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Reporting of low house prices in the city limits of Houston is a bit of an illusion, true, because the city limits expand to many low density suburban areas tha

Reporting of low house prices in the city limits of Houston is a bit of an illusion, true, because the city limits expand to many low density suburban areas that can have an hour commute to downtown in traffic. And there definitely several neighborhoods where one can participate in California-style bidding wars with other rich folks -- if you want a safe, walkable neighborhood close to the city center next to a good elementary school, expensive salons, and several fine sushi places, you will pay a lot. However, in Houston you always at least have the option of buying a cheaper house farther away. That's not even to mention the rents, which as far as I can tell have barely budged in the past 6+ years.

bob1029 6y ago
Agreed on rent. It is holding really stable, but that will change once investors run out of $200~300k houses to slurp up. We are getting to the end of the song as far as I can tell. Last house I looked at under $300k had over 50 offers.
technofiend 6y ago
> if you want a safe, walkable neighborhood close to the city center next to a good elementary school, expensive salons, and several fine sushi places, you will pay a lot. However, in Houston you always at least have the option of buying a cheaper house farther away. Yes if you wait for others to gentrify a neighborhood you'll pay the price. The third option is to take a risk and be an early adopter in an inner city neighborhood. Midtown used to be shotgun shacks that dated back to late 1800s. Now it's a sea of condominiums. East of Downtown (aka EaDo) was post-wwii starter homes and industrial, it too is now townhomes and condos. Third Ward (my neighborhood) was a mix of rental property and retirees and now has high and medium density housing mixed with condos and townhomes which are slowly pressing East towards TSU and U of H. The same happened to Moody Park area and Acres Homes is next.

bob1029 6y ago

Agreed on rent. It is holding really stable, but that will change once investors run out of $200~300k houses to slurp up. We are getting to the end of the song as far as I can tell. Last house I looked at under $300k had over 50 offers.

technofiend 6y ago

> if you want a safe, walkable neighborhood close to the city center next to a good elementary school, expensive salons, and several fine sushi places, you will pay a lot. However, in Houston you always at least have the option of buying a cheaper house farther away. Yes if you wait for others to gentrify a neighborhood you'll pay the price. The third option is to take a risk and be an early adopter in an inner city neighborhood. Midtown used to be shotgun shacks that dated back to late 1800s. Now it's a sea of condominiums. East of Downtown (aka EaDo) was post-wwii starter homes and industrial, it too is now townhomes and condos. Third Ward (my neighborhood) was a mix of rental property and retirees and now has high and medium density housing mixed with condos and townhomes which are slowly pressing East towards TSU and U of H. The same happened to Moody Park area and Acres Homes is next.