Archive for the ‘Houston’ Category
Houston - voted #1 Best City to Live, Work & Play by Kiplinger for their July 2008 edition!!
June 12th, 2008 categories: Houston, Off Beat
Houston - Best City to Live, Work & Play
This article from Kiplinger’s July 2008 “Best Cities to Live, Work & Play” edition:
Our approach this year to picking the ten best cities in which to live and work was simple: Look for places with strong economies and abundant jobs, then demand reasonable living costs and plenty of fun things to do. When we ran the numbers, some of the names that popped up made us do a double take at first. So we hit the road to meet movers, shakers and regular folks, experience the ambience and take in the sights.
We discovered that our numbers guru, Kevin Stolarick, hadn’t steered us wrong. Stolarick, research director at the Martin Prosperity Institute, a think tank that studies economic prosperity, says: “Our formula highlights cities not just with strong past performance, but also with all the ingredients for future success.” One key to a bright future is a healthy shot of people in the creative class. People in creative fields — scientists, engineers, architects, educators, writers, artists and entertainers — are catalysts of vitality and livability in a city.
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Houston Real Estate - River Oaks Market Report for May 2008
June 10th, 2008 categories: Houston, Market Stats, River Oaks
Houston River Oaks Market Report - May 2008
Only two homes sold in River Oaks in May!!! So, averages don’t really tell a true picture in this case… quite a few deals are pending so maybe June will show a few more numbers. Average days on market for the active listings is a very reasonable 74 days. For higher end homes this is a fairly good number. This shows that the current crop of properties on the market were mostly listed in the last two months. Asking prices seem to be a bit high at $605 per square foot. Look for the DOM to increase in the coming months!
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Houston Is The Place To Be
May 29th, 2008 categories: Houston, Houston Real Estate
While many of us were born and raised here in the Houston area and understand all that this great city has to offer, newer residents may still be in the learning phase. After all, this is a huge city and it can be somewhat overwhelming for a fledgling Houstonite. Last year, MSNBC actually rated Houston to be #3 on its list of the Top Underrated U.S. Cities. I agree and therefore feel compelled to help the newbies along in their research and explain why this city is such a wonderful place to live!
After a 6 year stint in the city of Austin, TX, I decided to make my way back home to the Bayou City. To this day I still get the comment, “Why on earth would you move from Austin to Houston??” I’ll tell you why. The first factor in my decision was the job market. The job market here in Houston is phenomenal. Consider the following… Houston is the number one US city for job growth, the lowest cost of living, and the fastest growing companies. It is number two for the best business climates in the nation and number three for Fortune 500 headquarters. I would say that the statistics speak for themselves but I’ll keep going anyway.
Due to the job and population growth here, the housing market has continued to hold strong here in Houston. With so many companies relocating employees and the oil industry being what it is today, the housing market here has been able to withstand the stresses of the national mortgage “crisis”. Property values are holding steady or increasing, interest rates are down and this is just one more reason living here is living smart!
Another little known fact about Houston is that it has a booming young professionals community. While Austin is known to cater to the freshly graduated, I would rank Houston even higher on the list for those who are looking to embrace life beyond campus. There is something here for everyone (any age) and there is always something to do whether you want to learn a little something (try the Museum District), watch a little something (check out the Theater District), do a little something (check out Memorial Park, Terry Hershey Park or the new Discovery Park downtown) or drink a little something (pick one of thousands of fabulous little watering holes). While I could have added “eat a little something” to that list, the restaurants in this city deserve their own sentence. We have the best food in this city than any other city I have ever visited. Also, I consider myself to be an experienced shopper and this city has it all in the way of shopping. Everything from fashion to antiques! The point is that Houston has so much to offer for entertainment’s sake I have never heard anyone in this city say they were bored. Now that’s saying something.
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Houston On Most Affordable Home Markets List
April 25th, 2008 categories: Houston, Houston Real Estate, Real Estate News
Bizjournals recently conducted a study comparing real estate costs to income levels in the 50 largest metro areas in the United States. They did this by comparing median home payments alongside household income levels. The results showed that California is (not surprisingly) the most expensive place to try and own a home with the median California homeowner spending over 75% of their monthly income on their mortgage payments. That was not a typo… I said 75%! According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, home costs should not add up to more than one third of monthly income so other life necessities can be purchased… clothes, food, etc.
Lucky for us, Houston was in the Top 10 list for the most affordable home markets in the U.S. Good news for Houston! We came in at number 8 on the list. Not too shabby for this so called “market crisis” the media is painting for us. While other parts of the country are definitely hurting, our market here in Houston along with others (mostly in the South) are actually enjoying price appreciation along with income growth which makes for a solid real estate market. According to Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors’ chief economist, “The healthiest housing markets today generally are moderately priced and are experiencing job growth and often population growth, which in turn is supporting strong price growth.”
The moral of this story is that Houstonites can rest easy because our housing market is continuing to hold strong. I believe this quote summed it up best for me… “If the news predicted a snow storm in Denver, would you walk outside with your snow boots in Houston?”
10 Most Affordable Home Markets
1. Oklahoma City
2. San Antonio
3. Birmingham
4. Indianapolis
5. Pittsburgh
6. Kansas City
7. Buffalo
8. HOUSTON
9. Memphis
10. Rochester, NY
10 Most Expensive Home Markets
1. Los Angeles
2. San Francisco - Oakland
3. San Diego
4. San Jose
5. New York City
6. Sacramento
7. Riverside - San Bernardino, CA
8. Miami - Fort Lauderdale
9. Boston
10. Providence
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