Hurricane Harvey's Impact on Houston Real Estate Market
Best And Worst Houston Neighborhoods Two Months After Harvey
Two months after Hurricane Harvey, see which Houston neighborhoods are most and least affected by the Hurricane.
It’s been two months since Hurricane Harvey ravaged the Houston area (and the Houston Astros are now World Series Champions!!!)
As part of our Houston Hurricane Flooding Series (see the One Month Hurricane Harvey Lookback and the Houston Condos and Neighborhoods That Did Not Flood) we have an updated analysis. Winners and losers have started to emerge.
Our Analysis
For each of Houston’s Top 52 Neighborhoods, we analyzed real estate trends for:
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Sept & Oct 2017 (the two months post-Harvey) compared with both:
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January – August 2017 (“Early 2017.”)
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Sept & Oct 2016 (“Prior Period.”)
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Median home price changes.
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Average monthly sales volume changes.
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See the bottom of this article for our full methodology.
Related Resources
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Which Houston Neighborhoods Are Still Selling Homes Well Post Harvey?
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Houston Real Estate Market Forecast: Current Data & 2022 Predictions
For details on any specific neighborhood or property, please contact Paige Martin, ranked #1 Individual Agent with Keller Williams in Houston.
Table of Contents
- Executive Summary
- Entire Close In Houston Real Estate Market
- Areas That Benefited, Post-Harvey
- Areas With Fewer Sales But Increased Prices
- Areas Materially Impacted, Post-Harvey
- Methodology
- The Best Houston Realtor to Sell Your Home
Executive Summary
"Paige Martin and the Houston properties team are an excellent resource. You definitely want her on your team when you decide to buy or sell." – Ian Ivy (Google Review)
The following are our major findings:
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The overall Houston market is performing well.
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Post-Harvey, for all close in Houston neighborhoods, for all property types:
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Median home prices are up 4% from Sept. & Oct. 2016 and consistent with Jan-Aug 2017.
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Sales volumes are down 6% from Sept. & Oct. 2016 (most of this dip coming in early Sept.).
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Houston Condos are the big winners:
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Median condo prices rose 8% in Sept. & Oct. when compared to early 2017, and 22% when compared to Sept. & Oct. 2016.
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Condo sales volumes also rose 6% compared to early 2017, and 34% compared to Sept. & Oct. 2016.
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The rental market spiked for approximately 30 days after Harvey but has since returned to early 2017 levels.
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11 neighborhoods experienced a major decrease in the number of homes sold but a major increase in median home prices. Details below, along with our hypothesis, on why this occurred.
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The majority of the close in Houston neighborhoods that experienced flooding were in the known flood plains and/or many homes in the area had experienced prior flooding. Caveat emptor.
As always, real estate is hyper local, see how your neighborhood is trending now.
Entire Close In Houston Real Estate Market
"If you’d like to see any specific single-family homes or learn about Houston neighborhoods that are best for you, please contact Paige Martin at PMartin@HoustonProperties.com, ranked #1 Individual Agent with Keller Williams in Houston and #10 in the United States."
Notable Updates:
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Total sales volume for all property types in Sept. & Oct. 2017 dropped compared with both the average sales volume for Early 2017 and the Prior Period (as expected).
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Most of this decline occurred in the first few weeks of September, when both buyers and sellers paused from the market.
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The noticeable “winners” from Hurricane Harvey were the Houston condos that did not flood. The median condo price and the number of condo transactions jumped—both when comparing to Early 2017 and the Prior Period.
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In our opinion, based on what we were seeing in the market, we believe this increase in condo sales came from two segments:
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New buyers moving to Houston who were inundated with images of flooded homes. Many chose to be in a protected building instead of a single-family home.
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People who flooded (or came close to flooding) did not want to take the risk of this happening again, and they chose to live in a condo building away from the bayous/flooded areas.
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As always, real estate is hyper local, see how your neighborhood is trending now.
Areas That Benefited, Post-Harvey
Paige Martin and the Houston Properties Team are all specialists in their roles. I was amazed at how fast my transactions were completed with the best deals possible. Thank you for removing the hassle out of my real estate experience!" – Courtney Nuckols
A handful of neighborhoods experienced meaningful price and/or sales volume increases since Harvey:
Notable Updates:
- Based on our outreach to over 250 clients, building managers, and HOA community leaders throughout the city for our Houston Neighborhoods That Did Not Flood research project, we also have anecdotal data that most of the subdivisions within these neighborhoods fared very well during the storm.
As always, real estate is hyper-local, see how your neighborhood is trending now.
Areas With Fewer Sales But Increased Prices
Paige Martin is a customer-focused Houston Realtor’ (member of the National Association of Realtors) dedicated to providing exceptional service. Paige guides clients through all aspects of learning about Houston, relocating to Houston, buying a home, buying a highrise or condo, tips for selling your home, and ensuring that your transaction goes as seamlessly as possible. Email Paige at PMartin@HoustonProperties.com or call 713-425-4194 today for personalized service."
11 neighborhoods experienced a material drop in sales volumes, but a notable increase in median home sale prices.
Notable Updates:
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This was the most fascinating data to our team. Our speculation for why this occurred is below. Contact me to talk about specific neighborhoods or your home for details.
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Based on our anecdotal data and what we’re seeing in the market, we believe that most people who experienced flooding did not change regions of the city (e.g. Flood victims in Memorial, on average, did not relocate to the “dry areas” of the Inner Loop. Instead they stayed in the same region with their schools, churches, dry cleaners, and friend community).
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This implies that many of the biggest “winners” were neighborhoods that had partial flooding or were in proximity to flooding. The homes, subdivisions, and streets that did not flood experienced material benefits (details & specifics below).
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Here’s an example of what we saw in the Downtown Houston market:
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Many of the condos in the northern part of downtown flooded.
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Several notable buildings were without power for a while and without elevators for more than three weeks. Units in those buildings experienced a huge drop in showings (Do you really want to see a condo if you can’t use the building’s elevator to get there?).
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However, all of the sales that occurred downtown since Harvey have been isolated to two buildings (both on the Houston condos that did not flood list).
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In each of the neighborhoods above, we have anecdotal data of both streets and homes that did very well and streets and homes that did not.
As always, real estate is hyper local, see how your neighborhood is trending now.
Areas Materially Impacted, Post-Harvey
“Paige and her team are knowledgeable, attentive, responsive, and patient. The HoustonProperties.com team put us into our first dream home, and due to that experience, we’ve returned to them time and again for our real estate needs. While the team’s focus is on completing your deal, their endgame is to ensure your needs are preserved and satisfied.” - Peter McGillivray & Jillian Jopling
Several neighborhoods experienced a material change in their real estate market during Sept. & Oct. 2017 as compared to both Jan-Aug 2017 and Sept. & Oct. 2016 period. We highlighted ones below that had material reductions to either median home prices or sales volume (or both).
Notable Updates:
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Within West University, Bellaire, Briargrove Park, and Memorial Villages, there are subdivisions that experienced the same benefit as the section above (certain streets benefited, and homes that did not flood appreciated in value). However, the overall stats for the geo market area are presented above to be comparable with the rest of the study.
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Nearly all areas that experienced the worst decline in median sales prices have:
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A massive increase in the number of “Lot Value Only” and “Lots” listings & sales as compared with both periods from early 2017 and Sept. & Oct. 2016.
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Material sections of the community that are located in the known and disclosed 100– or 500–year floodplains.
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A surprisingly large number of properties that have flooded multiple times in the past 5-15 years (e.g. Tax Day Floods, Memorial Day Floods, Tropical Storm Allison). Caveat emptor.
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Methodology
For details on any specific neighborhood or property, please contact Paige Martin, ranked #1 Individual Agent with Keller Williams in Houston.
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We analyzed Houston’s Top 52 Neighborhoods from https://www.houstonproperties.com/houston-neighborhoods/salary-needed-to-buy-home
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All properties compared are just single-family homes unless the neighborhood has an asterisk (*). Neighborhoods with an asterisk include single-family homes, townhomes and condos, except for Downtown Houston which only compares condo sales.
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“Post-Harvey” data is referred to as the time period between September 1 - October 31, 2017.
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“Early/Earlier 2017” data is referred to as the time period between January 1 - August 31, 2017.
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“Prior Year” data is referred to as the time period between September 1 - October 31, 2016.
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All data is from the Houston Multiple Listing Service.
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Close in Houston refers to HAR MLS areas 4, 9, 16, 17, 22, 23 & 24.
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To compare average sales volumes, we "monthalized" the data (e.g. took the total sales for Sept. & Oct. 2017 and divided the number by 2; sales data for Jan - Aug 2017 was divided by 8).
The Best Houston Realtor to Sell Your Home
The Houston Properties Team has a well-defined structure based on the individual strengths of each member. Each member is a specialist in their role – which is why our homes sell faster and for more money than average.
Paige Martin, Broker Associate with Keller Williams Realty, and the Houston Properties Team are ranked among the top residential Realtors in the world.
They have been featured on TV and in dozens of publications including The Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, Reuters, Fox News in the Morning, Money Magazine, Houston Business Journal, Houstonia, and Houston Chronicle.
Paige Martin was just ranked as the #5 agent in the world with Keller Williams, completing over $1 Billion in Houston residential real estate sales.
Recent awards include:
– 2022: #1 Residential Real Estate Team by Sales Volume, Houston Business Journal
– 2021: Best Real Estate Teams in America, RealTrends.com
– 2021: Top 100 Women Leaders in Real Estate of 2021
– 2021: America’s Top 100 Real Estate Agents
– 2021: Top Real Estate Team (Houston Properties Team), Houston Business Journal
– 2021: Best Houston Real Estate Team, Best of Reader’s Choice
– 2021: Top Real Estate Team (Houston Properties Team), Houston Business Journal
– 2021: #1 Real Estate Team, Keller Williams Memorial
– 2020: America’s Best Real Estate Teams, Best of America Trends
– 2020: Best Houston Real Estate Team, Best of Reader’s Choice
– 2020: Top Real Estate Team (Houston Properties Team), Houston Business Journal
– 2020: #6 Individual Agent, Keller Williams, Worldwide
– 2020: #1 Individual Agent, Keller Williams, Texas (Top Keller Williams Realtor)
– 2020: #1 Real Estate Team, Keller Williams Memorial
- 2019: Top Residential Realtors in Houston, Houston Business Journal
- 2019: America’s Best Real Estate Agents, RealTrends.com
- 2019: #5 Individual Agent, KW Worldwide
- 2019: #1 Individual Agent, KW Texas
- 2018: #5 Individual Agent, Keller Williams, Worldwide
- 2018: #1 Individual Agent, Keller Williams, Texas
- 2018: #1 Individual Agent, Keller Williams, Houston
- 2018: America’s Best Real Estate Agents, RealTrends.com
- 2018: Top 25 Residential Realtors in Houston, Houston Business Journal
- 2018: Texas’ Most Influential Realtors
- 2017: #1 Individual Agent, Keller Williams, Texas
- 2017: #1 Individual Agent, Keller Williams, Houston
- 2017: #10 Individual Agent, Keller Williams, Worldwide
- 2017: America’s Best Real Estate Agents, RealTrends.com
- 2017: Top 25 Residential Realtors in Houston, Houston Business Journal
- 2017: Texas’ Most Influential Realtors
- 2016: #1 Individual Agent, Keller Williams, Texas
- 2016: #1 Individual Agent, Keller Williams, Houston
- 2016: #20 Individual Agent, Keller Williams, Worldwide
- 2016: Texas’ Most Influential Realtors
- 2016: Top 25 Residential Realtors in Houston, HBJ
- 2016: Five Star Realtor, Featured in Texas Monthly
- 2016: America’s Best Real Estate Agents, RealTrends.com
- 2015: #9 Individual Agent, Keller Williams, United States
- 2015: #1 Individual Agent, Keller Williams, Texas
- 2015: #1 Individual Agent, Keller Williams, Houston
- 2015: America’s Best Real Estate Agents, RealTrends.com
- 2015: Top 25 Residential Realtors in Houston, HBJ
- 2015: Five Star Realtor, Texas Monthly Magazine
- 2014: America’s Best Real Estate Agents, RealTrends.com
- 2014: #1 Individual Agent, Keller Williams Memorial
...in addition to over 318 additional awards.
Paige also serves a variety of non-profits, and civic and community boards. She was appointed by the mayor of Houston to be on the downtown TIRZ board.
Benefits Of Working With The Houston Properties Team
Our team, composed of distinguished and competent Houston luxury realtors, has a well-defined structure based on the individual strengths of each member.
We find the team approach as the most effective way to sell homes. We have dedicated people doing staging, marketing, social media, open houses, and showings. Each Houston Properties Team member is a specialist in their role—which is why our homes sell faster and for more money than average.
The benefits of working with a team include:
- the ability to be in two or three places at one time; a member can handle showings, while another answer calls
- collective time and experience of members
- targeted advice and marketing of agent expert in your area
- competitive advantage by simply having more resources, more ideas, and more perspectives
- a “checks and balances” system; selling and buying a home in Houston is an intensely complex process
- more people addressing field calls and questions from buyers and agents to facilitate a faster, successful sale
- efficient multi-tasking; one agent takes care of inspections and repair work, while another agent focuses on administrative details
- multiple marketing channels using members’ networks
- constant attention: guaranteed focus on your home and your transaction
- lower risk for mistakes. Multiple moving parts increase oversights. A team approach handles these “parts” separately
- flexibility in negotiation and marketing
- better management of document flow
- increased foot traffic through more timely and effective showing schedule coordination; and
- increased sphere of influence and exposure to more potential buyers.
To meet all the award-winning members of the Houston Properties Team, please go here.
Best Houston Real Estate Resources
- Houston Texas Zip Code Map | HoustonProperties
- How To Avoid Buying In Houston's Flooded Zones
- Houston Neighborhoods | Houston Map, Real Estate, Homes
- Oak Estates Houston Maps | Oak Estates Neighborhood Maps
- The Woodlands: Windsor Hills Homes For Sale & Real Estate Trends
