We always enjoy crunching the numbers to see what kind of trends ooze out. Here we’ve tracked eight sets of the market demographics for 2017 River Oaks home sales and purchases. (Like numbers? To read more of this kind of thing, order a copy of our just-released River Oaks Market Report 2018 Outlook.) FINANCING Mortgage
How buyers pay for their home purchases in River Oaks is always interesting to watch, since it is an indicator of trends in the neighborhood. This time we have dug deeper than usual to shed some light on the details. And what’s clear is that there are more ways of paying for property today than
Houston’s biggest story of 2017, real estate or otherwise, was Hurricane Harvey. It brought everything to a screeching halt. Even in neighborhoods relatively unaffected by flood waters, the buying and selling of real estate paused as though in sympathy with the hard-hit areas of our city. There was a distinct four- to six-week stutter after
The appetite for contemporary architecture in the upscale markets we serve here in Houston has been growing. Ever more buyers are looking for homes that boast sustainable elements (e.g. bamboo floors, stone countertops), are designed with entertaining in mind and are full of natural daylight. They want a flow between indoor and outdoor, sometimes with
My mother died early this summer. And I found myself not wearing a tie for a dozen weeks. Granted, it was a grueling summer, and who wants a swatch of silk tied tightly around the neck in this climate? But I had worn a tie for the previous 17 summers while working in the real
Clients are asking us, “What will be the effects of Hurricane Harvey flooding on real estate?” Our first reaction is to say that it is too soon to tell what dynamics will affect residential real estate in Houston. These typically play out in unpredictable ways. There are so many unknown factors: government actions, insurance issues,
At last count there were 51 cleared lots in River Oaks, only four of which were actively on the market. Most of the other lots were in private hands, often adjoining existing homes or being held for future custom new construction. Six were destined for speculative new construction. Lot sales in the first half of
You would think that inventory at the high end in River Oaks had exploded out of control in the first half of 2017 (see chart River Oaks Inventory Over $4 million below). With nearly 30 houses available as recently as May, this sector of the market current has more for sale than even during the
As we prepare to release our River Oaks Market Report for the first half of 2017, clients and colleagues are bombarded by mixed signals. Real estate agents inside The Loop, especially those working at the higher price points, complain of the eerie quiet since mid-April. And, given the sudden spike of LinkedIn requests landing in
Earlier this month we attended the spring edition of Dr. Robert Gilmer’s twice-a-year regional forecasting luncheon sponsored by the University of Houston’s Bauer College of Business. The past two years have not been kind to Houston, as the city has slowed to no-growth for two years. Other details gleaned from Dr. Gilmer’s talk: • We