Closeup shot of young friends leaning on railing. Happy friends smiling ina row. Portrait of happy girls and guys in a row thinking about their future.
Millennials flock to Houston
Per a new study by the U.S. Census Bureau, Houston is among the country’s leaders in drawing new Millennial residents. According to the study, Houston has had 15,000 new move-ins of young adults, aged 25 to 34, a year, making among the top five destinations for millennials nationally. The other four at the top of the list include Dallas, Austin, Seattle and Denver. Larger cities in the US have had more millennials moving out than in as well, with New York losing a net total of 38,000 young adults a year while other big cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego each lost between 7,000 and 19,000. The large influx of young adults to Houston could be attributed to moves for work or the appeal of a lower cost of living. The data also found a continuing trend of millennials moving to other Sun Belt cities.
Top five Houston markets found in HAR study
The Houston Association of Realtors reports that luxury homes sold for an average price of $1.3 million and spent an average 73 days on the market from April 2018 through March 2019, according to the Houston Business Journal. 83 percent of these sales were of existing homes, while 17 percent were newly construction homes. The association also reported that there was a 9 percent year-over-year increase in luxury home sales last month. The West University/Southside area topped the list of areas for the number of luxury sales, with 265, which accounted for 8.7 percent of the activity on the market. Hot on the heels of West University was the Heights/Greater Heights with 264 sales, and Memorial Villages with 246 sales (8.1 percent). The Woodlands had 239 luxury sales (7.9 percent) and Memorial West had 151 sales and five percent of the luxury market.
Average Texas homebuyer profile announced by TAR
A new report from the Texas Association of Realtors details the average profile of a Texas homebuyer. According to the report, the average Texas homebuyer is 47 years old and has a median household income of $101,700. One of every three of these buyers is a first-time buyer, with a median age of 32. The report found that 29 percent of the buyers who bought a new home decided to do so to avoid renovations. The study also found that 70 percent of buyers are married couples, followed by single female buyers at 15 percent, single males at nine percent and unmarried couples at five percent.
Flooding found to cost millions in property value
Between 2005 and 2017, houses along the Texas Gulf Coast lost more than $76 million in potential value because of flooding, according to a study by First Street Foundation. Half of that loss, $35 million, was from just five communities: Galveston, Jamaica Beach, Bolivar Peninsula and Nassau Bay, according to Houston Public Media. The total loss in potential property values came out to be $15.9 billion.