Largest Decline in Home Sales in More Than a Decade; Prices Hold Up

HOUSTON — (October 16, 2007) — Houston had been hailed as one of the few markets in the country that had weathered the real estate downturn seen in most of the rest of the country—until September. It is normal to see a slowdown in real estate sales after summer has ended, but the decline in sales experienced last month was the largest in more than a decade for the greater Houston area. From a historical perspective, Houston remained ahead of 2005 in terms of sales and pricing and its inventory of homes relative to sales is still well below the past 10 year average.

Total property sales for the month registered 5,984, which was a 16.7 percent decrease versus September 2006. Properties sold during the month reached a total of more than $1.2 billion, an 11.9 percent decrease compared to last year’s nearly $1.4 billion in September sales. Additionally, the median home price for a single-family home reached $150,500 for September, and the average single-family home price came in at $202,963, a rise of 0.3 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively. (more…)

Oct. 16, 2007, 10:40AM

Young musicians stage benefit to help other youths make music

By HELEN ERIKSEN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

Students in Katy’s Cinco Ranch High School marching band are fortunate to attend a school in an affluent district that strongly supports the arts.

But after hearing about a school in El Paso with scarce financial resources, some Cinco Ranch Cougar band members were inspired to spearhead a fundraiser to help the border town school buy new instruments and equipment for its marching band.

Such a luxury is out of reach for most students at Mountain View High School in El Paso. Band members often struggle to save enough money to purchase basic supplies, according to the school’s band director, Alma Beach.

Despite the disadvantages, the marching band works hard to compete with other bands, Beach said.

Cougar band director Mike Ouellette explained Cinco Ranch’s interest in helping: “Sometimes you don’t realize how fortunate you are until you look at what others have to go through.”

Jessica Ramirez, who plays the French horn in the Mountain View band, said some of the band’s instruments are as old as the school, which opened in 1989. She said the band needs trumpets, French horns and big instruments like tubas and sousaphones. (more…)