LearningtobeTexan

Greetings fellow Texans, I just moved to Houston a few months ago for a new job, and I've already decided that this will be my home for a long time. For that reason, plus housing being more affordable than many places in this country, I want to buy a townhome/condo here. Since I work in downtown, I want to live within the inner loop. My budget is going to be about $130K or less, with a 10% down payment. People have been telling me that I will not find anything in the inner loop for that price, but I found plenty of townhomes and condos selling for less than that on HAR.com.... particularly in the Medical Center area. I found that the Heights, Rice Military, River Oaks, and West University areas to be a wee bit too expensive for my budget, but not the Medical Center. I really would like to buy now, but my apartment lease won't be up until end of January 2009. And if I terminate my lease early, the penalty is extremely heavy (4 months worth of rent). No subletting is allowed. So I'll need to wait another 6 months before buying. I'm wondering how the market in the Medical Center is? Is it a buyers market or a sellers market? Why are the townhomes much cheaper in that area compared with other parts of the inner loop? Will the availability/inventory of townhomes under $130K increase or decrease 6 months from now? Is 6 months enough time to wait, or is it better to buy sooner than that (despite the penalty that I'll have to pay for terminating my current lease early)? Thanks in advance!