A Sharp Rise in Housing Prices for My Area

I started keeping data on housing prices in my area since last October, and I'm starting to see a sharp increase in numbers after pretty much no activity. Here are some of the statistics:

Area #1 (ALL)

Month     Count   $/SF  %Month   %3Mos.   %6Mos.   %Oct05
--------  -----  -----  ------  -------  -------  -------
Oct 2005    633  81.05    ---     ---      ---      ---
Nov 2005    598  80.76  -0.36%    ---      ---     -0.36%
Dec 2005    542  81.10   0.42%    ---      ---      0.42%
Jan 2006    506  81.16   0.07%    0.14%    ---      0.14%
Feb 2006    452  80.57  -0.73%   -0.24%    ---     -0.59%
Mar 2006    416  80.34  -0.29%   -0.94%    ---     -0.88%
Apr 2006    286  80.85   0.63%   -0.38%   -0.25%   -0.25%
May 2006    276  81.15   0.37%    0.72%    0.48%    0.12%
Jun 2006    681  87.32   1.53%    2.57%    3.11%    3.73%

The preceding shows that prices stayed stagnant up until this month (June). Since last October, prices have risen on average 3.73%. This may sound petty to some, but in central Texas we have seen nothing but slow (if any) growth for about 5-7 years. Therefore, these numbers are something to get excited about.

Here are some other figures:

Area #1 (4beds,1story,1500-2500sf,built 2000-2006)

Month     Count   $/SF  %Month    %3Mos.   %6Mos.  %Oct05
--------  -----  -----  -------  -------  -------  -------
Oct 2005     88  74.01    ---      ---      ---      ---
Nov 2005     85  74.64    0.85%    ---      ---      0.85%
Dec 2005     77  74.79    0.20%    ---      ---      0.20%
Jan 2006     74  74.83    0.05%    1.11%    ---      1.11%
Feb 2006     64  75.38    0.73%    0.99%    ---      1.85%
Mar 2006     59  74.73   -0.86%   -0.08%    ---      0.97%
Apr 2006     40  77.88    4.22%    4.08%    5.23%    5.23%
May 2006     39  78.05    0.22%    3.54%    4.57%    5.46%
Jun 2006     27  80.72    3.42%    8.02%    7.93%    9.07%

Even more incredible (this happens to be the criteria for House #1, BTW).

I'm thinking a lot has to do with it being the beginning of summer, but more still must be the economic factors everyone seems to keep saying about the area. House #1 had a FMV of around $135k-$138k late last summer. Going by these figures, it is worth roughly $145k right now. Good time to acquire some discounted houses in the area and resell via owner finance. ;-)