Friday, June 9, 2023
Thursday, June 8, 2023
Cheaper to Buy that to Rent In Houston
Click HERE to read the original article from The Real Deal.
By Brandon Sams
Houston, we have a solution: buy, don’t rent.
Houston is one of only four cities in the United States where it is cheaper to buy a single-family home than rent one, according to Redfin. Philadelphia, Cleveland and Detroit are the other three.
The website compared March median monthly rent prices of single-family homes to house payments, calculated with the assumption of a 5 percent down payment and 6.5 percent mortgage rate. In Houston, they were almost equal, with a 1 percent difference between mortgage and rent payments.
The median monthly single-family rent in Houston was $2,371, and the median monthly mortgage payment was $2,343.
“I can look in League City, Katy, Sugar Land, or I can look in Cypress and find places in the low $200s,” said Daniela Sumbera of Keller Williams Northeast’s Sumbera Team. “You can find rentals for about $2,000. Obviously, they’ll be more expensive in the inner city, but you can still own in the suburbs.”
Stagnant home prices are contributing to affordability, the report found. Home affordability has become a problem across the country, with the national median home price increasing 131 months in a row, according to the National Association of Realtors. However, they dropped in February and March by almost one percentage point.
Houston saw a different trend. Median home prices in Greater Houston increased one-third of a percent year-over-over from $339,900 to $340,000 in April, and the market has remained stable.
“We didn’t have a big housing bubble where our prices just increased dramatically in a short period of time. Prices have always increased slightly,” said Cathy Treviño, Houston Association of Realtors chairwoman. “This is a good thing, because then when the market shifts, you don’t have a sharp decline like Austin, where their home prices rose dramatically in a short period of time, and now they’re seeing the prices of homes declining just as dramatically.”
Increased demand in the rental market could be another trend to blame for the relative surge in rental costs, as would-be homebuyers increasingly opt to wait out interest rate hikes, which reached a 16-year high of over 5 percent this month. It’s simple supply and demand, Treviño said. As the supply of available homes has decreased, the rental market has seen a boom in attention and price.
“The rental market is definitely our sweet spot right now, because consumers are still having a little bit of scarcity, just kind of watching the market to see what will happen, as interest rate hikes have priced some people out,” Treviño said.
Relatively low housing inventory in Greater Houston is also a factor. Pre-pandemic, the inventory of homes stood at 25,000. However, the current figure hovers at 17,000, higher than last year’s numbers but remaining historically low. Prospective buyers are choosing to rent as they not only wait out interest rate hikes but also await their dream home to come on the market, Treviño said.
Saturday, September 14, 2019
There are costs beyond the sales price
If you are saving money to purchase a home and this you only need an amount equal to the down payment you might be surprised to know that you will need a little bit more than that. But how much is enough. Take a look at this article I found on our Texas Realtors online magazine site to get a better idea. And of course, we would be glad to sit down with you and talk specific details, tailored to your needs and wants.
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Texas state income tax ????????????
The language on the ballot of the upcoming election is totally confusing. Will it result in Texas starting to collect a state income tax?
Texas does not have a state income tax which balances out our "higher than many states" property taxes. But on November 5th there is something on the ballot that we voters need to read VERY CAREFULLY. Have you read the way TX proposition 4 is written? It's about a future state income tax and most people will quickly say HECK NO to taxes then vote NO for the proposition................but hang on a minute. If you read the way it is worded you might want to vote YES. I've been taught "let your YES be YES and your NO be NO". Next month when I vote my YES will mean NO. Watch the attached news clip from Channel 6 KRIS-TV in Corpus Christi. Channel 6 KRIS-TV
Monday, June 3, 2013
Mortgage rates on the rise?
Because the real estate market is smoking hot in many parts
of the country, buyers are finding the cost of owning a home is rising
sometimes dramatically in short periods of time. But there is a less visible sign that the
cost of home ownership is increasing, and that is the cost of money, mortgage
interest rates to be exact. Today, I
received my weekly interest rate update from one of the lenders with whom I
work. I have been tracking interest
rates weekly since May 2008 and what that chart shows is dramatic. While the official numbers may show something
slightly different, my tracking shows that mortgage rates for 30 year fixed
rate mortgages bottomed out at 3.375% in about July 2012. They bounced up and down from that point but
never got below that floor. The last
time the rate was at 3.375% was December 2012. Today the rate in my weekly update was 4.125%,
an increase of 0.75% in about a 6 month period.
It is commonly believed among economists and other experts
that the reason rates have remained low for as long as they have is because the
Federal Reserve Bank has been buying up treasury bonds which keeps the price of
bonds high and the yield (the interest rate) low. In effect the US government has been lending
money to itself, a practice that many people refer to as printing money. The problem is that this eventually will
cause inflation to raise its ugly head.
I mention this because the number one factor affecting the rise and fall
of interest rates is inflation. Low
inflation equals low interest rates. Are
we beginning to see signs of inflation in the US economy? Perhaps.
Time will tell.
For the homebuyer this is important because an increase in
interest rates definitely affects the affordability of a home. A 1% increase in the interest rate is equal
to a 10% cost in the selling price of a home.
So with home prices and mortgage rates trending up homebuyers are
finding themselves hit with a double whammy, increasing prices and increasing
cost of borrowing. Still a bit of
perspective is needed here. Even at
4.125% mortgage rates are a bargain.
Historically, mortgage rates have hovered around 8 or 9% and have soared
as high as 18 or 19%. The later was
during times of high inflation in the mid 1970s. Are we headed there again? It’s difficult to say for sure. As they say, ask a dozen economists and you
will get a dozen different answers. I,
for one, as a non-economist, believe that they are headed up. For now I believe that it is sufficient to
say that rates are still good and home buyers should take advantage of them
while they can.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
BACK ON THE MARKET
Terrific 1 story floor plan, 11-ft coffered ceilings opens to formals w/ hardwood floors. Den features a cast-stone fireplace & ceramic tile flooring. All 4 BRs have hardwood floors. Island kitchen has GE stainless appliances, granite countertops & 42-inch Kent Moore cabinets. Game room set off breakfast room is only room with carpet. 2 walk-in closets in master bath. 4th BR can be private guest suite w/ full bath. Covered back patio. Sprinkler system. 3-car attached tandem garage. FREE RECORDED INFO CALL 1-888-266-0724 CODE # 2268 Click ROZIERTEAM to see the photos. Keller Williams Premier Realty Katy; 22762 Westheimer Pkwy, Ste 430; Katy TX 77450. To see this home call the RozierTeam directly at 281-395-0680.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Friday, June 29, 2012
Gated community, affordable home, south Katy
Very spacious layout; wood floors galore!!
Need a 2nd master suite or 7th BR with full bath???
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