Page 1B • The Leader • March 23, 2013 • www.theleadernews.com
Expert
Opinions
Each month, we ask a panel of Realtors and business people in the area for an opinion on a speciďŹ c topic. Here was the question this month, and their answers below. Residential activity in the Heights, Garden Oaks and Oak Forest has been at record highs for a number of months. In fact, the biggest challenge isn’t selling houses, it’s ďŹ nding houses to sell. With all the activity – including sales, remodeling and construction – what kind of impact is that going to have on commercial real estate? In your experience, do residential home sales at this level result in commercial growth, or are the two completely separate?
David H. Frost, Realtor Prudential Anderson Properties In my experience, when you have “booming neighborhoods,â€? new construction, and an inux of new residents to certain subdivisions, they demand new and increased “services.â€? For instance, on a small scale, in Garden Oaks, you have the relatively new Shepherd Park Draught House and Cottonwood. In the Oak Forest/43rd Street commercial area, you have the relatively new Plonk; on the corner of Oak Forest and Judaway, you have the “repurposedâ€? Oak Forest Chill. If the public demands it and market studies and the economy support it...you’ll see commercial growth.
Trends: Home sales data shows 77007 on fire The 77007 ZIP code – the neighborhoods south of I-10 stretching from Memorial Park to downtown – again outpaced all Leader areas in single-family home sale figures released Tuesday by the Houston Association of Realtors. February sales in 77007 were up 65 percent over the same month in 2012, with 38 properties changing hands, and the average price soared to nearly a half-million dollars, up a hefty 25 percent over February last year. Overall in other Leader neighborhoods, sales last month flattened a bit, but there were hopeful signs in nearly every ZIP code. For the second consecutive month, the 77091 ZIP code northwest showed signs of becoming a hot market. Although only seven homes sold – the same as this time last year – the average price leaped 50 percent, from $83,000 to
$124,000. In the Heights 77008 ZIP, both sales and prices rose only slightly. Thirty-four homes were sold, 6 percent more than last year, and their average price was $337,000, an increase of 4.6 percent. Both the 77009 and 77018 ZIPS were down 20 percent in sales, but prices on the 16 homes sold in the 09 ZIP, in the east portion of the Heights, jumped 12 percent to $304,000, and in the 018 ZIP, encompassing Garden Oaks and Oak Forest, prices on the 24 homes sold showed a 27.5 percent hike, for an average of $293,000. The 77092 ZIP in northwest Houston was off in sales, down from 14 last year to 11 in February this year, but prices rose by 6.5 percent, to an average of $151,000.
The big picture Overall, home buyers kept Houston-area Realtors hopping in February, generating a 15.5 percent increase in sales compared to the same month last year, according to the latest monthly data compiled by HAR. The buying spree held local housing inventory to the same level as January — 3.6 months — which is the lowest supply of homes on the market since December 1999. February marked the 21st consecutive month of increased home sales, with average and median prices reaching the highest levels for a February in Houston. Contracts closed on 4,407 single-family homes during the month. All housing segments
see Trends • Page 2B
Thanks... From the State
Cecil & Janet Schmidt Prudential Premier Properties It is probably no secret, that Houston is the fastest growing city in the United States over the last decade. We are currently ranked No. 5 in population in the metropolitan areas of the United States. There is also an insurgence of businesses from other states due to our more tax-friendly environment. Therefore, there is a greater demand for homes, especially when located close to downtown areas. I ďŹ nd The Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest, and the surrounding areas increasing in value due to this high demand.
Richard Ray John Daugherty Realtors Commercial growth is inevitable when you have robust residential sales of the type that is occurring in the Oak Forest area. In this scenario, many of the homes sales are coming from new construction homes that are being built. These homes are priced higher than the homes that they are replacing. Therefore, the median income level of the buyers who are now residents of this area is rising, which will eventually attract commercial development. More than likely, it will begin with commercial retail properties which will provide shopping centers for residents who are looking for groceries, restaurants and other retail shops and stores. Commercial developers are constantly on the lookout for the next hotspot of activity that warrants additional development of urban shopping centers. New home sales and a urry of home renovations are excellent indicators of the potential need for additional commercial development to serve the new and existing residents in that neighborhood. All of this is excellent news for the growth and vitality of the area.
Barbara Raines Keller Williams The Heights, Garden Oaks and Oak Forest are in a very exciting and expanding growth market with homes selling quickly (3-4 month inventory, lowest since 1999), remodeling and new constrction.These areas are also seeing more density than there has been in the past 5-7 years. People today are placing more value on their time motivating them to live closer to work and demanding more conveniently located shopping, eateries and community support services. These demands are translating into higher activities in the commercial markets across the spectrum. In my opinion, residential growth equals growth in commercial activities.
Bill Baldwin Boulevard Realty
Shannon and Michael Hugetz’s Do-Over of their Garden Oaks home expanded the living space, but adding two rainwater collection tanks, including the one on the right, enabled them to include a lap pool in the redesign. (Photos by Cynthia Lescalleet)
Yard tanks earn Garden Oaks home renovation applause by Cynthia Lescalleet For The Leader
Do residential home sales result in commercial growth? At the record level of activity we have been experiencing in the Heights, Garden Oaks and Oak Forest, I certainly believe that residential growth has directly impacted commercial expansions. But which came ďŹ rst, the chicken or the egg? For example, although many residents of the Heights area fought against the building of the Walmart store on Yale Street, this and the other commercial developments were completed to support the inux of consumers to the area. And, to support the demand for new business services in the area, we’re seeing more new housing, especially in the form of multi-family dwellings that are being built along Yale, Waugh and Washington Avenue. Improving residential markets and healthy consumer spending will certainly produce commercial growth, and vice versa.
John Doody Doody & Associates My perspective starts with the inux of people into the region. Some estimate 50,000 relocations to Texas per month. Distribute that number amongst the four metropolitan areas of Texas. Therefore we are getting 12,000 people per month coming to southeast Texas. In California, a bungalow becomes a McMansion in Texas. In Michigan, a mansion becomes a bungalow in Texas. With so many people, and so few aordable prices; Buy ďŹ rst, move second. Since so many move here for work, the job is lined up, but not the accomodations. How close to work must you reside? Eastern cities with subways and els make commuting resonable. In western cities, expect to drive. In this scenario, commercial will lag residential activity. Clear as mud?
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“Scope creep� – that insidious growth of a project beyond its original vision – morphed a Garden Oaks remodeling design’s “water feature� into a lap pool. And the initial rainwater collection barrel became a pair of steel tank systems. Homeow ners Shannon A monthly look at a and Michael renovation project in Hugetz could our neighborhoods. not be more pleased with the water-conscious results, which also netted a slightly expanded living space for the family. By harvesting rainwater to fill the pool, flush toilets in the home and irrigate the landscaping, the redo offsets increases in water usage from the larger home and its outdoor amenities. Their conservation-minded project earned a Texas Rain Catcher Award last month from the Texas Water Development Board. Shannon Hugetz hopes their project and its recognition “gets
DOVER
the concept out there� and prompts other homeowners to explore it at whatever price point their budgets enable. Her advice is to “pick the right contractors and let them work at the pace they need to work. Be patient.�
Square feet, round tanks “We were ‘talking tanks’ from the get-go,� the energy software and business analyst recalled of the 2010 remodeling project. The original home, purchased before they had children, had 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. A 2001 remodeling tweaked the kitchen, upgraded the bathroom and enclosed part of the attic. Phase II added about 600 sq. ft. and reworked some existing space to add a family room and screened porch off the back and a master suite with pool-view balcony upstairs. The current home is slightly more than 2,500 sq. ft., clad in shade-shifting green planks and sports a shallow front porch. Michael Hugetz, who works in pipeline finance, said their pursuit
see Do-Over • Page 3B
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The Hugetzes remodeling project included a Do-Over of their water usage, too, with the installation of two 3,000-gallon rainwater collection tanks.