I'm asked this question five or six times a day. "How's the real estate market in The Woodlands, Texas?"
Here's what I think and know.
Buyer activity has slowed to tortotise pace. Suppressed activity is due primarily to phycological and seasonal factors. It appears that the people are not fearful of losing their jobs, but the spectacular Wall Street meltdown, Water-Boarding media coverage and the very real Retirement Account Haircut has peoplepissed angry panicked sad frozen fearfully cautious. When people are fearful, they slow way down, plus real estate activity always ebbs during the Holiday Season. As a result, buyer activity in The Woodlands has cooled but it hasn't frozen. Sales prices aren't plunging, but sales units dwindle.
I believe that as Wall Street settles bottoms bottoms, the elections conclude and retirement account stop hemorrhaging, people will feel safer and pent up demand will reheat real estate activity.
Another frequently asked question, "What about foreclosures in The Woodlands?" Here's the deal. There aren't many. The Woodlands real estate market has been bull strong for years. As you can see from the first picture below (Blue Headline), there have been only 64 Foreclosures Sold in The Woodlands Year To Date. These 64 Closings represent less than 3.5% of the total number of sold properties. Here's the rest of the story, while rare, the average price per square foot is $36 less than the total average, and they sell fast. If you find one and you like it, don't screw around, take action or it's gone.
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Sold Foreclosures - 64 Properties Found - The Woodlands, TX - 1/1/08 to 10/24/08
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|
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SqFt
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LP/SqFt
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List Price
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SP/SqFt
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Sale Price
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SP/LP %
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DOM
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Year Built
|
|
Min
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1028
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45.5
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74900
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44.532
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68000
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75 %
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3
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1969
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Avg
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3211.641
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92.532
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297181
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83.12
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266950.078
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89.8 %
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57.25
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1992
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Max
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24586
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254.859
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3500000
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228.199
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2650000
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146 %
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261
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2006
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Median
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2376.5
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71.819
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153900
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70.419
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149750
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96
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37
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1991
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The picture below includes statistical data for all Houston Multiple Listing Service - Single Family closed properties in The Woodlands, Year to Date.
Interesting tidbits - Average Sold Price = $355,031.
Days on Market for Sold Properties is 65...the average number of Day On Market for Active Listings is just under 100. If you're a seller and your home has been on the market for over 100 days, you'll want to adjust something - the marketing, the merchandising/staging and or the price. Also, you can compare these statical number to most any real estate market in America, the real estate market in The Woodlands has been rock solid and positive. The future shouldn't me much different.
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Sold Single Family/All - 1791 Properties Found - The Woodlands, TX - 1/1/08 to 10/24/08
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SqFt
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LP/SqFt
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List Price
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SP/SqFt
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Sale Price
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SP/LP %
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DOM
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Year Built
|
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Min
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0
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45.5
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68900
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44.532
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68000
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75 %
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0
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1965
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Avg
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2960.697
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124.746
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369334
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119.915
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355031.526
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96.1 %
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64.77
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1996
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Max
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24586
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406.746
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5900000
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381.944
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5000000
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146 %
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1010
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2008
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Median
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2658
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103.074
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257690
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99.309
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250202
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97
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41
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1999
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Keep in mind that real estate markets are hyper-local. This data represents the big Woodlands picture, specific trends and conditions for your specific neighborhood can be determined by consulting with a savvy, feet on the street Realtor Icon.
If you have any questions about real estate in general or I can help you with anything, give me a call: Ken Brand @ 832-797-1779. Or you can ask a question in the comment section and I'll get back to you.
If you're a Realtor Icon and you'd like some tips on how to track the market - Click Here
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;)
;)
Ken,
As a realtor don't you believe that our real esate market has been hurt more by the national media who tells everyone how bad the market is? The real estate market is very regional and I think we our getting feed too much news from other places and not a true picture of our actual market.