Local Real Estate Market Report for Year 2011 Firethorne in Katy Texas

Local Real Estate Market Report for Year 2011 Firethorne in Katy Texas

The Firethorne neighborhood is part of Katy Texas or MLS area 36. Firethorne is a Master Planned Community located off of the Highway 1463 about 2 miles south of the I-10 exit. The neighborhood recently opened a new section of homes that are being built east of FM 1463 while the main section of already built homes is west of 1463. FM 1463 gives commuters easy access to I-10 as it maybe 2-3 miles away and to FM 1093 and the West Park Toll way. Firethorne subdivision is located in an excellent spot with easy access to several major roads. It has a same town feel while being close to the big city.

mls area 36, firethorne, katy

Firethorne consists 1,400 acres plus of land with numerous amenities and recreational facilities scattered through the neighborhood. The Developer states Firethorne provides “an urban convenience with small town charm”. Currently there are six (6) builders who are constructing new homes in Firethorne. Firethorne is located in both the Katy and Fulshear areas of far western Houston away from the hustle and bustle of the big city but very close to old Katy Texas. A significant portion of Firethorne is zoned for Katy ISD and the remaining sections are zoned for Lamar ISD. Firethorne is a very beautiful area and has ample recreational facilities. Living allows residents to easily stay in the neighborhood or only travel very close by it.

There current are 50 homes available for sale in Firethorne (per HAR MLS) ranging from $159,900 to $499,971 in list price. Last month there were 59 homes available. The median list sales price or mid-point is $265,400 or $91.93/ sq. ft. with 116 days on the market. As I have reported for the last43 months, there continues to be a good supply of reasonably priced homes available in Firethorne and that combined with the small town atmosphere makes Firethorne a must see for families looking for home in the Katy area. If we examine the breakdown of available homes it indicates:

HOMES AVAILABLE IN FIRETHORNE
17-Jan-12
DOLLAR		NUMBER	NUMBER	% OF	CHANGE
PRICE POINTS		OF HOMES	< 300,000	Total	LAST MONH
<100,000		0			0
100,000-150,000		0			0
150,000 - 200,000		7			1
200,000 - 250,000		13			(3)
250,000 - 300,000		10	30	60.0%	(1)
300,000 - 350,000		5		10.0%	2
350,000 - 400,000		8		16.0%	(4)
> 400,000		7		14.0%	(4)
TOTAL		50			(9)

As we can see from the above chart, 30 homes (down from 33 last month) or 60 % of the available homes are priced at $300,000 or less. The percentage of available homes priced at or less than $300,000 increased but the actual number decreased by 3 while overall inventory was reduced by 9 homes. It is my personal opinion as it has been for the last 4-5 months that the number of reasonably priced homes will continue to decrease each month until late spring or early summer as builders will try very hard to sell inventory homes and delay construction of new spec homes. As I have said several times this year, if you thinking of buying a home in this area of Katy or any other master planned community stop procrastinating and take action as these very affordable homes are slipping through your fingers. Activity levels during early January 2012 indicate many buyers are back in the market once again.

During the first year of 2011, there were 176 homes sold in Firethorne with low being priced at $149,500 and the high being priced at $612,004. The median adjusted sales price or mid-point price of homes sold the year of 2011 is $270,911 or $87.19/ sq. ft. and the average adjusted sales price is $286,920 or $ 88.58 sq. ft. The absorption rate or numbers of months of available inventory is 3.4 months which has continued to move into a sellers’ market position as this indicative statistic has gone down almost every month since August when the supply was 5.2 months.

The breakdown of sales for year 2011 is as follows:

HOMES SOLD IN FIRETHORNE
12 MONTHS 2011
DOLLAR		NUMBER	NUMBER	% OF	CHANGE
PRICE POINTS		OF HOMES	< 300,000	Total	LAST YEAR
<100,000		0			0
100,000-150,000		0			0
150,000 - 200,000		30			6
200,000 - 250,000		40			(9)
250,000 - 300,000		34	104	59.1%	(15)	(18.00)
300,000 - 350,000		25		14.2%	3
350,000 - 400,000		22		12.5%	(2)
> 400,000		25		14.2%	6
TOTAL		176			(11)	-5.88%

Units sold so far during 2011 are down slightly by 11 homes versus year of 2010 or 5.9 % decrease. The good news here is the median price of homes sold has increased by $2,561 or .9 %. The discount from list price has been reduced from 5 % during 2010 to 3 % for 2011 as this seller concession amount has decreased and I personally think this will continue during early 2012. This is also good news for home sellers. However, the median number of days on the market has increased from 59 last year to 85 days for 2011. This statistic tracks about the same as all of MLS area 36 and similar to Grand Lakes and several other neighborhoods in the Katy Area. Prices of resale homes in Firethorne are lower than in Grand Lakes.

There are 13 pending sales in Firethorne with 4 homes being priced above the $300,000 level and 9 priced below that level. There are NO available foreclosure or short sale homes.

The year 2011 found 6 foreclosures being sold in Firestone at a median price of $197,150.

It is still excellent time to look and buy a home in Firethorne, Grand Lakes, Cinco Ranch ( new and resale), Seven Meadows, Silver Ranch, Kelliwood, Green Trails or any other neighborhood in the Katy or surrounding areas.. If you and your family are interested in Firethorne or any other neighborhood in Katy and I will be happy to arrange to take you on a tour of the whole area.

If you or your family would like to search for homes in Firethorne or another neighborhood in Katy or search the Houston MLS go to my profile on Houston Assocation of Realtors.