Houston-based SWMJ Construction announced that they will no longer only be a government rehabilitation and remodeling and small to medium commercial construction group; the company will enter the residential remodeling industry because, the company says, the Houston market has started to recover.

 
Prudential Gary Greene Realtors were honored at the Prudential Real Estate Services national convention in Orlando, Fl., with the Prudential Networks award for being the top contributors to the Sunshine Kids Foundation. Over the course of 2011, the firm contributed over $318,000 to the charity. Prudential Gary Greene has been working with since 1992, and since then, has given almost $3 million.

 
Mary Keen of Prudential Gary Greene Realtors of the Bay Area, has received the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) Lifetime achievement award of 2011.
The HAR Lifetime Achievement award is given annually to a real estate agent who is ethical, moral, hard working, of good reputation and makes a difference in the community. The nominations for the award are made by past recipients.

Month after month, data comes out affirming the rising demand for rental units, and like the wider world of real estate, fresh and unusual details often accompanies it.
A recent Wall Street Journal piece on the rent/homeownership dichotomy has presented a most interesting example – currently, there are more houses for rent than there are apartment buildings.

Hatch+Ulland Owen Architects (H+UOA) have announced that M Station, their recently designed and finished, multifamily community has been nominated by Envision Central Texas (ECT) for its 2012 Community Stewardship Award.
The award is presented by ECT to recognize and honor innovative people, projects and processes which address growth and the challenges facing the Central Texas Region in ways that will “ensure the quality of life.”

The two major price indices of the Case-Shiller, the 10- and 20-City Composites, showed annual declines of 3.6 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively, which brought the indices to new post-bubble lows.
The declines, though, were less than in January, when the indices fell 4.1 percent and 3.9 percent from the year before.

Numerous reality television shows spotlighting renovation nightmares have popped up in recent years, and some are questioning their impact on potential homebuyers.
Displaying the ugly side of buying a beautiful home, several of the shows were highlighted in a recent article published in the New York Times that addressed the shows’ impact.

Texas agents are investing in the real estate profession with a state-wide roll out of Texas Realtors University. According to PR Newswire, the new model is designed to boost agent preparedness and industry professionalism.
The association plans to “bridge the agent education gap” in preparation for what they believe will be a market resurgence that will happen in the coming year.

Houston’s real estate market enjoyed yet another positive month in March, with home sales rising 7.8 percent year-over-year.

Prudential Gary Greene Realtor Dinora Rubio, from the Wallisville office, received the 2011 Rookie of the Year award at a ceremony at the Westin Memorial City. Partners of the company Maryland Eiland and Mark Woodroof presented Rubio with the award.