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Today's market condition update showed ten houses for sale in Bellaire priced above $2,000,000. There have been no sales in that price range in the previous twelve months in Bellaire so it will be interesting to see if the marketplace will support these prices. If I were to guess I would say yes. It is a very popular community with good schools and the commutes to downtown and the medical center are not bad.
In the Sunday Houston Chronicle I read with interest the comments of the operations director for Developer Sales Group, which markets condos at the Mosaic on Hermann Park. a new twin-tower high rise under construction that will have 790 units for sale when completed. To date, they have closed on "about 65 units". To read more about the Mosaic, the credit crunch and the impact on high-rise properties, you can read more here:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/sarnoff/5713519.html
In 2007 Money Magazine rated Houston's Museum District as the 12th best urban neighborhood in the US for retirement. It noted its proximity to the lush Hermann Park, with Miller Outdoor Theater, oustanding zoo, public golf course, reflection pond, rose garden, IMAX, and many other amenities. Add several museums, the world-renowned Texas Medical Center plus Rice University and you have an outstanding urban neighborhood.
Read the entire article here: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/moneymag/0710/gallery.bpretire.moneymag/12.html
The Case-Schiller model measures the residential housing market in 20 metropolitan regions across the United States using repeat sales of houses to measure market strength. Moodys.com and Fiserv Lending Solutions have used the Case-Schiller data to create two interesting scenarios for national housing prices. One shows that house prices will hit bottom and begin to climb again in mid-2009 under the most likely economic scenario. A more pessimistic scenario shows the turnaround delayed until 2010 if there is a severe recession or other economic shocks.
You can see the chart here. Remember, this is not reflective of Houston where prices have not suffered like many other locations.
http://www.economy.com/home/products/case_shiller_indexes.asp
Although Houston's housing market is holding up much better than the rest of the US, the impact of the housing decline is being felt in a different way here - tranferees moving to Houston who cannot sell their homes in other cities and therefore cannot buy a home here. Some may decide to move and rent, but more are deciding to forgo the transfer alltogether. This may lead to what experts fear will be a record-low rate of domestic migration in 2008. To read the entire New York Times article, click the link below.
