Opening Doors – Blog for home buyers and sellers.
written by Toni Nelson on Friday, September 19, 10:04AM
Considering the size and intensity of Hurricane Ike, most Houstonians consider themselves lucky. Hurricanes of a far lesser magnitude have experienced more human casualties. While there have been casualties, we have been spared the brunt of Ike’s full potential, primarily due to great communication systems and preplanned evacuation routes. At this writing, there are uprooted trees, power is slowly but methodically being restored and scattered debris from this ugly storm still mars the Houston landscape. In many areas, giant trees felled by Ike are cohabitants inside homes that were once peaceful respites from the outside world.
But you also see neighbors helping neighbors and people with restored electrical power sharing it with people who have yet to get it back. Neighbors held hostage in their homes by fallen trees in their driveway or thoroughfare have gained freedom by neighbors that used chain saws and sheer grit to grant access to those imprisoned .
A “can do” spirit
Citizens on the southeastern coastal side who lost their homes have been welcomed into other people’s homes with hospitable arms. And the FEMA pods are distributing ice, water and meals for those in need. It would take a storm bigger than Texas to dampen our resolve to return to normalcy, to return to our own homes and to keep going. There is a CAN DO spirit in Houston that pervades its vast geographic population that no storm can take away. And no storm will keep Houston from coming back bigger, better and stronger than it ever was before.
As we slowly watch the day-by-day progress in a return to normalcy, we are reminded of how truly blessed we are to live in a community that values humanity, family, friends, homeownership and charitable efforts. We are also blessed with great leadership in the city, the county and suburbs, where all government officials have efficiently worked together to make Houston hot again — with no one claiming to be the hero. No one stopped to ask if they were a Republican or Democrat before listening to their updates and advice. We respected them and they respected us.
Thank goodness we have no time to watch or listen to the presidential election squabbles. Those issues seem so far removed from the vital issue at hand. Working together, each of us can claim Houston as the hero of its community and its people. Working together, each of us can do our share in building Houston back stronger than it ever was before, and that’s the only thing that makes Houston and our country great.
Toni Nelson, Director of Strategic Initiatives for Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors
digg this
save to del.icio.us
Every week I usually get an e-mail from fellow Homescape blogger, Frank Schulte-Ladbeck, on what new blog post he’s working on for the week. Frank is a Houston-based home inspector, and through his blogs he gives our readers helpful advice on inspections and tips on how to keep your family safe around the house.
With Hurricane Ike about to make landfall along the Texas Gulf Coast over the weekend, I didn’t expect Frank to have time to send me his weekly blog last week. But like the “good German,” as he often refers to himself, he managed to squeeze in time to write and e-mail me his weekly blog, in between trips to the store to stock up on food and water, and prepping his home for the powerful winds and rain that were speeding towards Houston.
Ike’s wrath
Over the weekend, Reuters reported the storm, which idled about a quarter of U.S. crude oil production and fuel-refining capacity, swamped the island city of Galveston and paralyzed Houston, the country’s fourth-largest city, shattering skyscraper windows and showering streets with debris. Houston is home to 2.2 million people with a metropolitan area of 5.6 million residents.
The death toll from the weekend storm rose to 55 across nine states, the Associated Press reported. Some 37,000 people were lodged at shelters throughout Texas, Rick Perry’s office said. Many residents were forced to abandon their coastal homes, but its believed some 10,000 people stayed behind despite official warnings to evacuate.
Ike came ashore at Galveston as a strong Category 2 storm, with heavy rains and sustained 110 mph winds, the National Hurricane Center said. By midafternoon, it had weakened to a tropical storm as it barreled northward on a path expected to bring heavy rains across a swath of the country stretching into Canada.
The storm flooded Galveston, sending waves over a 17-foot seawall built to protect the city after a hurricane killed at least 8,000 people in 1900. More than half the city’s 60,000 residents fled before Ike arrived, but some 2,000 people are believed to have stayed behind. Although Houston may have averted a direct hit, heavy winds and rain knocked out power lines across the city, leaving thousands of residents without electricity, idling pumping stations and cutting off the water supply to many affected areas.
CenterPoint Energy said that it had restored power to nearly 300,000 customers throughout the Houston area,as of noon Sunday. More than 1.8 million customers, approximately 81 percent of the 2.26 million CenterPoint Energy customers still remain without power, especially in the southern and eastern quadrants of its grid, where Hurricane Ike hit the hardest.
Still without electricity at his own home, Frank, the diligent German that he is, managed to make his way up to Sugarland, TX, to borrow a computer and send me an e-mail Tuesday morning. While we won’t be expecting a blog from our colorful home inspector this week, I’m glad to report that Frank and his family are safe, working with their community to help clean up the mess Ike has left behind.
If you want to help hurricane victims, visit the American Red Cross Web site to find out how you can donate to disaster relief.
Got hot local housing tips or a story you want to share? Contact Amy Le at openingdoorsblog@homescape.com.
The Houston residential real estate market is experiencing a return to a market we experienced right before it reached its peak in 2007. Our market is emulating 2005, which at the time was the greatest market Houston had ever seen. In fact, most of the current statistics are better than those of 2005.
Despite a robust economy blessed with energy, oil, a world-renown medical center and a nationally strategic port, the nation is experiencing a “psychological recession” — and Houston is not immune. The constant barrage of negative national economic news has affected everyone’s psyche and made people feel insecure about the future. And yet, there is very little basis for it.
Robust Houston market
While job cuts, corporate restructuring, higher gas prices and a bear market are unfortunate and depressing, the American free enterprise system has always experienced periods of eliminating waste and reorganization to move to a higher level of productivity in the future. We rarely hear the good news that our economy is strong and the unemployment rate is low in comparison to other historical periods of adjustment. And that’s most unfortunate, because it affects the economy. There is no basis for Houston to experience the current market, however, we cannot inoculate ourselves from the psychological recession.
We are lucky to live, work and play in Houston, and if you like population growth, think of an overlay the size of the city of Los Angeles coming to Houston in the next decade. There’s a huge real estate opportunity waiting to happen. Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States, located in a culturally diverse metropolitan region, which is home to 5.6 million residents. The city is growing at twice the national pace. It has one of the lowest costs of living, an educated workforce and is home to 88 consulates, which is a testament to its international influence.
For a concise picture of the Houston economy, go to www.houston.org/rankings and you will find 26 national publication rankings of first place in job growth, business climate, health care and lower cost of living. The factors ranked are key drivers of any real estate market, and one of the reasons that despite a temporary slow down, Houston still boasts a positive median and average sales price. It also indicates that today is probably the best time to invest in real estate in Houston.
Houston Real Estate Market Report:
• Sales, year to date (YTD): 37, 038
• Dollar volume sales: $7.855 billion
• Avg. sales price: $212,085
• Median price: $154,000
• Avg. days on market: 84
• Pending contracts: 27,215
• No. of listings: 35,700
This year could close out the same or slightly above the third greatest year in Houston’s residential history, 2005, based on the similar number of sales found July YTD 2008 as those found in July YTD 2005 and a 4.725 percent higher number of units pending this year than those found in 2005. We are currently experiencing a more positive real estate market than 2005 in terms of higher dollar volume sold, higher average sales price, higher median sales price and more pending contracts July YTD in comparison to July YTD 2005.
Jobs, interest rates and favorable home prices drive real estate, so we have an economy poised to not only absorb the additional inventory, but to move beyond previous growth cycles and set new records.
Stay tuned for next month’s Houston real estate report.
Toni Nelson, Director of Strategic Initiatives for Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors
In the sprint to attract new buyers, home builders across the country are finding creative incentives to whet consumer appetites. From tax breaks to free homes, developers are promising everything under the sun to win over new customers. But Dallas-based home builder Centex, recent launch of their Energy Advantage package will have their competitors green with envy — literally.
I recently spoke with Stephen Haines, vice president of sales and marketing with the Centex Houston Division, on the company’s recent launch of their Energy Advantage homes and their decision to move in a more environmentally conscious direction.
The Energy Advantage features will be standard in all Centex homes built nationwide by January 2009, according to Haines. The initiative is geared towards creating more eco-friendly homes for people looking to significantly cut down their energy cost.
“The true cost of a home really sets in after a family moves into their new place,” Haines says. “We want to build homes that will offer people the lowest cost of living from the minute they move in.”
Exceeding code standards
Centex commissioned the National Association of Home Builders Research Center to conduct a study modeling the energy efficiency of Centex Energy Advantage-equipped homes. The NAHB Research Center concluded that Centex Energy Advantage homes in the study demonstrated an improvement in energy efficiency of up to 22 percent over comparable homes that are built to the most widely used energy efficiency code, the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code.
When compared to the energy efficiency of a typical 10-year-old home (as defined by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America Program), the Centex Energy Advantage homes in the study were shown to be up to 40 percent more energy efficient.
“There’s a lot of things about the green movement that makes you feel warm and fuzzy, but it doesn’t mean it will save you a dime,” Haines says. “Our new features offer our homebuyers cost-effective results and will help them operate their homes more efficiently.”
Energy monitor tracks usage
One of the features that Haines described that instantly caught my attention was an in-home energy monitor. Energy monitors provide real-time information about electricity usage and expense and show the effect of turning on and off various electrical components. The monitors are wired to a home’s meter. Homeowners who use energy monitors to actively manage their consumption of electricity can reduce their electricity use by 4 to 15 percent. Centex is the first national home builder to announce the installation of this type of energy monitor in every home it builds.
Features of the Energy Advantage standard package include:
• Energy monitor
• Whirlpool or KitchenAid brand Energy Star-qualified appliances
• Lennox high-efficiency HVAC system
• Programmable thermostats
• Low-emissivity windows
• Radiant-barrier roof decking
• R-38, R-40 or R-60 attic insulation (varies by climate zone)
• Compact fluorescent lights in high-traffic areas
• Information for maximizing energy efficiency and minimizing the impact of home operation on the environment
Centex’s Energy Advantage features offer home buyers the tools to better monitor their energy usage and improve efficiency. One would expect these additional eco-friendly amenities to impact the cost of a Centex home, but Haines says the company has been able to reduce the cost by making the features standard in every new home they build.
“It would cost thousands of dollars more to add these energy-efficient features in an existing home then to buy one already equipped with them,” Haines says.
Got hot local housing tips or a story you want to share? Contact Amy Le at openingdoorsblog@homescape.com.
Anyone sitting on the real estate sidelines from a media-induced coma needs to wake up and smell the future in Houston, TX. While the Houston residential real estate market is experiencing a temporary lull, as shown by the statistics below, it is not from a lack of a robust job market and economy. Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States, located in a culturally diverse metropolitan region, which is home to 5.6 million residents. The city is growing at twice the national pace. It has one of the lowest costs of living, an educated workforce and is home to 88 consulates, which is a testament to its international influence.
For a concise picture of the Houston real estate market, go to Houston.org/rankings and you will find 26 top rankings from national publications praising Houston for its job growth, business climate, health care and lower cost of living. The factors ranked are key drivers of any real estate market, and one of the reasons that Houston still boasts a positive median and average sales price despite a temporary slowdown in the national housing market. It also indicates that today is probably the best time to invest in Houston real estate.
Houston’s housing future
I predict that the number of home sales this year may end up the same or slightly higher than in June 2005, which was the third best year in Houston’s residential real estate history. This is based on the same number of homes sold in June 2008 compared to June 2005 sales and 4.2 percent more units pending this year than three years ago. We are currently experiencing a more positive real estate market now than in 2005 in terms of higher dollar volume sold, higher average sales price, median sales price and pending contracts.
Jobs, interest rates and favorable home prices drive real estate, so we have an economy poised to not only absorb the additional inventory, but to move beyond previous growth cycles and set new records.
June 2008 vs. June 2007
Single-family home sales in Houston are down by 13 percent compared to June 2007.
Dollar volume sold in MLS through June 2008 is $6,465,919,739, representing an 11 percent decline. With fewer home sales, it is logical that dollar volume sales would follow the same trend.
Active listings are up by 5 percent with 35,634 single-family properties currently available. Last month, the increase was 6 percent, and in April it was 8 percent, so it appears that supply is slowly moving in a more positive direction.
Average sales price in June was $209,545, which increased by 2 percent since last year. While this is a small increase, it bucks the national trend heard frequently in the news. Houston is not a market where average sales prices are falling. In contrast, they are rising as they have historically at a slow and steady pace. The average sales price in 2005 was $184,565, or 13.5 percent less than the current price.
The current median home value is $152,000, which represents no change from last year. In 2005, the median sales price was $139,500, and since that time, the median price has risen 9 percent.
Contracts written in June 2008, which show buyer demand, are down by 13 percent since last year, with 23,138 homes reported as pending year to date. In 2005, however, there were 4.2 percent fewer contracts writtencompared to this year. This indicates that 2008 will either exceed or at least match the record real estate figures of 2005. Average sales price per square foot is $89 this year, which represents no decline from last year.
A property’s number of days on the Houston market has risen by 10 percent since last year, and the average time to sell a home is 85 days.
Stay tuned for next month’s Houston real estate report.
Toni Nelson, Director of Strategic Initiatives for Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors
Equal Housing Opportunity