Michael Bass is a Realtor for Rene Sorola Properties at Keller Williams in the Houston area.

Every week, we ask a Houston real estate professional for their thoughts on the top three stories from the week before.

This week, we talked with Realtor Michael Bass of Rene Sorola Properties at Keller Williams in the Houston area. Bass is a lead buyers specialist, Inner Loop sales specialist and certified luxury home sales specialist for the company. He was also ranked  No. 17 out of 30,000 Realtors in the Houston Business Journal.

Houston Agent (HA): Have you seen an increase of inventory in your area? What do you think this says about the housing market?

Michael Bass (MB): Even though the market has slowed slightly, we are still seeing a very small increase in inventory. It is just getting to that part of the season where people want to wait till the beginning of the year to buy or sell. The government shutdown did not help anything out either. It caused some buyer and sellers both to pull out of the market. Since the shutdown was announced to be over, we have experienced everything to be normal for our team again. We are very fast paced so we have a great pulse on the market.

HA: Based on what you’re seeing in the housing market right now, does it look like Houston is making a recovery?

MB: Was the market ever down? Houston’s market is extremely solid. Builders cannot build fast enough and the supply simply cannot keep up with the demand. Very low interests rates are also keeping buyers on the market for the perfect property.

Next year should be very similar to this year. Our team will be setting records, no doubt. No matter what happens in the market, our team is prepared for any market at any time.

HA: What are some trends you’re noticing in Houston’s housing market this year? Has this changed from last year at all?

MB: We are seeing so many buyers willing to go full price and above. It seems as if we have a bidding war on almost every property. We are seeing staging to not be as effective in listing the way it works in a buyers market. We are seeing huge financial advantages right now to buy and sell. It’s a great time to make a move.