Impact Of Hurricane Harvey To The Houston Real Estate Market
HOW HURRICANE HARVEY AFFECTS THE
Photo: Reddit Houston
Our heart goes out to everyone affected by Hurricane Harvey. If you or your family experienced flooding, please read these Hurricane Harvey Resources & Clean Up Tips.
If you’re a real estate investor or are considering a purchase now, please keep reading. We’ve received a lot of inquiries about this topic and have tried to provide a comprehensive overview below.
We have a database of over 100 neighborborhoods and 115 condos in Houston. We have been working with other agents of the Houston Properties Team to actively map out specific subdivisions and buildings that did well (and those that did poorly). We have listed the areas and buildings that were largely unaffected by flooding below.
If you’re looking at specific homes or buildings and want to confirm if the property is in a flood zone, please email the Houston Properties Team.
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NOTE: Based on our calls and outreach, we have compiled a list of the condo buildings and areas that flooded and those that did not (below). If you have any information we can add or anything that appears wrong, please email us, and we’ll update this page.
Based on what happened during the last hurricane, here’s likely what the Houston real estate market will likely look like for the next few months. There will likely be a:
- Major spike in rentals (especially short term rentals).
- Spike in activity in condos (see the benefits of living in a Houston condo).
- Spike in interest in homes and neighborhoods that did not flood (details below).
- Massive decline in sales in areas that flooded.
Generally speaking, it is a good time to be a buyer as there will be less buyers in the market, due to several main reasons:
- Some buyers were impacted by the flooding, are not able to carry two mortgages, and they will need to fix their home before they can sell it (or consider moving).
- Some buyers did not have their home impacted, but their business, family or friends were. As such, they’re unable to consider making a move now.
- In addition, a group of buyers will pause and not do anything, out of general concern and uncertainty.
There are also typically a number of deals that come on the market after a natural disaster like this. They are rare in non-flooded areas, but they often come from the following type situations:
- Vacant homes (especially if the buyer lives out of the area or out of state).
- Homes where the buyer is willing to take on work (renovations/repairs/etc.) Note: this has a financing implication as these would need to be covered out of pocket.
- If builders are close to their lines of credit or had inventory that fared poorly, they may be willing to discount or provide more allowances on their new construction inventory as they’ll need more cash flow.
Also, we spend a lot of time studying the data on long term trends (see page #3 of our Houston Real Estate Investing Trends Report – email me for a copy). As we’ve clearly seen this past week, close in homes in the flood plain (or too close to the floodplain) can be hugely impacted in a negative way. This situation is a good reminder for buyers about the importance of buying a quality home in a quality location. While that doesn’t prevent a disaster, most of the Houston close in areas that flooded were in the known floodplains.
HOUSTON CONDOS NOT AFFECTED BY FLOODING
Based on our research, below is the results Houston condos that fared very well during Hurricane Harvey. We’ll continue to update the list as we get more information about all of the key condo buildings in the city. If you have specific questions or updated information, please email us.
| Galleria | Downtown | Inner Loop | Museum District Area | |
| No Issues | 2400 Mccue, 5050 Woodway, Astoria, Cosmopolitan, Four Leaf Towers, St Clair, The Bristol, The Houstonian, The Mark, The Oxford, Venti, Woodway Place Atrium, Woodway Place II | 2016 Main, Commerce Towers, Four Seasons Residences, Gotham Lofts, Stanford Lofts, St Germain, The Edge | 1000 West Clay, 1111 Studewood, 2120 Kipling, 2727 Kirby, 6007 Memorial, Chateau Ten Welch, Greenway Plaza, Highland Tower, Inwood Manor, Lamar Tower, Lovett Place, Midtown Vistas, Regency House, Renoir Lofts, Rise Lofts, Riva At The Park, River Oaks Place, The Florentine, The Huntingdon, The Point, The Renaissance At River Oaks, The River Oaks, The Royalton, The Spires, The Willowick | 1400 Hermann, 2520 Robinhood, 5000 Montrose @ The Museum, 7575 Kirby, Chateau Ten Sunset, Oaks On Caroline, Serento, The Mosaic on Hermann Park, Warwick Towers |
HOUSTON NEIGHBORHOODS WITH LITTLE TO NO FLOODING
We started by focusing on the 52 Houston neighborhoods from: Houston’s Best Neighborhoods: Where Can I Afford To Live and have added neighborhoods by request.
If you have specific questions or updated information, please email us.
Neighborhoods And Communities That Did Exceptionally Well:
- Briargrove
- Brooke Smith
- Heights / Greater Heights
- Hyde Park
- Lizzieton Terrace
- Montrose
- Ravenna
- Rice Military
- River Oaks Shopping Area
- Royal Oaks
- Southgate
(Defined as no known flooding problems.)
Neighborhoods And Communities That Did Quite Well:
- Afton Oaks
- Brenwood Park
- East Downtown / EaDo
- Canyon Gate
- Denver Harbor
- Hilshire Village
- Hudson Oaks
- Fall Creek
- Fifth Ward
- Garden Villas
- Green Trails
- Jersey Village
- Museum District
- Lupton Ct
- Norhill Heights
- Northside Village
- Oakbrook West
- Oaks of Atascocita
- Sharpstown
- Spring Branch
- Spring Shadows
- Spring Valley
- Stonebridge
- Sunnyside
- The Woodlands
- Neighborhoods north of the Woodlands Parkway did well, including Carlton Woods (Sterling Ridge area), Alden Bridge and Cochran’s Crossing.
- Neighborhoods near Spring Creek had flooding including Grogan’s Point, Timarron Lakes and High Oaks.
- West Lane Place
- West University (northern parts)
- Village Creek
- Wildwood At Northpointe
(Defined as water on the street, but no known home flooding problems.)
