News / Features

Pending Home Sales Hit Highest Mark in 18 Months

Pending home sales shot up in January, suggesting positive numbers down the road. Pending home sales hit their highest level in 18 months in January, according to the latest analysis from the National Association of Realtors. The Pending Home

What Qualifying Income Does Your Clients Need to Buy in Houston?

In the end, buying a home all comes down to dollars and cents, and Houston’s qualifying incomes differ in interesting ways with the rest of the U.S. To qualify for a mortgage on a 5 percent down payment, Houston homebuyers

Irony Strikes The Woodlands

Irony strikes The Woodlands as builders clear cut new village. One of, if not the, premier neighborhood in Houston, The Woodlands, a nearby escape from the clutter and bustle of city life, has managed to attract some of the

CMO-less Century 21 Releases 2015 Strategy

Century has been without a CMO for months, but the company is still moving forward with an eventful 2015 strategy. It has been five months since Century 21’s Chief Marketing Officer Bev Thorne parted ways with the company, and

Eastern Exodus From Houston’s Energy Corridor

Oil prices and new developments are pushing Houston builders to the city’s east side. In recent years, Houston’s single greatest economic influencer has pushed along development in the city: energy. Massive injections of jobs due to the consistently high

What Do Single Men, Single Women and Married Couples Value in a Home?

When it comes to a home’s features, does one’s gender/relationship status impact how they prioritize the features? Walk-in closets, new kitchen appliances, nine-foot ceilings, single-level living – all are distinctive features to a home, and research from NAR suggests

Another Sign That First-Time Buyers are Missing in Action

First-time homebuyers are a scarce bunch, these days. Just when it seemed that the news on first-time homebuyers could not get any more distressing, here comes a new report from RealtyTrac to pour salt on the wounds. In short,

3 Important Trends in New Construction Housing

It’s a whole new world out there for new construction, as stunning stat after stunning stat drives home. The Census Bureau’s latest report on new single-family home sales is out, and its findings, at least on the surface, were

Harris County Saves More by Refinancing

SmartAsset evaluated refinancing around Texas and the country to find that Houstonians are saving more. In Harris County, residents are saving more each year on mortgage refinancing than anywhere else in the state, an analysis from SmartAsset, a personal finance website,

Zillow Wins the Battle – Move is Ready for the War

A California judge granted Zillow’s temporary restraining order to keep ListHub data flowing to Trulia. But will they win the case?   The verdict is in – at least for now – and until March 12, a California judge ruled

Huge Share of Millennials Return Home After Moving Out

The past few months, we’ve reported on the many thorny issues facing Millennials – that their wages in many industries have plummeted in recent years; that their savings rate is negative; that they have pushed roommate rates up to

Texas Price Growth Remains Strong in New Case-Shiller

Texas continued to lead the pack in the latest Case-Shiller Home Price Index. Home prices in the Lone Star State remained strong in the latest Case-Shiller Home Price Indices. Though the indices do not track Houston, prices were very encouraging in Dallas,

3 Remarkable Charts on How Construction Has Shifted Towards Multifamily Developments

In a recent article on new construction, we reported that the multifamily share of total construction had risen from 17.2 percent of the market in Jan. 2002 to 35.1 percent of the market in Jan. 2014. Such a striking

NAR: Existing-Home Sales Hit Nine-Month Low

Agents are working hard to make 2015 a profitable year, but low inventories are keeping sales slow. January marked the start of a new year, but it was hardly the hit the ground running beginning the market was hoping

Bad News For the Middle Class = Bad News For Housing

Whenever you see a report on America’s evaporating middle class, you should think about the implications for housing. Homeownership is a defining symbol of American middle class life; indeed, the quintessential image of a single-family detached house, complete with

Why is Builder Confidence So Out of Touch with Reality?

Builder confidence is far above the rate of new construction; what gives? Here’s an interesting nuance to the housing recovery: the Housing Market Index, which tracks builder confidence, dropped a couple points from January to February, finishing at 55;

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