Results tagged “housingmarket”

Good morning, Houston. Sure, the national economy may be going to hell in a handbasket, but look on the bright side: Houston's housing market is remaining pretty strong, so at least you homeowners have something of value! According to a new report, the median home value in Houston fell just $500 between the end of the third quarter 2007 and the end of the year, to $119,300 from $119,800 — still a gain of more than $4,000 over the 2006 year-end average of $115,700. Oh, one other thing: People from more expensive markets are apparently discovering that things are cheaper here. "Areas in Texas, which we have long characterized as undervalued, are now attracting significant migration at the expense of much higher-cost metros of California or Florida," the report said. Oh, .

Wednesday morning HPD raided the Silve Trading Post, a Houston building supply retailer known as "Little Home Depot." Although owner Bernie Gonzalez has maintained that everything about her business is legal, she is suspected of selling stolen materials and running the biggest dealer in the city's building supplies black market. When pressed on the issue, Gonzalez said that she believes the materials that are delivered to her and then sold aren't stolen, they're just leftovers.

For the past year or so, we’ve been hearing about the sagging housing market around the nation – home sales falling, prices are falling, the sky is falling. Once gain, Houston bucks that trend.

It looks like Houston will escape the housing market-bust that many other metropolitan areas will experience, says University of Houston economist Barton Smith. He spoke about the uniqueness of our market yesterday to over 1,000 people at a real estate program. The downside of the good news is that our good housing market has to do with higher energy prices, since Houston is a mecca for energy companies. “This won't produce a '70s boom...

featured a segment focusing on Houston and the growing problem of thieves at construction sites. They take everything from wood to air conditioners — even grass. It's a problem everywhere, but with Houston’s booming housing market, the problem seems more severe here.