Beaumont-Port Arthur area tops nation in home-price increases

By HEATHER NOLAN

February, 18, 2009

The home price increases the Beaumont-Port Arthur area saw in the fourth quarter of 2008 were the biggest increases in the country, the National Association of Realtors announced.

According to the group, the median price in Southeast Texas rose to $132,600 - 16.7 percent higher than in the same period one year ago.

Dana Johnson, president of the Beaumont Board of Realtors, said the local price increase could be due to the fact that many homes sold in the last half of 2008 were new construction - especially in the Mid County and Port Arthur areas.

Those homes, she said, carry a higher price tag than older homes.

Phyllis Hoffpauir, president of the Port Neches, Port Arthur and Nederland Board of Realtors, said the increased number of families looking for homes after Hurricane Ike may have helped pushed the numbers up.

Still, the price increase is good news, Johnson said, especially considering some areas saw a double-digit decrease in home prices in the fourth quarter of 2008.

The National Association of Realtors data shows that home prices dropped 50.8 percent in the Cape Coral-Fort Meyers, Fla., area at the end of 2008, and prices dropped 41.4 percent in the Saginaw-Saginaw Township North, Mich., area.

This was not Beaumont's first time to top a real estate list.

In August 2008, Forbes.com put Beaumont at No.1 on its list of U.S. Cities with the Most Home Equity.

Since 2000, median home prices in Beaumont increased 52 percent, from $85,600 to $130,100 in 2008, according to Real Estate Center data.

Median price means half are above and half are below.

Median home prices in the Mid County-Port Arthur area have risen 86 percent since 2000, from $64,900 to $114,700, according to Texas A&M Real Estate Center data.

Jed Smith, the National Association of Realtors' managing director for quantitative research, said the price increase simply means that the Beaumont area's housing market is doing well at a time when most of the country is seeing negative price growth.

"In most of the country, we're seeing continued price pressure and sales have been lower than they were a couple of years ago," Smith said. "Beaumont is well ahead of the curve."