The Houston Chronicle‘s annual neighborhood-sales-data extravaganza came out this weekend. Since it covers the 2008 calendar year, the survey is timed just right to document the continuing drop in sales and prices of far-flung lower-priced homes — but maybe a bit early to catch the extended Wile E. Coyote-style midair hang a fair number of closer-in half-a-million-plus homes on the market are currently experiencing.

A few highlights:

Sales activity dropped in all counties for non-foreclosure transactions. All counties showed a rise in sales of foreclosed homes.

And those foreclosures are also clearly missing the bullseye: In 2008 there were only 362 foreclosures inside the Loop and 2,556 between the Loop and Beltway 8 — but a whopping 9,342 outside the Beltway. In total, foreclosures were only up about 11 percent over the previous year. But the number of non-foreclosure sales dropped by almost 22 percent. So in 2008 foreclosures accounted for just under 22 percent of all sales.

Where did the prices fall last year?

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The ring between the Loop and Beltway 8 experienced the most softness, falling 7 percent, compared to the regions inside the Loop and outside the Beltway. . . .

Home sales were off 16 percent, as would-be buyers couldn’t qualify for mortgages or were too scared to make any big purchases amid an uncertain economy.

Low sales numbers wreaked havoc with the price-increase rankings of individual neighborhoods. The sales prices of the grand total of 6 homes sold last year in Northgate Forest, for example, were enough to score that neighborhood a misleading 74.7 percent increase in its median price per square foot for the year — the second highest in the survey. Yes, that’s the same neighborhood where Mattress Mack eventually sold his home last year — for less than half of its original listing price.

Also, the neighborhood sales-price database is fun to play with, but doesn’t appear to retrieve data if you’re using a Mac or Firefox on a PC. Try it with Internet Explorer. And let us know what other interesting figures you find.

• Houston home prices fall for first time in 14 years [Houston Chronicle]
• 2008 Houston home prices [Houston Chronicle]
• Houston-area home sales [Houston Chronicle]
• Mapping foreclosure sales [Houston Chronicle]
• Overview: How the Houston region fared [Houston Chronicle]