TEXAS HOME PRICES UP, REPORTS FHFA

WASHINGTON (FHFA, Real Estate Center) – Latest home appreciation rates released this week by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) indicate Texas home prices increased 2.1 percent last year.

Midland led the way with a 10.4 percent increase between fourth quarter 2007 and fourth quarter 2008. At the other end of the spectrum were Odessa and Brownsville, where prices fell 2.7 percent and 2.6 percent, respectively.

In the final quarter of 2008, Texas home prices increased 0.2 percent.
"The data indicate what we have believed all along," said Real Estate Center Research Economist Dr. Jim Gaines. "Texas fared well in 2008, especially compared with the rest of the country."
According to FHFA, here's how home prices in select Texas cities did last year:

Abilene up 2.7%
Amarillo up 0.1%
Austin–Round Rock up 4.4%
Beaumont–Port Arthur up 3.1%
Brownsville-Harlingen down 2.6%
College Station–Bryan up 5.5%
Corpus Christi up 1.8%
Dallas-Plano-Irving up 1.9%
El Paso down 0.4%
Fort Worth–Arlington up 1.2%
Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown up 3.7%
Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood up 2.5%
Laredo up 4.7%
Longview up 1.9%
Lubbock up 4.5%
McAllen-Edinburg-Mission up 0.1%
Midland up 10.4%
Odessa down 2.7%
San Angelo up 4.1%
San Antonio down 1.6%
Sherman-Denison up 2%
Texarkana up 1.1%
Tyler up 1%
Victoria up 6.2%
Waco down 1.7%
Wichita Falls down 2%

Nationally, prices dropped 4.5 percent last year for the overall index (which includes financings and refinancing) and 8.2 percent based on purchases-only data.

The FHFA's complete report is available online.