- Houston Home Sales Fell About 4% Year-Over-Year in May While Prices Rose to All-Time Highs, According to HAR [HBJ]
- Census Ranks Conroe as 6th-Fastest-Growing U.S. City with Population over 50KÂ [Houston Chronicle]
- Pho Binh Now Open in Former Sale-Sucre Space on White Oak Dr. in the Heights [Food Chronicles; previously on Swamplot]
- Whataburger Starts Construction on Larger Location Behind Existing La Marque Whataburger Near Gulf Greyhound Park [Galveston County Daily News ($)]
- Opponents of Memorial Park Demonstration Project Say Targeted Stretch of Buffalo Bayou Weathered the Flood Just Fine [Houston Press; previously on Swamplot]
- ExxonMobil Tells Texas Regulators Its Wells Didn’t Cause Earthquakes [Wall Street Journal]
- Metro Will Revise Ridership Projections for Post Oak Dedicated Bus Lane [HBJ]
- 77 Ways To Design a Letter ‘M’ Logo for Metro [CityLab]
- Was That You Running Down North Blvd. in the Rain, Barefoot, Back in April 1979? [Houston Chronicle]
- Americans Have Grown Apart from One Another Over the Past Several Decades by a Wide Range of Measures [City Observatory]
Photo of Market Square Tower: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
M m |\/| nn |~| |^|
The denial continues
In the oil industry:
* 2012-2014: “Fracking = oil independence and cheap energy forever! And it’s totally because we oilmen are so ingenious and not because of record sustained oil prices. Never mind that most fracking firms aren’t profitable and most people can’t afford $4+ a gallon gas.”
* Fall/Winter 2014: “Oh, don’t worry that oil is $50/bbl, we can frack so cheaply now. Just look at that record production volume!”
* Spring 2014: “OK, production is declining and it’ll be hard for some, but check out how cheaply we can frack now! Just ignore the ludicrous equity/debt deals going on.”
And the real estate industry:
* 2012-2014: “Wow, Houston, what a deal! Your home investment will make you rich! And this is totally just because Houston is so cool and not related to the fracking boom at all.”
* Fall/Winter 2014: “Oh, don’t worry about oil, we have record home sales volume!”
* Spring 2014: “OK, home sales are declining when they should be rising, but don’t worry that’s normal in such a strong market like Houston!”
per the metro letter “M” thing. They need to have just a basic blue “M” with an eyeball in the center. You know, like this one: http://thietkelogos.vn/logo-dep/wp-content/uploads/pixar_monsters_inc_logo.jpg
@ Carpetbagger
Down 6% from record highs with strong price growth is still a pretty strong market. There may be a crash yet, but this isn’t strong evidence of impending doom for the real estate market.
and carpetbagger, production is still increasing while rig counts are falling.
.
I like to see the inventory growth as that’s what I’m mostly concerned about, but wish sales would continue going strong this S/S before financing rates go up in the F/W. At current inventory growth rates we could be close to the national average or matching it in a years time. Say what you will about our housing market and regulations, but from a market perspective it’s really incredible how much flexibility we have at meeting demand compared to the rest of the country.
Beware of the statistical estimation feature on those HAR press releases! My calculations show this will be the 3rd month in a row where HAR overestimated single family sales. As of this morning, MLS was showing on 6590 single family sales for May. That means reported/posted sales are actually 7.7 percent lower YoY!
One of the West Houston communities I am tracking just posted the 3rd consecutive month of lower average prices and price per square foot. If you are reading only local headlines, you aren’t seeing the real market. Or as one of my favorite bloggers recently penned, ‘If your BS detector isn’t shrieking; It’s broken.’
Skyrocketing residential property taxes and the recent uptick of mortgage rates are going to cause issues for the Houston real estate market. That’s not an opinion. It’s already happening.
http://aaronlayman.com/2015/06/katy-texas-west-houston-real-estate-market-may-2015/