Will house prices go down during winter-early spring? (Houston: real estate market, layoffs)

[fasty1]

Looking to buy a house near springs /woodlands area sometimes during the next 3-4 months with a budget of around 200k. I started looking back in April-may where prices were still within my budget but has since spiraled out of control. Do you guys think prices will go back down or will it stay this way?

[westhou]

I think they will go down. With the way the oil industry is going the next year or two should be a good time to buy. But maybe you should wait another 8-12 months.

[cheryjohns]

Prices will go down, like they always do, in the late fall. Just make sure you are under contract by the end of January. They start climbing in February.

[naadarien]

Originally Posted by westhou

I think they will go down. With the way the oil industry is going the next year or two should be a good time to buy. But maybe you should wait another 8-12 months.

I hope so. That is what I am gambling on.

[predatorprey]

It will fall some but I don't expect anything significant for early 2016

[Meyerland]

You may also see price reductions on listings that have gone stale and been on the market a long time. In your budget I wouldn't wait. It's the 500,000$ + market that's softening a bit. There is still high demand in your budget and area.

[crone]

We were looking in CyFair in the 250ish range last year, mid November-December. There was nothing left but the culls. If you have to buy, find a house that works and you like. Don't get caught having to settle. You might end up spending an easy 100 grand making it fit.

[Spartacus713]

Originally Posted by cheryjohns

Prices will go down, like they always do, in the late fall. Just make sure you are under contract by the end of January. They start climbing in February.

Median home prices have not receded in most parts of the Houston real estate market, including all of the better parts, for quite a few years now. Even during the first few years after 2008, prices stayed flat, but the volume of homes sold fell through the floor.

Nobody knows the exact timing of turns in real estate market prices, and those turns are certainly not either annual or seasonal. If median prices fall in Houston, it will not because of the seasons changing, it will be because of the huge layoffs in the oil industry and other supporting businesses.

[ToyYot]

Originally Posted by Spartacus713

Median home prices have not receded in most parts of the Houston real estate market, including all of the better parts, for quite a few years now. Even during the first few years after 2008, prices stayed flat, but the volume of homes sold fell through the floor.

Nobody knows the exact timing of turns in real estate market prices, and those turns are certainly not either annual or seasonal.

For someone who claims to be a Houston real estate agent, you do not seem to be very well informed about the history of the real estate markets in Houston.

Well, when it comes to my neighborhood, you're wrong. It's always harder to move a house in the fall and there's always a lag prior to the spring rush.

[Bentley2013]

Doubt it. I haven't seen prices dropped in most desirable neighborhoods. The only difference is that the prices have not gone up.