- Houston Has an Ongoing Housing Shortage, Says Woodlands Development Co. President [Houston Business Journal]
- HomeLPC Launches Rent-to-Own Housing Program in Houston Designed for People with Credit Issues [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- First Houston Pollo Tropical Set To Open in Pearland in April, 2 More to Follow [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Houston Falls on Forbes’ Fastest-Growing Cities List to No. 10 Spot, Behind Austin, Dallas [Houston Business Journal]
- Former Kemah Mayor Accused of Taking Advantage of Office To Acquire Ike-Hit Properties [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Indoor Entertainment Complex Funplex on Beechnut Sued by County Over Safety Hazards [abc13]
- Trenton Doyle Hancock’s Vinyl Railroad Building Mural Is Hermann Park’s Latest Art in the Park Installation [Culturemap]
Photo of Buffalo Bayou near West Loop: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Houston drops from #2 fastest growing city to #10 fastest growing city.
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Woodlands Co. President: “Houston does not have a housing bubble”, despite a huge increase in house prices in the last 2 years.
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Uhhh, okay. Whatever you say.
Have spent lots of time last year in Houston and Dallas, I can say without question that Houston seems to be growing a lot more. Houston has tons more new developement–I really have no clue how Forbes “really” compiles this list. I been to Austin a lot as well and I really don’t see it growing as much as Houston, I’m perplexed that it’s number one year in and year out –as for San Antonio, it does seem to lagging compared to the other big 3 in Texas–geez, I wish they’d at least build one! new skyscraper in downtown San Antonio, it’s class A office space vacancy is at about 5 percent (of course there is very little class A office space in downtown San Antonio)
We’re still trying to satiate the housing demand created by two years of exceptionally strong job growth. Building housing, even in a low-regulatory environment, takes time. Plus even if growth won’t be as high, it looks like it will still be reasonably good, further adding to demand. The increase in prices comes from the fact that supply is lagging demand growth, not because of loose mortgage credit standards and amateur house flipping, which are the real signs of a bubble.
I used to live near the Funplex off Beechnut. God awful area which is we we moved as soon as we could. I never understood why anyone would want to go there but every week the car park was full. I did not know there were apartments on the second floor.