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Houston Texas Real Estate Blog > Spring Update: A Buyer's Market for Houston Real Estate?Spring Update: A Buyer's Market for Houston Real Estate?Contributed by Frank Schulte-Ladbeck on March 24, 2008 Spring has arrived by we still have some cold weather. This is the time of year when many sellers are starting to place their homes on the market, and many buyers begin their search. It is a good time for both activities, since moving into the home at the end of the school year is preferable. One couple who has started their quest for a home this weekend said that they were happy to begin now in this buyer's market, but I had some reservations. The Realtor Association has been keeping its members abreast of developments in the real estate market here in Houston, and we seem to be following and not following the national trends at the same time still. Housing prices are steadily moving up. Houston never experienced the huge boom into home prices, so we could not really fall. The median home price continues to rise over last years figures. We are just over $190,000 now for a median price. The rising prices of homes is more of an indicator of a seller's market. Buyers are not in the market for a home. Compared to last year's sales, the real estate market in Houston has noticeably decreased sales in January and February. With tightening standards for obtaining a loan, and rising prices of staple goods, consumers appear to be avoiding large purchases at this time. This fact bodes well for the idea that it is a buyer's market. I was asked to look at some appraised values of homes in comparison to some asking prices for a couple of homes. When I noticed an interesting fact, I looked at a variety of homes in one particular zip code. I did not survey every single home that was on the market, but a trend seemed to be developing. For most homes the asking price was slightly higher than the appraised value when the home was appraised for under $250,000. Above that appraisal, I found that many homeowners were asking slightly less than appraised value. This indicates that higher value homes are being priced to sell more often than lower value homes. There could be a number of factors for this fact, such as people wanting to move out quickly because they have a new job in a different city. I would like to see if these homeowners would still be willing to negotiate for even lower prices. At the very least, this behavior shows that in one segment of the market, we do have a buyer's market. Commercial real estate has been having something of a boom in Houston for the past several months, but now there are worries that this might come to an end. Houston has long been loathe to regulate what a property owner could do with his land, but our city may be enacting new regulations to control some of this growth. No new regulation is in place yet, but the fear in the business community has been that these new rules will restrict some building locations, or what can be placed on the land. Public protest over some new ventures, like the Ashby Highrise, has focused attention on the need for infrastructure to keep up with growth and on reasonable plans that fit into existing neighborhoods will be needed. It certainly is an interesting time for the real estate industry, and no one has a crystal ball that will accurately predict what will happen this year. For example, my business is up from last year at this time, but I feel that this is due to marketing rather than a general trend. Having lived through other recessions, I know that by acting prudently, you will still be able to achieve your goals. Comments:No comments have been submitted yet.
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