Business continues to hum in the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the area a half-hour’s drive to the north offers both commuters and the hundreds of employees of recently arrived corporations plenty of luxury real estate steeped in upscale amenities and natural beauties.
LRI’s Quick Hits:
- The Houston economy is projected to remain stable in the short- to mid-term, with continued job growth in healthcare and construction, and steady growth in oil and gas.
- Residential build-out is expected in The Woodlands by 2022, but that will boost the market for townhomes and condos.
Warning Shots
- Recent flooding and road congestion are correlated with recent surges in population and solutions are still being worked out.
- Property taxes are high but tax reform talks are ongoing.
In a lot of ways, Texas is similar to Florida. Both impose no state income tax, both have thriving oil and gas markets, and both are among the top 10 fastest-growing states in the nation. While Florida is soaking up many of those abandoning high-tax states on the East Coast, Texas is pulling folks from California, Chicago, Colorado, and yes, also New York. However, in recent years, international migration has outstripped domestic, with locales such as China, India, and Latin America contributing.
Many of these new Texans are heading for Houston to take advantage of its strong jobs numbers and affordable costs of living. Many of them are young, single professionals content with apartment life in mid-town or the Galleria area, but home buying “in the loop” (the boundary created around the city by Interstate 610) is a different story. Homes in the city carry a premium and existing homes are commonly dated and in need of fixing up.
That’s where the suburban sprawl comes in. As Houston’s nexus pushes ever wider, areas such as Pearland and Sugar Land to the south, Katy to the west, and Spring, The Woodlands, and Conroe to the north have exploded in growth, as well. The latter is our “stomping grounds” here at LRI, and we know it well. A dollar–or a million dollars–goes much farther here and can be an ideal spot to invest in a vacation or investment property.
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