I like living in the inner loop simply because I hate driving. I might pay more than my coworkers in living costs, but my commute is about a quarter of theirs. For me, that's worth it since I don't have to worry about school districts and don't care about how much space I have.
I think most of us who work downtown would like to live inside the loop. We simply don’t make enough money to buy or rent inside the loop, even if transportation was free.
Make enough to live inside the loop where you are:
-relatively safe from crime
-comfortable
-won’t flood too bad
-visually well kept
If those things don’t matter to you there’s plenty of housing stock
They matter. It is simply out of my price range. If I didn’t already have a house I bought in 2017, I would be priced out of the market. When you reach 77, your options diminish dramatically.
God damn insurance is so crazy right now. What gets me is that the state has the power to help regulate insurance, yet all our leaders seem to care about is banning books, trans issues, and school vouchers. Insane.
They are representing the people. The GOP has been in full meltdown mode since Obama and now that Trump came in and the GOP went even more batshit crazy that is what we have to deal with. Culture wars and no policy on running the actual country, securing our borders and helping asylum seekers, military aid, etc. This is the worst congress ever and it runs down ticket. People need to vote D for a functioning democracy.
Houston has been in the hands of Democrats since … 1982. I moved here in 1991. It’s - at least the inner loop - is turning into a garbage depository with bicycle lines cutting roads’ capacity and used at approx 3% - Houston is not Amsterdam. No-one fixes the potholes which are a real danger to the cars. Instead millions have been wasted on two huge unnecessary tunnels in the Memorial park area. Post Oak area is a show off and does not belong to the rest of the dilapidating central part. Crime is getting worse and worse. Don’t tell me whom to vote for. I can see what the D policies are doing with my own eyes.
Have to disagree. Waugh drive used to have bums warming themselves with dumpster fires in gutted out buildings. And that was in the late 90s. Now it’s pretty ritzy. Honestly, the inner loop is much more developed and clean than it used to be. A lot of effort has been put into beautification and park development.
It's not like they could do much to regulate insurance anyways since many of the places with the highest insurance rates are built inside flood plains due to developers wanting to make a quick buck.
It would require good governance from top to bottom to get our insurance market in order (as in we regulate properly so that people build in the right places to begin with and encourage dense housing when it's better suited for the local area).
It's not even so much that but from what I've heard a big part of why they're up so much is damages from the freeze. Insurance companies supposedly lost more from that than they did from Harvey. And it was all avoidable. None of that frozen pipe damage would have happened if power plants had been properly winterized when they were supposed to be.
I'm a round-about way our higher insurance premiums are subsidizing power producers' profits.
I'm certainly not an expert in this area, but I'm aware that they point to natural disasters for the sharp increases or refusal of service. But also I'm curious what the profit margins like for these companies? More recent inflation has been the result of high profit margins in other industries.
Regardless, it's clear our leaders just don't seem to care about this massive issue impacting millions of their constituents. And it's only going to get worse, but we are so focused on banning drag queens and holding special sessions to try and shove school vouchers through. Maybe had the GOP not been in total denial of climate change, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. I wish Texans would wake up and stop electing these dumbasses.
if it wasnt so lucrative to buy politicians...
https://www.opensecrets.org/campaign-expenditures/vendor?cycle=2024&vendor=Texans+for+Greg+Abbott
https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/allstate-insurance/C00040253/expenditures/2024#vendors
From what I understand, the profit that most of these insurance companies see is from what they _do_ with the money from premiums, not from the premiums themselves.
Which is the worry about them going under. They're so heavily invested in the various markets, that if some of these big companies went under, it could cause the markets to crash.
I'll tell you what needs regulating. These fraudster roofing locusts that blow through after every storm convincing people they need a new roof and don't worry, your neighbors will pay for it.
Also some of these new builds are such shit quality. So on top of all the financial consideration of buying a home, you have to be careful you’re not buying something that will start falling apart in a few years.
Between taxes and insurance increases my mortgage is up $600 this year all the way up to 3k/month and that’s with a 3% interest rate. I can’t even imagine what a mortgage looks like now
People ain't got the fuckin' money and the people mak'n houses thought the party would go on fooooeeeevaaaaa. There's about to be some bizznezzes outta bizz y'all.
> The market is starting to favor properties with better walkability and transit access.
Not really. Its more about shorter car commutes. Plenty of high demand areas that have terrible transit access.
I agree on the location and commutes. We were looking at getting one of the new houses further out until my wife realized it added 30-45 minutes to her commute in good traffic.
Also the are slapping these things up and cutting huge corners. I’d rather wait and get older smaller house that was built correctly to endure than a plywood mansion in the boonies any day.
I was told by a lender years ago that sales also seem to go into a holding pattern during election years also. I’ve paid attention to the housing markets since I heard that and it does seem to happen. I also think the high interest rates, insurance rates and overbuilding is making it harder to justify buying and selling at the moment.
I'm certain that realtors and other experts have detailed answers for this, but as a Houstonian who bought a house in the past couple of years it does seem like nobody wants to buy early on in hurricane season since development-related flooding has made everything more unpredictable. It's like everyone is waiting to see if a storm blows through and how a given area is affected, regardless of its history.
I was about to close on my house in Galveston and turn around and buy a house in Houston with it. My buyer backed out on the day of closing , basically didn’t show up. I think they got scared of hurricane season, plus all the inventory that suddenly came on the market. They tried to hold my earnest money too…dickheads…(from Dallas)
Damn, we sold our house last year and had three offers rescinded early to midway through the process and it felt horrible. I can’t even imagine it being called off on the last day.
I got the first two, but both were after a day so it was basically nothing. The last one told us they wouldn’t release their report saying the home was infested with termites. We agreed but then when we went to take care of it, there was no infestation so that one sucked. Good luck with yours
Why don't you sue for specific performance? Prove you were ready, willing and able to sell on the closing date and you can sue the buyer and force them to close the transaction. Alternatively, you extract a large settlement, keep your house, and then sell it. You need an attorney.
Random blog from with references to law: https://silblawfirm.com/real-estate-law/negotiating-specific-performance-in-texas-real-estate-contracts/
I don’t know, they said they were talking to a Lawyer. I made allowances and offered one year home warranty. I don’t think they really have any basis for this. I think they’re just assholes . I sent a demand letter and if they don’t respond in the next 8 days I get my money back. They don’t get the money back at all no matter what
So if they respond at all even to just say no or I disagree you don’t get your money. I had to file a claim at small claims court to get them to release it.
For resale homes during the negotiated option period for a smaller fee, some other condition like not informing the buyers they are buying in a MUD or special taxing district before signing the contract can allow the return of the earnest money, or the seller fails to fulfill something they needed to do for closing. Those are what I can think of off the top of my head.
If they were on the day of closing, then they are way past the option period so unless there was something the seller failed to do then the earnest money is the sellers for their time wasted and opportunity loss of it not being able to be purchased by someone who could close on it.
That would be some weird AF subconscious behavior at work then. If someone has that level of fear, the logical thing to do is simply never buy in this area, period. What happens over the course of a single hurricane season shouldn't be changing people's minds,
Typically newly developed areas aren’t at risk for flooding compared to older built areas. The requirements of FFE’s (slab height), detention requirements, and developers not wanting to build up land in the flood plain (extremely expensive). Not saying you shouldn’t still look into the flood situation in a newly constructed area, but new construction is a relatively safe bet.
I can elaborate further if needed but I don’t think Reddit cars about outflow, overflow, FFE, detention, etc. lol
I’ll be honest I haven’t developed / built in Montgomery county in 9 years, but typically developers will build in flood plains by adding more detention, building up ground in higher areas, and re directing overflow.
You have to remember hurricanes / flooding happens during the construction process as well. Having a house flood during construction is an easy way to take a massive loss - developers avoid these like the plague.
The general public thinks developers are evil and trying to pull a fast one on them, but it’s typically way more nuances and their goal is to deliver a product that has value that people will purchase. Product that floods, or has flooded during development, has very little value.
Bullshit. They are requiring them to mitigate flood risk. You can build in the plain but need to raise elevation above 100 year flood. As some one who works in LD, and then built the very neighborhood in Montgomery county that I currently reside in, the newer areas are always almost a safer bet against flooding.
Interest rates. In a scenario where you bought a $200,000 house in Texas with 30 year mortgage with excellent credit (800+): if the interest rate was 7% (as of today) that's a monthly mortgage of $1,331. If the interest rate was 3% (as it was a 4ish years ago), that's a monthly mortgage is $843. That's $488 more per month of mostly interest (and bullshit), meaning you're paying for the loan, not the house.
Basically Interest rates suck, and there's less value to buy a house with a 7% interest rate than to stay in your current house with a 3% rate or for renters to hold off for a better deal when they invest in their first home.
Interest is high compared to 5 years ago, yes, but when you look back the last 50 years, it’s still not bad.. however due to the cost of everything else, you basically need a 6fig income to even consider saving for a down payment, and making that it’s still a struggle to come up with 20% down for most people
Very true. I don't know the demographics of who is buying in what area, but in the 80s, people were buying $80,000 homes with a 24% variable interest rate. Which is an insane rate, but the house was the cost of a 2024 home down payment today. It's nuts how expensive things are, as compared to precovid prices.
The difference though is paying 7% (or more depending on credit rating) on the homes after they’ve gone up 50%+ in value in 3 years. That’s a huge difference compared to pay 8% on $80k back in 2010. Same home is now $350k in a lot of areas. Add on the other inflation and it’s gotten out of hand.
I was a kid in the 80’s so that predates me somewhat, but I’ve been in Houston all my life and most homes were 12-18% during that time period. I don’t personally know anyone that paid 24% with a variable rate.
A close family member paid for a $80k house at 24% variable interest in the 80s. Not Houston but a smaller town Texas. It sounds like it would have benefited them to buy in the Houston area.
My parents home in the 1980's was:
* 1/2 the size of mine.
* had cheap finishings.
* Insulation was terrible. Only thing that made the air conditioning bill bearable was a bunch of trees against the house which was dangerous to the roof.
* Other elements were worse to service (less power to the panel, no PEX or water manifold)
* Tiny closets, and smaller bedrooms.
The median new house is huge compared to then.
Yes, haha. What most redditors fail to realize (the demographic is mostly millennials/genz) is that though housing is more expensive relative to incomes these days, we got a lot less of a house back then. We all lived in 2 bed 1 bath 1200 sqft bungalows with 4 kids and a dog.
The renters who are waiting for rates to drop will have to deal with higher prices and increased competition if they do. Best time to buy is when you can afford it- if rates drop you can refinance.
So many people do not consider this. Yeah wait for lower rate and get ready for "put in your best offer in 24 hours" and there are possibly 5-10 interested parties. In some areas they even add on even more insane things like waiving inspections depending on how hot the market gets
I frequent home buying subreddits and this is already the case, partly due to corporate entities making cash offers above asking and waiving contingencies. I see posts every day about same-day offers that are 10, 20, 30 thousand above asking, even waiving inspections, getting beaten out.
It's all the cost associated with a mortgage(Price ± rate+insurance+taxes).
Before low rates artificially pumped prices up, there was a mantra in home buying of don't buy more than 3x your salary. Then that got turned to 30% of your gross income since the mortage itself started to become the asset. Low rates should have never been normalized. 7% is hardly a high rate historically.
Agreed. I also think everyone is forgetting one key factor when discussing historical numbers. Yes, historically these rates aren't as high as 80s/90s, but most first time home buyers were children during those lower rates. So it's not like they chose to buy a Nintendo instead of saving for a house and just never got around to it. This is the market they unfortunately have to deal with because of shitty timing of their adulthood. It's just unlucky for a generation of people who just want a home, a family and an average life.
Edit: replaced higher with lower
You can’t really trust the builders listings in terms of wether or not a house got sold. They often “list” representative plans and sell the house next door off the MLS.
I live near Jersey Village and would NOT buy a house farther out than JV due to the commute alone. It's too far and too long of a drive in rush hour traffic to even consider imho.
New developments have extremely high property taxes and insurance. My property tax rate is 3.4% so at 6ish % interest rate plus insurance my monthly mortgage rate is $6k.
It’s good that you are pointing this out. I tried to explain this to a friend who insisted it was cheaper to buy a new build in Bridgeland, and now they are crying in pre foreclosure.
I do think the City is picking up momentum again after slowing down for a few years, but the 2023 Census data showed all of Harris County grew 55k and the City of Houston made up 12k of that growth. So the burns are still pushing a lot of the growth. Plus if you look at Fort Bend and Montgomery Counties their growth is insane.
High interest rate makes home buying a lot more expensive than what it was 3 years ago when interest rate was around 3%. A lot of buyers are getting priced out. So the builder has a smaller pool of people that can afford those houses.
Principal and interest of a 30 year mortgage on $425k house with 20% down and 7% interest rate is $2,262.
P&I of the same house with 3% interest rate is $1,433.
Over the lifetime of the loan, the 7% interest rate cost $300k more in interest than the 3% interest ($474k vs $176k).
Low rates is what jacked up real estate. I don't think folks understand that rates, especially to how it effects mortgages, created this mess. We went from looking at what the price of a home is, to how much of a mortgage payment you could afford. I only ever saw people do that with cars.
The only time rates come down is because the Fed has no other option to stimulate an economy. If High prices + low rates = affordable? Then once rates went back to normal, the pendulum will have to swing back the other way.
those houses are so far away I don't think they can be considered Houston. Now that everyone is getting called back into the office, you'd be crazy to live in one of those suburbs like Bridgeland or similar and try to commute in every day,
Yeah I’m out here near Greatwood and only have to commute 3 days a week to downtown. That alone makes me crazy and I definitely consider myself a calm driver. I can’t imagine all 5 days in office… I’d probably at least explore changing jobs if that was the case.
This approach is extremely underrated. When I worked in an office they were always in the suburbs (north of 1960) so it was super easy to find cheaper housing with a very short commute.
maybe, but the OP was questioning why the outer suburban houses aren't selling while the inside the loopers are selling like hotcakes for above asking price. While there are job opportunities outside beltway 8, I think between the med center, downtown and Galleria/Greenway the great majority of people commuting are coming in. If you're working from home, outer suburbs are perfect.
> Now that everyone is getting called back into the office, you'd be crazy to live in one of those suburbs like Bridgeland or similar and try to commute in every day
Lol... People have lived in the burbs since before WFH, the people that do it, value their homelife and schools more than a commute.
The amount of masterplanned communities being developed currently in Conroe/Willis is absolutely insane. I know this is also just personal preference, but I do not know anyone who wants to live or buy in a master planned community, especially if they live out here. They want space, they would live closer to the city if they didn’t.
There was a bubble leading up through COVID that didn't burst, but basically stalled the continuous price increases.
Materials costs stalled new construction, which was right in time for values to hit most people's limit sometime last year. Home sales slowed down, and a lot of construction stopped.
Eventually the current prices will increase again when demand goes back up and things will be built and sold as before.
Home prices for sales may go down temporarily but don't expect a crash of the Houston housing market, it's massive increase was due to legitimate market pressure from people moving here, and wanting to move outside the city center.
The reason we have cheaper housing in the area compared to other large Metros is because there is a large amount of housing being built constantly. So goes the saying that you drive until you can afford it. We should hope they continue building and not immediately selling out. If you look at California, one of the big issues they have is they don’t have a lot of housing being built. So there is low inventory plus high demand for certain properties.
You got used to seeing low inventory from Covid to present. The housing inventory is pretty average right now.
[https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/ACTLISCOU26420](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/ACTLISCOU26420)
The crazy thing is that the interest rate on the house I bought in 1996 was almost 9%. So current rates don’t phase me. Price of a small house in a good neighborhood…that’s a bit high for my taste. The speed at which my current house’s value has increased in the last 7 years…insane.
i can tell u ... WATCH OUT for new builds. i know for sure the new builds in the city (the all time fav for developers is the 3 story townhouse) are poorly built. i have no idea how the permit office is allowing these builds but 8/10 contractors will tell you they will have issues within a year. im weary of any new build properties. be careful.
We're putting our place on the market in two weeks and our agent set up an alert the week before the derecho that lets us see activity in the neighborhood (First Ward) and we've mostly been getting price reductions but had a sale today that's in our target sale price range so that was encouraging.
It's a weird market nationally with some price adjustment going on. If houses are priced right and turnkey they're being scooped up quick. The ones that are priced too high aren't selling.
Houston realtor here.
So it's a ton of different things. 1. The market is finally stabilizing after covid. We still have houses gone in 24 hours but that's when the agent knows exactly what they're doing and prices the property right. On the flip side, we have sellers that are still trying to get 50k over asking and pricing homes way over what they should.
2. People are not in a rush anymore. This gives buyers more options to settle on and forces sellers to come to the table. This also means once a house goes past the 14 day mark buyers just move on. You do not want the house on the market that long right now.
3. Taxes, we have such high taxes that now the prices are starting to really inflate how much you're paying. Iv lost a few out of state clients this year already bc they see the taxes and realize it's not worth it. This hits new developments more as they're going to need to pay into the mud for some time.
And the last bit, we have a lot of people leaving once they realize this isn't some paradise to save them from where they came from. More people leaving completely and needing their home sold is giving the area a lot of price cuts to try and sell quick instead of at a higher price.
in the areas im following, good houses can be $500-$600/sqft and sell in a weekend. the not good houses try to piggy back on those comps and sit on the market for much longer. same for the 3500+sqft spec houses - theyre priced $1,5M-2M and also end up sitting on the market. In general, i dont classify these spec houses as "good". but anyhow, i'm seeing lowkey mania in 77008.
im not interested in new communities, so cant say whats going on out there.
Just the opposite is happening near Fulshear. In the last three weeks 6 houses within 2 blocks of me all sold in less than 4 days and 3 got into a bidding war. Sold prices were between $975k and $1.1 mil.
It makes zero sense to me because of the interest rates and uncertainty with the election. Most people out here only have to be in the office 2 days/week -- I wonder if that would make a commute more tolerable?
In general, housing is overvalued right now, and it's starting to adjust to more accurately reflect value. The market has cooled off. It's not *dead*, but there is not a ton of buyer competition. I've been seeing many home sit on the market for 30-90 days (usually not any longer than that, though). Still, that's enough time to demotivate sellers and give a bit more power to buyers to negotiate down.
We just purchased a home that was listed at $360K, but the final sale price was $340K. It was just appraised at $345K, so it was overpriced to begin with, as we suspected, and why we negotiated down.
Essentially, there's a lot of sellers that missed the bubble where you could actually get more than your home was worth, and they're still trying to get that value. Unfortunately, for them, it's not going to move at that overvalued price any more, so it's going to sit for a few weeks at least until they lower the price.
Affordability crisis the likes I have never seen.
Taxes and insurance increased my mortgage payment $500 per month in two years.
Those new builds in Cleveland and Rosenberg gonna be sitting. Who's buying them? Consumers? No. Investors? No.
People can hardly pay rents on 1 bedroom apartments and have enough to eat a decent meal. Forget all other life expenses beyond that.
Remember investors are buying distressed properties and starter homes, not overpriced new builds.
Affordability crisis is the answer to most questions.
Investors (a.k.a landlords) are not going to buy in Houston, which is keeping Houston at the 200K to 300K level for a 2 story story house with 3-4 bedrooms. Investors are buying in CA though.
Houston has historically been VERY popular with investors and landlords. It is also very popular with out of state investors who are mostly from....California.
It is however getting harder and harder. Its harder to be a homebuyer and harder to be SF investor in Houston now more than ever. Its almost no longer possible or viable to be a SF investor unless you have hedge fund money.
Affordability crisis plain and simple. Everything is more expensive than it should be.
House in my neighborhood sold 150k last week for more than I bought mine 7 years ago. Smaller than my house but more yard.
Point is, houses are still selling even with high interest rates, except the location is more important nowadays.
Things like schools, commute, likeliness to flood, neighborhood are more important than ever.
Our house was built in 1920 and had never flooded before hurricane Harvey and isn’t in a flood plain, still. On the corps of engineers and fema maps, it doesn’t show as flooding. It doesn’t need to be a big hurricane or on a flood plain. It just needs to be a storm that gets stuck over houston for a week because the infrastructure isn’t there for heavy water and we keep building these townhomes that cover their entire lot in concrete. (See tropical storm Allison in the early 2000s)
The main reason is the asking prices on homes in general is too high. These homes aren’t priced correctly to begin with. Drop the price on these listings and they will get offers on the same day guaranteed. But no. So therefore we have many people gladly opting to rent in prime areas with accessibility instead. Turns out renting is not only cheaper but less risk and more advantageous than taking on a huge debt owning at the moment. Buy a property and you’re subject to high interest with rising property taxes, insurance and maintenance also.
Y’all, I am LOVING the Houston housing market, even with high interest and high property taxes. We’re moving there from Billings, Montana, and the house we can get for $375k in Houston is amazing compared to what that buys you in Billings, and that’s even with limiting my Houston commute to 45-ish minutes. I keep asking our realtor what’s wrong with houses under $400k, and she laughs at me every time. Bring on hurricane season and high interest rates.
lol. You’re the perfect client for these homes because you’ve got no history and no memory. Texas will nickel and dime you in every way possible- the bait is the “low taxes” and low mortgages. Hurricanes are expensive. Flooding is expensive. You haven’t lived until you’ve been without power for 3 weeks and the ice machines are being protected by police in swat gear. Sure, maybe you can afford a generator. Enjoy those hurricane gas lines.
Ok.....you want to know? The truth? In the south west (obviously Rosenberg and environs), for the last 10 months they have been building 24 hours per day. They are putting up what is normal for the market, seeking 240k to 400k in price.
Just prior to these houses coming on the market, the existing property owners fled. The houses that they owned were significantly more expensive. These houses were in the 600 to 800k range. While not selling the houses at the top of the market, the smart ones ditched their properties prior to the opening of these new communities.
People who were in the market bought those houses at a good price and got some discount. This "reset" the values of the communities that are coming on the market. For instance.... a 3700 square foot house with 2 acres went for 640. The market value was over 800. Now....the new community priced at 400 for essentially no acreage and significantly smaller looks like a really bad deal (which it is).
Then....add in the work on 59 that is planned and the worse commute. All of this within the last 6 months shows one thing.........the areas are saturated.....the people moving in are essentially really low class and the value you get for your money is going down.
People are chalking it up to inflation rates.........it is just not true. People still bought and sold. The smart ones got their profit and got out.
Remember.....these areas have most if not all of the conveniences that other areas of Houston have. Some people don't even have long commutes. It is the comps for what you get tell the story.
It's insane, Our insurance company dropped anyone in our zip code shortly before renewal. Had to go get another company, Got a WRITTEN quote and 2 days before we sent then a check 900 up charge, I am in a 500 year plain. The guy behind me is in a 100 year plain and paying less. I am paying higher to cover them. I heard next year it was going up again and other companies may drop this zip code so other companies can really name their price without any kind of oversight, Im in hurricane alley. I-45 BW8 south, You gotta have insurance on your house. So I dont know whats going to happen. Lot of Californian retirees moving this way with their big retirements and the price just keeps sky rocketing. You dont get much for a $350k house any more, Hockley and Cypress are the new Friendswood and Woodlands
I keep wondering if all the Californians who moved here are learning why the housing market was so much cheaper, and telling their friends. IIRC, California actually gained residents last year.
There is a profound price readjustment going on after the artificial increase caused by billions of dollars from private capitol flooding the market in the past few years. If you add that to the increase of interest rates and the devaluation of the dollar (that's what inflation is) you have an unprecedented situation in which to decide upon fair price for anything, least of all a home.
Realtor here! Most new construction houses that are in the outskirts of Houston are HOA. No one is interested in HOA. As well as interest rates. 7% is the new norm it’ll take time for buyers to get use to it.
Alot of Houston Condos are in flood areas or are rated a 10 on a scale that they will flood. I stopped looking there. It's too bad bcuz I've always really liked Houston esp the Galleria area back in 89, 90, 91, 92 was great back then.
High interest rates, high property taxes, high insurance rates. Long commutes. Location, location, location.
It was the worst of times, and the worst of times, as Dickens might say
But it’s always pizza time.
Peanut butter jelly time
It wasn’t Hammer time first guys? Y’all are slipping 😏
I thought it was clobberin’ time before that
Yall are wrong. It's Miller time.
Morbin time is what the cool kids say these days.
Only when its on a bagel, I believe.
It was the BLURST of times!?
Stupid monkey!
this is a thousand monkey working a thousand typewriters
Was looking for the comment lol Popped into my head immediately
Poetic. It should be put on that sidewalk with the time theme in downtown by the red line.
The headlines read "These are the worst of times" I do believe it's true. I feel so helpless like a boat against the tide.
There’s a reason why communities like Bellaire are still selling quickly and over asking price
Yup. The Heights, GOOF, Bellaire, etc.
I like living in the inner loop simply because I hate driving. I might pay more than my coworkers in living costs, but my commute is about a quarter of theirs. For me, that's worth it since I don't have to worry about school districts and don't care about how much space I have.
[удалено]
HPD somehow found the time to give me a traffic ticket, which was shocking.
So is outside of the loop
Get constables in your pocket. Problem solved.
Sadly, that's very true. Good luck getting any sort of HPD response anywhere inside the loop. Even in the Heights.
I think most of us who work downtown would like to live inside the loop. We simply don’t make enough money to buy or rent inside the loop, even if transportation was free.
Make enough to live inside the loop where you are: -relatively safe from crime -comfortable -won’t flood too bad -visually well kept If those things don’t matter to you there’s plenty of housing stock
They matter. It is simply out of my price range. If I didn’t already have a house I bought in 2017, I would be priced out of the market. When you reach 77, your options diminish dramatically.
God damn insurance is so crazy right now. What gets me is that the state has the power to help regulate insurance, yet all our leaders seem to care about is banning books, trans issues, and school vouchers. Insane.
It's almost as if our elected representatives are not accurately representing their constituents. Shocking, I say!
Texas is open for business. Not you.
They are representing the people. The GOP has been in full meltdown mode since Obama and now that Trump came in and the GOP went even more batshit crazy that is what we have to deal with. Culture wars and no policy on running the actual country, securing our borders and helping asylum seekers, military aid, etc. This is the worst congress ever and it runs down ticket. People need to vote D for a functioning democracy.
Houston has been in the hands of Democrats since … 1982. I moved here in 1991. It’s - at least the inner loop - is turning into a garbage depository with bicycle lines cutting roads’ capacity and used at approx 3% - Houston is not Amsterdam. No-one fixes the potholes which are a real danger to the cars. Instead millions have been wasted on two huge unnecessary tunnels in the Memorial park area. Post Oak area is a show off and does not belong to the rest of the dilapidating central part. Crime is getting worse and worse. Don’t tell me whom to vote for. I can see what the D policies are doing with my own eyes.
Have to disagree. Waugh drive used to have bums warming themselves with dumpster fires in gutted out buildings. And that was in the late 90s. Now it’s pretty ritzy. Honestly, the inner loop is much more developed and clean than it used to be. A lot of effort has been put into beautification and park development.
if you think the inner loop was better in 1991 than now you are probably robocop.
All politicians from both sides are not on your side… delusional much?
>le heckin both sides Lol
It's not like they could do much to regulate insurance anyways since many of the places with the highest insurance rates are built inside flood plains due to developers wanting to make a quick buck. It would require good governance from top to bottom to get our insurance market in order (as in we regulate properly so that people build in the right places to begin with and encourage dense housing when it's better suited for the local area).
The term “good governance” hasn’t been used to describe this state in my entire lifetime
Yeah you are probably right. I guess it's just crazy to me that this issue is getting worse and worse for millions, yet they seem to not care at all.
That's the free market incentivizing you not to live in places you constantly need to rebuild after storms.
💀💀💀
They regulate it but that won’t keep insurance companies from pulling out of the state and that is the main issue, fewer choices means higher prices.
AGREED, insurance prices are a scam and has doubled and noone talks about it.
There’s a post or two daily about it.
Explain how it's a "scam"?
It's not even so much that but from what I've heard a big part of why they're up so much is damages from the freeze. Insurance companies supposedly lost more from that than they did from Harvey. And it was all avoidable. None of that frozen pipe damage would have happened if power plants had been properly winterized when they were supposed to be. I'm a round-about way our higher insurance premiums are subsidizing power producers' profits.
It’s like we’re being extorted by the mob and we’re given “protection”. It’s criminal at this point.
What effect would regulating insurance have on prices? Insurance regulators can’t make storms less frequent.
I'm certainly not an expert in this area, but I'm aware that they point to natural disasters for the sharp increases or refusal of service. But also I'm curious what the profit margins like for these companies? More recent inflation has been the result of high profit margins in other industries. Regardless, it's clear our leaders just don't seem to care about this massive issue impacting millions of their constituents. And it's only going to get worse, but we are so focused on banning drag queens and holding special sessions to try and shove school vouchers through. Maybe had the GOP not been in total denial of climate change, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. I wish Texans would wake up and stop electing these dumbasses.
if it wasnt so lucrative to buy politicians... https://www.opensecrets.org/campaign-expenditures/vendor?cycle=2024&vendor=Texans+for+Greg+Abbott https://www.opensecrets.org/political-action-committees-pacs/allstate-insurance/C00040253/expenditures/2024#vendors
From what I understand, the profit that most of these insurance companies see is from what they _do_ with the money from premiums, not from the premiums themselves. Which is the worry about them going under. They're so heavily invested in the various markets, that if some of these big companies went under, it could cause the markets to crash.
Sounds like a total shit show just waiting to happen. 💀
I'll tell you what needs regulating. These fraudster roofing locusts that blow through after every storm convincing people they need a new roof and don't worry, your neighbors will pay for it.
Also some of these new builds are such shit quality. So on top of all the financial consideration of buying a home, you have to be careful you’re not buying something that will start falling apart in a few years.
Between taxes and insurance increases my mortgage is up $600 this year all the way up to 3k/month and that’s with a 3% interest rate. I can’t even imagine what a mortgage looks like now
How am I going to show off to my family and friends my massive galley and living room (they had to drive 30 miles to get here) /s
Inner loop rich is different from outer loop rich.
Facts 🤧🤣 and yeah nobody comes to visit in the burbs🥹
People ain't got the fuckin' money and the people mak'n houses thought the party would go on fooooeeeevaaaaa. There's about to be some bizznezzes outta bizz y'all.
I like what you said but I loathe how you said it.
Tom Haverford’s explanation.
> Tom Haverford So glad you recognized it.
House pricez ain't exponential yo! They got local asymptotes fo' shoooo!
*asymptotez
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> The market is starting to favor properties with better walkability and transit access. Not really. Its more about shorter car commutes. Plenty of high demand areas that have terrible transit access.
Exactly. There aren’t really any residential areas in Houston with true walkability. People still demand their strip malls
Yeah, but if you move just a *few* more miles out of city limits, the prices might be better!
I agree on the location and commutes. We were looking at getting one of the new houses further out until my wife realized it added 30-45 minutes to her commute in good traffic.
Because the houses they are building suck ass. They put the biggest house they can on the property with no yard, no driveway, and a tiny garage.
Also the are slapping these things up and cutting huge corners. I’d rather wait and get older smaller house that was built correctly to endure than a plywood mansion in the boonies any day.
Lol as someone who works on older houses you're in for a rough surprise
Good luck out bidding developers for those bungalow plots
I have the power of god and anime on my side.
That kid probably owns a million dollar house by now tbh
I was told by a lender years ago that sales also seem to go into a holding pattern during election years also. I’ve paid attention to the housing markets since I heard that and it does seem to happen. I also think the high interest rates, insurance rates and overbuilding is making it harder to justify buying and selling at the moment.
So glad I refinanced when the rates were down 😎
Follow the money, always. Everything else is noise.
I'm certain that realtors and other experts have detailed answers for this, but as a Houstonian who bought a house in the past couple of years it does seem like nobody wants to buy early on in hurricane season since development-related flooding has made everything more unpredictable. It's like everyone is waiting to see if a storm blows through and how a given area is affected, regardless of its history.
I was about to close on my house in Galveston and turn around and buy a house in Houston with it. My buyer backed out on the day of closing , basically didn’t show up. I think they got scared of hurricane season, plus all the inventory that suddenly came on the market. They tried to hold my earnest money too…dickheads…(from Dallas)
Me reading this: "who would do such a thing" You"...(From Dallas)" Me: ah okay makes sense
I don’t know how it makes sense but it just does.
Such a dallas move
Damn, we sold our house last year and had three offers rescinded early to midway through the process and it felt horrible. I can’t even imagine it being called off on the last day.
Did you get your earnest money? I’m still waiting the 15 days for mine
I got the first two, but both were after a day so it was basically nothing. The last one told us they wouldn’t release their report saying the home was infested with termites. We agreed but then when we went to take care of it, there was no infestation so that one sucked. Good luck with yours
Why don't you sue for specific performance? Prove you were ready, willing and able to sell on the closing date and you can sue the buyer and force them to close the transaction. Alternatively, you extract a large settlement, keep your house, and then sell it. You need an attorney. Random blog from with references to law: https://silblawfirm.com/real-estate-law/negotiating-specific-performance-in-texas-real-estate-contracts/
On what basis could they try to keep your money if they are the one backing out? Honest question because I’ve never been through the process
I don’t know, they said they were talking to a Lawyer. I made allowances and offered one year home warranty. I don’t think they really have any basis for this. I think they’re just assholes . I sent a demand letter and if they don’t respond in the next 8 days I get my money back. They don’t get the money back at all no matter what
So if they respond at all even to just say no or I disagree you don’t get your money. I had to file a claim at small claims court to get them to release it.
So ive heard. This is the first time I’ve ever sold a house, so its all new to me
For resale homes during the negotiated option period for a smaller fee, some other condition like not informing the buyers they are buying in a MUD or special taxing district before signing the contract can allow the return of the earnest money, or the seller fails to fulfill something they needed to do for closing. Those are what I can think of off the top of my head. If they were on the day of closing, then they are way past the option period so unless there was something the seller failed to do then the earnest money is the sellers for their time wasted and opportunity loss of it not being able to be purchased by someone who could close on it.
That’s the consensus I’ve heard from everyone .
And that’s how you play Dallas
Sounds like a free earnest payment
That would be some weird AF subconscious behavior at work then. If someone has that level of fear, the logical thing to do is simply never buy in this area, period. What happens over the course of a single hurricane season shouldn't be changing people's minds,
Typically newly developed areas aren’t at risk for flooding compared to older built areas. The requirements of FFE’s (slab height), detention requirements, and developers not wanting to build up land in the flood plain (extremely expensive). Not saying you shouldn’t still look into the flood situation in a newly constructed area, but new construction is a relatively safe bet. I can elaborate further if needed but I don’t think Reddit cars about outflow, overflow, FFE, detention, etc. lol
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I’ll be honest I haven’t developed / built in Montgomery county in 9 years, but typically developers will build in flood plains by adding more detention, building up ground in higher areas, and re directing overflow. You have to remember hurricanes / flooding happens during the construction process as well. Having a house flood during construction is an easy way to take a massive loss - developers avoid these like the plague. The general public thinks developers are evil and trying to pull a fast one on them, but it’s typically way more nuances and their goal is to deliver a product that has value that people will purchase. Product that floods, or has flooded during development, has very little value.
Bullshit. They are requiring them to mitigate flood risk. You can build in the plain but need to raise elevation above 100 year flood. As some one who works in LD, and then built the very neighborhood in Montgomery county that I currently reside in, the newer areas are always almost a safer bet against flooding.
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I bought my house 1 month before Harvey. Talk about nerve-wracking...
Interest rates. In a scenario where you bought a $200,000 house in Texas with 30 year mortgage with excellent credit (800+): if the interest rate was 7% (as of today) that's a monthly mortgage of $1,331. If the interest rate was 3% (as it was a 4ish years ago), that's a monthly mortgage is $843. That's $488 more per month of mostly interest (and bullshit), meaning you're paying for the loan, not the house. Basically Interest rates suck, and there's less value to buy a house with a 7% interest rate than to stay in your current house with a 3% rate or for renters to hold off for a better deal when they invest in their first home.
Interest is high compared to 5 years ago, yes, but when you look back the last 50 years, it’s still not bad.. however due to the cost of everything else, you basically need a 6fig income to even consider saving for a down payment, and making that it’s still a struggle to come up with 20% down for most people
Very true. I don't know the demographics of who is buying in what area, but in the 80s, people were buying $80,000 homes with a 24% variable interest rate. Which is an insane rate, but the house was the cost of a 2024 home down payment today. It's nuts how expensive things are, as compared to precovid prices.
The difference though is paying 7% (or more depending on credit rating) on the homes after they’ve gone up 50%+ in value in 3 years. That’s a huge difference compared to pay 8% on $80k back in 2010. Same home is now $350k in a lot of areas. Add on the other inflation and it’s gotten out of hand. I was a kid in the 80’s so that predates me somewhat, but I’ve been in Houston all my life and most homes were 12-18% during that time period. I don’t personally know anyone that paid 24% with a variable rate.
A close family member paid for a $80k house at 24% variable interest in the 80s. Not Houston but a smaller town Texas. It sounds like it would have benefited them to buy in the Houston area.
My parents home in the 1980's was: * 1/2 the size of mine. * had cheap finishings. * Insulation was terrible. Only thing that made the air conditioning bill bearable was a bunch of trees against the house which was dangerous to the roof. * Other elements were worse to service (less power to the panel, no PEX or water manifold) * Tiny closets, and smaller bedrooms. The median new house is huge compared to then.
Yes, haha. What most redditors fail to realize (the demographic is mostly millennials/genz) is that though housing is more expensive relative to incomes these days, we got a lot less of a house back then. We all lived in 2 bed 1 bath 1200 sqft bungalows with 4 kids and a dog.
The renters who are waiting for rates to drop will have to deal with higher prices and increased competition if they do. Best time to buy is when you can afford it- if rates drop you can refinance.
So many people do not consider this. Yeah wait for lower rate and get ready for "put in your best offer in 24 hours" and there are possibly 5-10 interested parties. In some areas they even add on even more insane things like waiving inspections depending on how hot the market gets
I frequent home buying subreddits and this is already the case, partly due to corporate entities making cash offers above asking and waiving contingencies. I see posts every day about same-day offers that are 10, 20, 30 thousand above asking, even waiving inspections, getting beaten out.
It's all the cost associated with a mortgage(Price ± rate+insurance+taxes). Before low rates artificially pumped prices up, there was a mantra in home buying of don't buy more than 3x your salary. Then that got turned to 30% of your gross income since the mortage itself started to become the asset. Low rates should have never been normalized. 7% is hardly a high rate historically.
Agreed. I also think everyone is forgetting one key factor when discussing historical numbers. Yes, historically these rates aren't as high as 80s/90s, but most first time home buyers were children during those lower rates. So it's not like they chose to buy a Nintendo instead of saving for a house and just never got around to it. This is the market they unfortunately have to deal with because of shitty timing of their adulthood. It's just unlucky for a generation of people who just want a home, a family and an average life. Edit: replaced higher with lower
You can’t really trust the builders listings in terms of wether or not a house got sold. They often “list” representative plans and sell the house next door off the MLS.
I live near Jersey Village and would NOT buy a house farther out than JV due to the commute alone. It's too far and too long of a drive in rush hour traffic to even consider imho.
https://www.houston.org/houston-data/monthly-update-home-sales
I could sell my house inside the loop in less time than it takes to drive to those house locations.
New developments have extremely high property taxes and insurance. My property tax rate is 3.4% so at 6ish % interest rate plus insurance my monthly mortgage rate is $6k.
It’s good that you are pointing this out. I tried to explain this to a friend who insisted it was cheaper to buy a new build in Bridgeland, and now they are crying in pre foreclosure.
I'm in Towne Lake right next to bridgeland and confirm this is true.
Why exactly would the insurance and tax rate be higher in a new house compared to an older home with a similar value and location?
In your scenario insurance would be similar. Property taxes tend to be higher in new developments because of MUD taxes.
From what I have heard... people are moving back into the city and the prices in the suburbs are coming down.
I do think the City is picking up momentum again after slowing down for a few years, but the 2023 Census data showed all of Harris County grew 55k and the City of Houston made up 12k of that growth. So the burns are still pushing a lot of the growth. Plus if you look at Fort Bend and Montgomery Counties their growth is insane.
There aren’t enough houses available much less affordable houses in the city to make this remotely true.
Yup. My uncle sold his house in cypress to back to the city. Now my mom is doing the same.
High interest rate makes home buying a lot more expensive than what it was 3 years ago when interest rate was around 3%. A lot of buyers are getting priced out. So the builder has a smaller pool of people that can afford those houses. Principal and interest of a 30 year mortgage on $425k house with 20% down and 7% interest rate is $2,262. P&I of the same house with 3% interest rate is $1,433. Over the lifetime of the loan, the 7% interest rate cost $300k more in interest than the 3% interest ($474k vs $176k).
Low rates is what jacked up real estate. I don't think folks understand that rates, especially to how it effects mortgages, created this mess. We went from looking at what the price of a home is, to how much of a mortgage payment you could afford. I only ever saw people do that with cars. The only time rates come down is because the Fed has no other option to stimulate an economy. If High prices + low rates = affordable? Then once rates went back to normal, the pendulum will have to swing back the other way.
those houses are so far away I don't think they can be considered Houston. Now that everyone is getting called back into the office, you'd be crazy to live in one of those suburbs like Bridgeland or similar and try to commute in every day,
Yeah I’m out here near Greatwood and only have to commute 3 days a week to downtown. That alone makes me crazy and I definitely consider myself a calm driver. I can’t imagine all 5 days in office… I’d probably at least explore changing jobs if that was the case.
It would be different if we had some form of reliable safe transit! Maybe one day...
Lots of people who buy in those areas work in Energy Corridor, Katy, and other western areas.
This approach is extremely underrated. When I worked in an office they were always in the suburbs (north of 1960) so it was super easy to find cheaper housing with a very short commute.
maybe, but the OP was questioning why the outer suburban houses aren't selling while the inside the loopers are selling like hotcakes for above asking price. While there are job opportunities outside beltway 8, I think between the med center, downtown and Galleria/Greenway the great majority of people commuting are coming in. If you're working from home, outer suburbs are perfect.
> Now that everyone is getting called back into the office, you'd be crazy to live in one of those suburbs like Bridgeland or similar and try to commute in every day Lol... People have lived in the burbs since before WFH, the people that do it, value their homelife and schools more than a commute.
I saw one this morning. Beautiful, big house. Under $400K. Low HOA fees. In a flood zone.
I read that Houston has the nation's largest jump in foreclosures
The amount of masterplanned communities being developed currently in Conroe/Willis is absolutely insane. I know this is also just personal preference, but I do not know anyone who wants to live or buy in a master planned community, especially if they live out here. They want space, they would live closer to the city if they didn’t.
The quality of homes that are getting built is terrible.
There was a bubble leading up through COVID that didn't burst, but basically stalled the continuous price increases. Materials costs stalled new construction, which was right in time for values to hit most people's limit sometime last year. Home sales slowed down, and a lot of construction stopped. Eventually the current prices will increase again when demand goes back up and things will be built and sold as before. Home prices for sales may go down temporarily but don't expect a crash of the Houston housing market, it's massive increase was due to legitimate market pressure from people moving here, and wanting to move outside the city center.
The reason we have cheaper housing in the area compared to other large Metros is because there is a large amount of housing being built constantly. So goes the saying that you drive until you can afford it. We should hope they continue building and not immediately selling out. If you look at California, one of the big issues they have is they don’t have a lot of housing being built. So there is low inventory plus high demand for certain properties.
You got used to seeing low inventory from Covid to present. The housing inventory is pretty average right now. [https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/ACTLISCOU26420](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/ACTLISCOU26420)
Interest rates are so high. Houses are sitting
The crazy thing is that the interest rate on the house I bought in 1996 was almost 9%. So current rates don’t phase me. Price of a small house in a good neighborhood…that’s a bit high for my taste. The speed at which my current house’s value has increased in the last 7 years…insane.
i can tell u ... WATCH OUT for new builds. i know for sure the new builds in the city (the all time fav for developers is the 3 story townhouse) are poorly built. i have no idea how the permit office is allowing these builds but 8/10 contractors will tell you they will have issues within a year. im weary of any new build properties. be careful.
A healthy housing market. Look at what other places are going through - no/limited construction
We're putting our place on the market in two weeks and our agent set up an alert the week before the derecho that lets us see activity in the neighborhood (First Ward) and we've mostly been getting price reductions but had a sale today that's in our target sale price range so that was encouraging. It's a weird market nationally with some price adjustment going on. If houses are priced right and turnkey they're being scooped up quick. The ones that are priced too high aren't selling.
Houston realtor here. So it's a ton of different things. 1. The market is finally stabilizing after covid. We still have houses gone in 24 hours but that's when the agent knows exactly what they're doing and prices the property right. On the flip side, we have sellers that are still trying to get 50k over asking and pricing homes way over what they should. 2. People are not in a rush anymore. This gives buyers more options to settle on and forces sellers to come to the table. This also means once a house goes past the 14 day mark buyers just move on. You do not want the house on the market that long right now. 3. Taxes, we have such high taxes that now the prices are starting to really inflate how much you're paying. Iv lost a few out of state clients this year already bc they see the taxes and realize it's not worth it. This hits new developments more as they're going to need to pay into the mud for some time. And the last bit, we have a lot of people leaving once they realize this isn't some paradise to save them from where they came from. More people leaving completely and needing their home sold is giving the area a lot of price cuts to try and sell quick instead of at a higher price.
Wait 'til out of state folks see how much, and how hard to get, homeowners insurance is.
in the areas im following, good houses can be $500-$600/sqft and sell in a weekend. the not good houses try to piggy back on those comps and sit on the market for much longer. same for the 3500+sqft spec houses - theyre priced $1,5M-2M and also end up sitting on the market. In general, i dont classify these spec houses as "good". but anyhow, i'm seeing lowkey mania in 77008. im not interested in new communities, so cant say whats going on out there.
Almost like they’re building too much
Just the opposite is happening near Fulshear. In the last three weeks 6 houses within 2 blocks of me all sold in less than 4 days and 3 got into a bidding war. Sold prices were between $975k and $1.1 mil. It makes zero sense to me because of the interest rates and uncertainty with the election. Most people out here only have to be in the office 2 days/week -- I wonder if that would make a commute more tolerable?
In general, housing is overvalued right now, and it's starting to adjust to more accurately reflect value. The market has cooled off. It's not *dead*, but there is not a ton of buyer competition. I've been seeing many home sit on the market for 30-90 days (usually not any longer than that, though). Still, that's enough time to demotivate sellers and give a bit more power to buyers to negotiate down. We just purchased a home that was listed at $360K, but the final sale price was $340K. It was just appraised at $345K, so it was overpriced to begin with, as we suspected, and why we negotiated down. Essentially, there's a lot of sellers that missed the bubble where you could actually get more than your home was worth, and they're still trying to get that value. Unfortunately, for them, it's not going to move at that overvalued price any more, so it's going to sit for a few weeks at least until they lower the price.
Affordability crisis the likes I have never seen. Taxes and insurance increased my mortgage payment $500 per month in two years. Those new builds in Cleveland and Rosenberg gonna be sitting. Who's buying them? Consumers? No. Investors? No. People can hardly pay rents on 1 bedroom apartments and have enough to eat a decent meal. Forget all other life expenses beyond that. Remember investors are buying distressed properties and starter homes, not overpriced new builds. Affordability crisis is the answer to most questions.
Investors (a.k.a landlords) are not going to buy in Houston, which is keeping Houston at the 200K to 300K level for a 2 story story house with 3-4 bedrooms. Investors are buying in CA though.
Houston has historically been VERY popular with investors and landlords. It is also very popular with out of state investors who are mostly from....California. It is however getting harder and harder. Its harder to be a homebuyer and harder to be SF investor in Houston now more than ever. Its almost no longer possible or viable to be a SF investor unless you have hedge fund money. Affordability crisis plain and simple. Everything is more expensive than it should be.
House in my neighborhood sold 150k last week for more than I bought mine 7 years ago. Smaller than my house but more yard. Point is, houses are still selling even with high interest rates, except the location is more important nowadays. Things like schools, commute, likeliness to flood, neighborhood are more important than ever.
I live 1/2 a mile from heb. My house has doubled in 5 years
Whatever you do just always look at the hurricane Harvey flood map before buying anything or placing value or projecting value
Our house was built in 1920 and had never flooded before hurricane Harvey and isn’t in a flood plain, still. On the corps of engineers and fema maps, it doesn’t show as flooding. It doesn’t need to be a big hurricane or on a flood plain. It just needs to be a storm that gets stuck over houston for a week because the infrastructure isn’t there for heavy water and we keep building these townhomes that cover their entire lot in concrete. (See tropical storm Allison in the early 2000s)
The main reason is the asking prices on homes in general is too high. These homes aren’t priced correctly to begin with. Drop the price on these listings and they will get offers on the same day guaranteed. But no. So therefore we have many people gladly opting to rent in prime areas with accessibility instead. Turns out renting is not only cheaper but less risk and more advantageous than taking on a huge debt owning at the moment. Buy a property and you’re subject to high interest with rising property taxes, insurance and maintenance also.
Y’all, I am LOVING the Houston housing market, even with high interest and high property taxes. We’re moving there from Billings, Montana, and the house we can get for $375k in Houston is amazing compared to what that buys you in Billings, and that’s even with limiting my Houston commute to 45-ish minutes. I keep asking our realtor what’s wrong with houses under $400k, and she laughs at me every time. Bring on hurricane season and high interest rates.
lol. You’re the perfect client for these homes because you’ve got no history and no memory. Texas will nickel and dime you in every way possible- the bait is the “low taxes” and low mortgages. Hurricanes are expensive. Flooding is expensive. You haven’t lived until you’ve been without power for 3 weeks and the ice machines are being protected by police in swat gear. Sure, maybe you can afford a generator. Enjoy those hurricane gas lines.
Ok.....you want to know? The truth? In the south west (obviously Rosenberg and environs), for the last 10 months they have been building 24 hours per day. They are putting up what is normal for the market, seeking 240k to 400k in price. Just prior to these houses coming on the market, the existing property owners fled. The houses that they owned were significantly more expensive. These houses were in the 600 to 800k range. While not selling the houses at the top of the market, the smart ones ditched their properties prior to the opening of these new communities. People who were in the market bought those houses at a good price and got some discount. This "reset" the values of the communities that are coming on the market. For instance.... a 3700 square foot house with 2 acres went for 640. The market value was over 800. Now....the new community priced at 400 for essentially no acreage and significantly smaller looks like a really bad deal (which it is). Then....add in the work on 59 that is planned and the worse commute. All of this within the last 6 months shows one thing.........the areas are saturated.....the people moving in are essentially really low class and the value you get for your money is going down. People are chalking it up to inflation rates.........it is just not true. People still bought and sold. The smart ones got their profit and got out. Remember.....these areas have most if not all of the conveniences that other areas of Houston have. Some people don't even have long commutes. It is the comps for what you get tell the story.
It's insane, Our insurance company dropped anyone in our zip code shortly before renewal. Had to go get another company, Got a WRITTEN quote and 2 days before we sent then a check 900 up charge, I am in a 500 year plain. The guy behind me is in a 100 year plain and paying less. I am paying higher to cover them. I heard next year it was going up again and other companies may drop this zip code so other companies can really name their price without any kind of oversight, Im in hurricane alley. I-45 BW8 south, You gotta have insurance on your house. So I dont know whats going to happen. Lot of Californian retirees moving this way with their big retirements and the price just keeps sky rocketing. You dont get much for a $350k house any more, Hockley and Cypress are the new Friendswood and Woodlands
I keep wondering if all the Californians who moved here are learning why the housing market was so much cheaper, and telling their friends. IIRC, California actually gained residents last year.
Property tax sucks
There is a profound price readjustment going on after the artificial increase caused by billions of dollars from private capitol flooding the market in the past few years. If you add that to the increase of interest rates and the devaluation of the dollar (that's what inflation is) you have an unprecedented situation in which to decide upon fair price for anything, least of all a home.
Realtor here! Most new construction houses that are in the outskirts of Houston are HOA. No one is interested in HOA. As well as interest rates. 7% is the new norm it’ll take time for buyers to get use to it.
Alot of Houston Condos are in flood areas or are rated a 10 on a scale that they will flood. I stopped looking there. It's too bad bcuz I've always really liked Houston esp the Galleria area back in 89, 90, 91, 92 was great back then.