the trough in El Paso. The median sales price of existing apartment or condo sales was not tracked.

Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land was up by 5.0% to $167,500. When you culminate this large of a metro area you can expect some distortions. The gains for the Dallas market did not get seen sequentially in the Houston metro areas as $167,500 was down marginally from the $168,300 in the second quarter of this year. The median sales price of existing apartment or condo sales rose by 12% year over year to $133,600 but that was down sequentially from $138,300 in the second quarter.

San Antonio was up 3.6% to $161,900 but this is also sequentially lower by less than 1% from the $162,800 median price in the second quarter of this year. The median sales price of existing apartment or condo sales was not tracked.

Read Also: America’s Most Expensive Neighborhoods, Not Just Bigger In Texas!

If you look at the CoreLogic data which recently showed a 5% jump as the largest year over year gain, they showed that prices in September fell by 0.3% nationwide in September versus August. That was also not seasonally adjusted and is in line with spring and summer buying surges rather than a sudden slowing of the housing market.

We also have the exact same regional report for the major metro markets State of California, and there is a huge difference in the ‘affordability’ of housing there.

JON C. OGG

Twitter: @jonogg

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