January 2009 in The Woodlands, Texas

The start of 2009 was a little interesting just north of Houston in The Woodlands.  A "whopping" 84 transactions were closed during the month and then another 76 new contracts were written.  These numbers translate to a 39% decline compared to January 2008.  This is the most dramatic decline seen in the most recent months.  The closed sales are obviously attributable to a drop off in the number of new contracts written in November and December of last year - but new contracts written is something to keep an eye on as February unfolds.  The actual statistics are surprising to me, as things are noticeably "busier" around town.  Perhaps the buyer activity did not really pick up until the latter part of January, and as February concludes, we will see a shift of activity make an appearance in the final numbers for February.  Just seems like many of the sitters are finally starting to climb down off of that fence. There are lots of reasons to buy now - and in The Woodlands, with stilll a reasonable supply of inventory (and low in many key price ranges, in fact) - there are still indications that it is a good time to sell.