Strictly a Buyer's Agent

Houston: The Next Great World City?

A recent article from The American - A Magazine of Ideas suggests that Houston may be positioned to emerge as the next great world city.  The author notes that due to recent trends in job growth and net migration rates, "Opportunity Cities" have arisen primarily in the southern US such as Atlanta, Dallas and Houston.  But of these, only Houston is uniquely positioned in the global economy due to its port, energy industry, and internationally-minded business-service firms.

Another important factor for Houston's emergence as the next great world city is its history of tolerance and immigration. Many come seeking opportunity and many find it.

Read the article here: http://american.com/archive/2008/march-april-magazine-contents/lone-star-rising

Don't be confused about the Energy Corridor . . .

Today's market condition update for the Energy Corridor shows the $500-$599K market to be "normal" for the first time in recent memory but this will likely not be the case for long. For the last several years this area (zip code 77079) has been one of the most difficult for buyers with housing inventories very low month after month. Why? There are millions of square feet of office space nearby that is home to companies such as BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, Citgo and others. Their employees transfer into Houston from all over the world, resulting in a very active housing market and one that can be very difficult for buyers. The best thing to do is move into temporary housing for at least a few weeks, wait for new listings to come on the market and be the first to see them with your agent! With a little luck, you'll end up in an A property in the Energy Corridor.

On the Tipping Point?

For years now the market has strongly favored sellers in eight of the ten price ranges (and areas) I calculate market conditions for on Monday-Friday of each week. It seems now to be on the brink of change since today's update shows four price ranges ready to tip over into a "slightly strong" market of 8+ months of inventory:

http://www.westurealestate.com/marketWatchAllAreasSummary.htm#average

It may be that this increasing inventory will be absorbed as it has been in years past. The coming weeks will tell the tale.