- Former Astros Pitcher Shane Reynolds Selling Sugar Land Home for $4.95M [Houston Chronicle]
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- How the Exploding Housing Market in Houston is Complicating Matters for Buyers and Sellers [Hair Balls]
- Congressman Ted Poe Soliciting Opinions on Richmond Avenue Light Rail Funding on Facebook [Facebook]
- Houston Airport System Getting Rid of Damaged, Outdated Signs at IAH [KUHF]
- Where Houston Can Improve Cycling, Walking Options By Fixing Missed Connections [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Drivers Don’t Like That License Plate Must Be Recorded in New Seawall Paid Parking Plan [Click2Houston]
- 1970s Texas, As Seen Through the Eyes of EPA Photographers [The Atlantic]
Photo of Reliant Stadium: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
People are paying above list price, especially in 100k to 250k price range, I think that’s extremely irresponsible. I strongly believe those prices are not justified by actual value but by pressure of the idea that interest prices will go up soon. When you overpay, you erase all appreciation for the next several years and needlessly pay higher mortgage payment. My suggestion is wait a little, this hysteria will stop and you’ll be paying 5-10% percent below asking price as is customary.
I paid list price when I bought inside the loop. Realtors were all saying that appreciation in the Heights had maxed out and Oak Forrest was where the appreciation was not yet maxed out. The house just barely appraised with the new regulations. If I sold today, just three years later, I would get 20-30% over what I paid.
I actually think the appraisal regulations are working well, even though it is bringing about a sort of “new normal”. Lenders proved that they cannot accurately assess risk in the housing market given all of the incentives for the mortgage brokers to push through loans. If someone wants to bid up the price of a house beyond what a conservative market would bear, they need to be able to put up the extra cash needed to bridge the gap instead of expecting the lender to bear the risk. If the market falls back, the bank is still secure, the borrower is not underwater and will be able to get out of the house if they need to.
A simplified economic definition of inflation is too many dollars chasing too few goods. With respect to the housing market locally, after the financial markets crashed in 2008, there was much less new home construction than normal from 2008 until 2011. That left the supply of new homes short when our local economy began to boom, adding more jobs and attracting more workers from around the country to settle here. Combine that with low interest rates, which give borrowers the illusion of more money ( via lower mortgage payments), and you get more offers for homes than you have homes on the market. Bidding wars ensue. As new home construction catches up over the next 18-24 months, things will settle down.
It is a bubble, even if only a small one, and prices will come down from where they are now to fill the gap.
even with all the construction in the inner loop these days i still see no end in sight for further properties to be ‘dozed and redeveloped. with a lot of major oil companies bringing a lot of folks into town it’s certainly good to buy now if you can, but i wouldn’t buy on the expectation that these homes will continue to appreciate as they have been doing or that you’ll closed out of a specific area and that you need to sacrifice on a home or your maximum price at this point in time. once the market absorbs all the apartments coming online over the next 2 years i expect to see a lot of single family home construction following that period and you won’t find a similar rush to buy as you are now. still lots of bordering low-income areas around town that have yet to fully gentrify and start re-building. seems a lot of folks are rushing right now and just paying up front for the appreciation they expect to see in these homes over the next couple of years. always a gamble, but probably a wise one if you have the cash on hand.
regardless though, the market will always beat out housing so no need to ever rush it. better places to park your money.
The signage at IAH is confusing and simply not well stated or appropriate. However, I find this to be the case at most airports I visit. Happily, if you already know your way around the signs become helpful….God help an unwary or first time visitor!
I remember the good ol days when IAH had them labeled Terminal A, Terminal B, and Terminal IAB. hahaha. This went on for years before they went with A, B, C, E.