When did housing in Houston rise in price? (Baytown, Conroe: for sale, real estate market)

[Waytoodeep03]

Back when I moved in 2011 and got an apartment a typical new construction house at 3000 sq feet was running at ~ $260k(Tuscan Lakes in league city) and about ~$300k in katy out in Cinco ranch

Now even the basic new construction for the same is $400k+ 4 years later. Why is this happening? Where are the affordable new construction homes in this city now?

[cheryjohns]

Started in 2013, when demand far outstripped supply.

[jtothemak]

Don't worry doom and gloom is on the way with O&G prices falling and the housing market will soon tank and housing will be super cheap.

[DSL_PWR]

In certain areas housing prices have always been going up. Just nature of the beast.

Originally Posted by cheryjohns

Started in 2013, when demand far outstripped supply.

In my opinion this was only part of the equation and small at that with regards to the broad spectrum of things. I am taking into consideration the entire houston housing market. I do agree that the rising of prices was brought on by certain area shortages that caused home builders and then current homeowners to see a trend and start elevating pricing and then other areas that didn't have a shortage followed suit.

Also it seems that there have always been tens of thousands of homes on HAR for sale at any given time and while that number might have slightly dwindled, I don't think it enough to cause the price gouging that we are seeing now and saw back in '07 before things came down then. As jtothemak said, we will see cheaper house prices soon. It's cyclical and it's coming back around again.

[Waytoodeep03]

Originally Posted by DSL_PWR

In certain areas housing prices have always been going up. Just nature of the beast.



In my opinion this was only part of the equation and small at that with regards to the broad spectrum of things. I am taking into consideration the entire houston housing market. I do agree that the rising of prices was brought on by certain area shortages that caused home builders and then current homeowners to see a trend and start elevating pricing and then other areas that didn't have a shortage followed suit.

Also it seems that there have always been tens of thousands of homes on HAR for sale at any given time and while that number might have slightly dwindled, I don't think it enough to cause the price gouging that we are seeing now and saw back in '07 before things came down then. As jtothemak said, we will see cheaper house prices soon. It's cyclical and it's coming back around again.

Good. I guess we will hold out on a new construction house. Right now it insane when I know where they were back 4 years ago.

[ToyYot]

Originally Posted by DSL_PWR

In my opinion this was only part of the equation and small at that with regards to the broad spectrum of things. I am taking into consideration the entire houston housing market. I do agree that the rising of prices was brought on by certain area shortages that caused home builders and then current homeowners to see a trend and start elevating pricing and then other areas that didn't have a shortage followed suit.

While your reasoning doesn't quite make sense to me. Here's a better explanation:

Houston Real Estate Market

HOUSTON — (January 14, 2015) — The year 2014 enters the history books as a year of extremes for the Houston housing market, as home sales volume and prices achieved record highs while inventory levels tumbled to record lows.

The frenzied real estate activity was primarily driven by the addition of more than 125,000 jobs that attracted buyers and renters from across the U.S. and around the world between November 2013 and November 2014, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.

December single-family home sales increased 11.6 percent versus December 2013 while total property sales rose 11.0 percent. The latest monthly report prepared by the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) shows that contracts closed on 6,451 single-family homes, shrinking inventory to a 2.5-months supply, the lowest level of all time. Once again, homes from $250,000 and above registered the highest sales volume and accounted for the latest round of price appreciation.

"The Houston housing market experienced its best year on record in 2014 and that is a reflection of the vitality of the local economy,” said HAR Chair Nancy Furst with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Anderson Properties. “We expect the pace of sales to normalize this year, which should finally enable inventory levels to grow, restoring balance to the market."

Housing inventory in Houston has been below a four-month supply since November 2012. It first fell below a three-month supply in November 2013, and reached a record low 2.5-months supply in December 2014. Inventory consisting of a 6.0-month supply is typically regarded as constituting a balanced real estate market. For perspective, the national inventory of single-family homes is 5.1 months of supply, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

So perhaps losing 20 - 40,000 jobs or so won't be the end of the world (unless its your job, of course) but a saner real estate market could result.

[cheryjohns]

Originally Posted by DSL_PWR

In certain areas housing prices have always been going up. Just nature of the beast.



In my opinion this was only part of the equation and small at that with regards to the broad spectrum of things. I am taking into consideration the entire houston housing market. I do agree that the rising of prices was brought on by certain area shortages that caused home builders and then current homeowners to see a trend and start elevating pricing and then other areas that didn't have a shortage followed suit.

Also it seems that there have always been tens of thousands of homes on HAR for sale at any given time and while that number might have slightly dwindled, I don't think it enough to cause the price gouging that we are seeing now and saw back in '07 before things came down then. As jtothemak said, we will see cheaper house prices soon. It's cyclical and it's coming back around again.

That doesn't make sense. If there was not a shortage in an area, that area would not have followed suit and raised prices if the demand was not there. The houses would have just sit on the market.

Although there are a lot of houses on HAR at any given time, that mount is much, much lower than in years past. Sure, 16K houses on the market sounds like a lot - but that covers 392 sq ft to 0ver 30,000 sq ft - from $15K to $24 million - from Katy to Baytown to Conroe to Clear Lake to etc. Almost everyone has a more defined budget, location and size than that. Then toss aside the houses that are in bad shape, in a horrible location or has a bizarre floor plan - and the choices get even smaller.

What I have seen, in reference to the OP's reference to new construction prices, is that a lot of the established builders have abandoned the market below a much higher bar than ever before. That may change - and would be welcome news.

[DejaBlue]

Originally Posted by jtothemak

Don't worry doom and gloom is on the way with O&G prices falling and the housing market will soon tank and housing will be super cheap.

Doesn't need to be super cheap just back to where it was 4 years ago with greedy people and their greedy realtors tacking on 50-100k on a house that's truly worth 50-100k less.

The prices in this area are a trip. Yes Exxon and all that but the amount of upper 300s to 400s when the house is seriously a 300k tops is ridiculous. And there's no granite and stainless steel anywhere? No pool? People please!

[wallawallahoohoo]

Yup... greedy people don't pay property taxes on their "$400k" home and instead pay it on its $300K value... and even argue for it to be assessed less but tack on a shiny price tag. Pure greed.

[Dopo]

It started when all the country kept on saying "Houston is the most affordable city in the country"