Houston played it safe and came out relatively unscathed in 2009. Unlike others areas of the country that experienced the housing boom – and then bust – Houston kept its sights on its low-tax, business-positive climate to maintain a steady housing market and excellent growth.

In fact, home prices in Houston continued to rise through the first quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2009, which is a rarity among major markets in the United States. It is because of this steady growth that Houston’s future is expected to be quite promising.

The sound, local economy, which is buoyed along by the energy and health care sectors, has kept Houston real estate healthy and growing, thereby keeping a balanced housing market; despite the real estate debacle affecting most of the country.

Houston’s real estate numbers, as of the last quarter of 2009 (compared to the same time in 2008):

• An increase of 33 percent in single-family home sales
• An increase of 42 percent in dollar volume sales
• A seven percent increase in the average sales price
• Average days on the market: 76

It is important to realize that, although the numbers from 2008 are quite bleak due to Hurricane Ike, it can’t overshadow the gains made at a time when other markets around the United States were posting massive decreases in home sales.

November 2009 marked the third straight month that sales volumes increased and pricing recorded gains. Total property sales in November 2009, as compared to November 2008, were 32 percent higher.

A certain percentage of this increase is due to low interest rates and the federal home buyer tax credit.

The median home price for the last quarter of 2008 was $150,000, and the average price of a single-family home in Houston was $198,948, a nearly seven percent increase from a year earlier.