In an effort to help Texas consumers to understand how completely different Texas real estate markets are when compared to other markets across the nation, the Texas Association of Realtors recently released a series of "Facts about Texas Real Estate." The following highlights are key components of that statistical information.

The median sales price of a Texas home in December 2008 was $140,900, down 4 percent from December 2007. The median price for the entire year of 2008 was $146,900, unchanged from 2007.

By comparison, the California median sales price in November 2008 was $285,680, down 41.8 percent from November 2007. The Arizona average sales price in December 2008 was $192,908, down 38 percent from $313,000 in December 2007.

Over the four year period from December 2004 to December 2008, the average home sales price in Texas has increased $15,600. Home price appreciation in Texas has not fallen below zero in the last 16 years.

Texas was 24th on the list of foreclosure rates for 2008. More than 40 percent of all foreclosure filings occurred in California and Florida. While the 2008 foreclosure rate in Texas was up 13.87 percent compared to 2007 and 14.96 percent compared to 2006, Arizona's foreclosure rate was up 203 percent from 2007 and up 655 percent from 2006.

While consumer confidence in Texas cannot remain completely impervious to national "gloom and doom" news, those "in the know" can rest assured that the realities of real estate economies in Texas are vastly different than those experienced in other parts of the world and highlighted regularly by the national media.

Source: Texas Association of Realtors