What a Difference a Year Makes

September 16, 2020September 17, 2020Cameron Ansari

When it comes to gauging market activity in real estate, measuring the number of months of available inventory* can provide intriguing insight beyond the usual statistics. Let’s start by agreeing that fewer months of available inventory = relatively more active sales. In other words, less is better. For the sake of...

New Choices in Home-Building Materials

August 9, 2020August 9, 2020Matt Lee

Investing in a home in River Oaks usually means that you are committed to building a legacy that you can share with your family for years to come. It takes work and money to make the idea of legacy a reality and even more work and money to make it endure...

Update on the High End

August 9, 2020August 9, 2020Cameron Ansari

In our recently mailed 2020 Mid-Year River Oaks Market Report we remarked that, while sales in the first half of 2020 at the high end of River Oaks – that is, properties priced $4 million or higher – did not exceed the number for the same period in 2019, they were...

Snapshot of the River Oaks Market

July 20, 2020July 20, 2020Cameron Ansari & Teresa Byrne-Dodge

We haven’t talked to anyone in the past four months without hearing some version of the same question: How is the real estate market during the COVID-19 pandemic? HAR.com issues monthly updates on the entire greater-Houston market area, as you surely know, and the real estate market varies widely from area...

Nosy Questions for Mariquita Masterson

July 6, 2020September 1, 2020Teresa Byrne-Dodge

Mariquita Masterson is well known to Houstonians as the designer namesake of the jewelry store/workshop nestled in the boutique shopping center at the foot of River Oaks Boulevard. The Mexico City native, who moved to Houston in 1957, says that she was first inspired to make her bold trademark jewelry while...

(in the Time of COVID)

June 15, 2020June 15, 2020Cameron Ansari

Overview As we prepare for the biannual edition of our River Oaks Market Report (to be published in July), we have been trying to examine the extraordinary past few months from the perspective of comparison with the same period in 2019. How weird has this year truly been? Clearly, the first...

Ask the Agents #16: Saltwater Pools

June 15, 2020June 15, 2020Cameron Ansari & Teresa Byrne-Dodge

Question: What is the difference between a saltwater pool and a regular pool? Answer: A sparkling clean backyard pool makes a sultry Houston summer worth it, right? And no doubt, given our current COVID situation, people who have a swimming pool will be staying home and using it more than ever...

Nulla Nulla VII (Translation: 007)

May 19, 2020May 19, 2020Cameron Ansari

“Bond is a daydream of absolute irresponsibility. A world where nobody civilises you. None of the girls is annoyed; none of the girls has a baby. He can even get married without having to get married. There are no repercussions. A dream of power without responsibility.” Thus, the journalist and one-time...

Bond. James Bond. All of him.

May 19, 2020May 20, 2020Teresa Byrne-Dodge

Years from now, when someone asks what we did during the COVID-19 lockdown back in the Spring of 2020, I will say that I gardened, baked, slept long and well, attended countless Zoom webinars and watched every one of the 24 James Bond movies to date, in order of their release....

Catch Up: The River Oaks Market

May 19, 2020May 19, 2020Cameron Ansari

It is challenging to make astute comments about a real estate market that has been understandably inactive since mid-March. So, suffice it to say that River Oaks is largely in wait-and-see mode. Here are a few general observations based on the data: River Oaks Inventory The number of houses for sale...