If you are looking to find some of the top homes for sale in Houston, you might need to look a little harder this year. That is not to say that there are no good bargains out there - far from it! In fact, due to current restrictions in the subprime lending market, sales in many parts of Houston have declined slightly since May 2007. So what does this mean for property investors?

Well, for starters the subprime lending issues represent both good and bad news. The bad news is that if you don't have a sterling credit record you might want to try to save up a little before buying one of the top homes for sale in Houston. Funding issues have forced many would-be home buyers to hold off, resulting in around a 2% decline in property sales in the $80,000 - $140,000 bracket. These are normally the homes bought by single owners or couples without children. Small condominium and larger single-family home prices have remained relatively constant, as these are normally not affected by funding issues like this.

While we are seeing slightly fewer homes on the market these days, the Houston property market is definitely still good for both buyers and sellers. Buyers can enjoy slightly lower competition for some of the top homes for sale in Houston, while sellers can take advantage of the good price listings that are still available. Although the area has seen a slight decrease in housing prices, Houston still remains one of the best new places to live in America. There are still a lot of properties on the market, and while sellers are generally sticking to the prices they have been asking there is growing sentiment among realtors that prices should be dropped to make the market competitive with nearby markets.

The current US housing crisis is of course a major contributing factor in the decline of property prices, but the area has not been hit as hard as some of the neighboring counties and states have. In terms of long term property value growth, Houston is definitely one of the best new places to live in Texas at the moment. When nobody is really sure what the subprime lending crisis is going to do to mid-range property sales, buying in a market as secure as Houston is definitely one of the best bets. If you are thinking about investing in real estate, this is definitely one of the places you want to have your money in over the next ten years.

The good news for family home buyers is that both the median and the average price for single-family homes (those with three to five bedrooms) have continued to increase at a good rate. Average prices increased by 3.7% from June to July, while median home prices in this range saw an increase of 2.6%. While these are not figures that reflect the typical price growth of the market, this means that if you are looking at the lower end of single-family homes you might find a bargain in the next few months.

Other good news for family home buyers new to the Houston market is that many of the best schools in Texas have not increased their fees by usual margins this year in response to the subprime lending situation. This is an attempt by the local schools to ease the mortgage repayment burden that many of its students and their parents are facing. All of the top homes for sale in Houston are situated in areas that have access to these schools, and many of the state's finest private schools are nearby.

Over all it is quite a promising time to buy one of the top homes for sale in Houston. Property prices might not be increasing at the rates that Houston residents are used to, but the fact that this area has suffered significantly less from the subprime lending crisis says a lot for the future growth of this property market.