What Real Estate Trends Are Taking Hold in Houston?

There are many great Houston area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at 832-428-6453 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Hey everyone, thanks again for joining us for another market update. The spring market, one of the busiest times of the year, is nearly upon us. Today we are going to go through some of the current numbers for the Houston real estate market, and let you know what the numbers mean for the state of our market.

• Single-family home sales are up about 6%, and home sales are up 2.5% overall. 
• Our dollar volume is up slightly from last year.
• The average days on market is currently at 57.
• Inventory is still low in some areas, but is steadily creeping up.
• We expect home appreciation to remain steady in 2015, at around 4-6%.

We are currently in a seller's market, but things are starting to even back out. Builders will be catching up with demand, and the disparity between buyers and sellers will probably even out sooner rather than later. There have been a lot of rumblings lately about oil prices, but as far as we can tell, they haven't had an immediate effect on the housing market. We will keep an eye on this as the year progresses.

If you have any questions for us at all about the market, we would be glad to help you out. We want to be your #1 resource for real estate news and information, and we are always just a phone call or email away!

Are You Getting the Tax Breaks You Deserve?

There are many great Houston area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at 832-428-6453 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Today I wanted to share some tips with you to save you some money in 2015. I can't believe it's already February, because we've been very busy already this year, which is a great sign for the Houston real estate market.

The first thing that we should talk about is the Homestead exemption. If you lived on your property through January 1st and it's your primary residence, you're going to be eligible for a Homestead, which will save you a considerable amount when you pay taxes. If you bought a home last year, make sure to document it and get that exemption in place. If you already have a Homestead exemption, you can go to www.HCAD.org and check to make sure your Homestead exemption is in place.

The other thing we need to speak about is insurance. The costs of construction have risen sharply in the last few years, so if you file an insurance claim and need to rebuild something, you need to make sure you're covered for the increased costs of building. Be sure to speak with your insurance agent if you have not done so in a while, so that when you file a claim, you'll be covered.

In the next couple of weeks, I'll be updating you on the real estate market here in Houston. Stay tuned, because we're expecting big things here in Houston for 2015.

As always, reach out to us if you need any assistance. We're always happy to help!
 

Where are Home Prices Headed in 2015?

There are many great Houston area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at 832-428-6453 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

 Where are Home Prices Headed in 2015?

It may be hard to believe, but we are already well into December. This year has gone by so fast and we are looking forward to a nice holiday break. However, before we sign off for 2014, we wanted to address some things in our market report. First, the national market.

A recent Case-Shiller report indicated that there has been a broad-based slowdown for home prices. Results showed that home prices continue to decelerate, but we have to look at that in context. The report addresses that since last month, home prices have decreased from 5.6% to 4.9%. However, when compared to last year, home prices are still up 4.9%. 
Where are home prices headed? Well, according to 100 of the top economists in the country, we are looking at a steady increase in home prices over the next 5 years.