Houston's home sales outpacing construction

[DJ V Lawrence]

What's going up? New homes; at a higher demand than what's being built.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5760767.html

Houston-area builders are selling more homes than they're building, leading to a shrinking supply of new homes on the market.

-----------------

Brian Binash, president of the Greater Houston Builders Association and Wilshire Homes, said builders have scaled back so much that he's anticipating a shortage of homes as early as this summer.

The shrinking inventory, combined with low interest rates and continued job growth, could lead to higher prices if demand spikes.

"If you're thinking of waiting until this summer or later, I wouldn't," Binash said.

Prices already rose in the first quarter.

The median price of a new home was $202,287, up 15 percent over last year.