According to the Texas A&M Real Estate Center a total of 17,147 existing homes were sold in Texas last month, a 21 percent decline from April 2008, according to MLS data compiled by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. The median price dropped 2.8 percent to $142,700 during the same period, and the state finished the month with a 7.1-month inventory of existing homes.

Here is how select Texas cities fared in April (data current as of May 29, 2009):

 

Sales

Change from
Last Year

Median
Price

Change from
Last Year

Months'
Inventory 

Amarillo

227

down 24.1%

$126,000

up 0.9%

6.7

Austin

1,728

down 21.1%

$185,300

down 0.9%

6.8

Beaumont

175

down 16.7%

$131,200

up 3.6%

8

College Station–Bryan

183

down 27.7% 

$142,800

down 0.3%

1.9

Corpus Christi

283

down 19.8%

$122,200

down 17.4%

na

Dallas

3,613

down 24.2%

$150,000

down 4.8%

6.9

El Paso

381

up 30.5%

$128,100

up 1.1%

9.8

Fort Worth

679

down 25.1%

$111,100

down 3.1%

6.5

Galveston

68

down 24.4%

$85,000

down 51.7%

16.1

Houston

4,621

down 23.6%

$148,800

down 1%

6.3

Laredo

86

up 3.6%

$116,000

down 4%

8.7

Longview-Marshall

133

down 32.1%

$128,300

up 2.1%

8

Lubbock

289

down 10.2%

$115,200

up 6.3%

5.6

San Antonio

1,484

down 14.9%

$146,800

down 3.6%

8.5

Texarkana

57

down 36.7%

$102,000

up 2%

8.4

Tyler

221

down 22.7%

$132,600

down 2.1%

11.7

Victoria

57

down 30.5%

$117,000

down 8.6%

6.3

Waco

163

down 21.3%

$111,900

up 0.6%

8

Additional home sales data for these and other major Texas cities are available on the Center’s website.

Nationally, sales of existing single-family homes last month were down 3.5 percent compared with April 2008, according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales were at a 4.68 million annual rate. At $170,200, the median sales price was down 15.4 percent from a year earlier. Inventory was at 10.2 months.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that new home sales were almost flat last month. Sales rose 0.3 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 352,000, but the increase came from a downwardly revised rate of 351,000 in March. The median sales price fell to $209,700, a 14.9 percent drop from last year.