Texas housing market continues recovery ...

The Texas Association of Realtors released its first-quarter findings on Monday. Here's an overview ...

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AUSTIN – The latest Texas Quarterly Housing Report, released today, shows statewide increases in both sales volume and price. Texas sales volume for existing single-family homes was 42,682 for the first quarter of this year, up four percent from the first quarter of last year. The median home price in Texas jumped from $137,200 in first quarter 2009 to $141,500 in 2010, a 3.13 percent increase.

The Texas Quarterly Housing Report is issued four times a year by the Texas Association of Realtors with multiple listing service (MLS) data compiled and analyzed by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. "First quarter 2010 figures were up compared to 2009, despite sales being down in January and February," said Jim Gaines, Ph.D., an economist with the center. Gaines noted that the positive year-over-year gain was due solely to significant March sales being strong enough to bring up the whole quarter. "With March’s increased figures we are cautiously optimistic that we’ll continue to see positive results in the second quarter," he said.