The Oil and Gas industry is the prime tenant of developers planning to build 6 million square feet of office space along I10.  This stretch of Interstate 10 is known as the energy corridor.  Recent leasing activity in the Energy Corridor has pushed vacancies down to 7 percent, according to Jones Lang LaSalle, a real estate firm. Rents in prime office buildings are $31.50 per square foot, 26 percent higher than they were at the end of 2008.  Not all of the projects will be built.   Not all of the projects will be … [Read more...]

Dr. Ted C. Jones Chief Economist for Stewart Title rates the Houston job market as tops in the United States.  Houston added 87,000 new jobs last year with 9,100 jobs added in November 2011.  Home sale have been going up for the last 4 months.  According to Dr. Jones, Houston has seen the bottom of the market.  The current median price for a home is down 25.8% from 2006.  There is an increase in multi-family homes as rent prices are increasing.  We are building half the number of homes needed by the population and … [Read more...]

Real Estate in the Southeast area of Houston will benefit from the expansion of the Panama Canal.   The addition of new locks and gates which allow larger ships to pass through which will cut shipping costs and add container tonnage to the Port of Houston.   Companies such as Wal-Mart have already built new facilities close to the port in anticipation of the increased container traffic. Houston is the number one destination for cargo ships leaving the Canal. Juan Sosa, president of the U.S.-Panama Business … [Read more...]

Exxon Mobil Corp. made a long-expected announcement last week that it was planning to consolidate 8,000 of its Houston employees into a huge office complex in north Harris County. The project will be developed on 385 acres near Interstate 45 and the Hardy Toll Road. The Irving-based oil giant revealed few details about the size and scope of the campus. But architectural documents obtained by the Houston Chronicle last year outlined an elaborate complex, including 20 office buildings with 3 million square … [Read more...]

Professor Stephen Klineberg has spent 30 years measuring the economic and demographics of Houston.   His team found that Harris County residents believe the economy is slightly better than last year.  However they are not very optimistic about the country’s future.  Houstonians feel that local crime, air pollution, and traffic times have improved.  They enthusiatebly believe that Houston is the best place to live in the United States.  Houston has prospered with the influx of immigrants which added to the city’s … [Read more...]

Steve Murdock spoke to the Texas Economic and Demographic Association about the impact of the 2010 U.S. Census.  The Bureau confirmed what we all have known for years.  Everyone wants to live in Texas. Texas was the fastest growing state with a population increase of 4,293,741 people or 20.6% of the total increase for the United States. Texas had a 20.6% change in growth while the rest of the United States experienced a 9.7 growth rate. Population change by region, 2000-2010       … [Read more...]

Houston Home Builders filed permits for 20,685 homes in the Houston area in 2010, representing a 5 percent drop from the total in 2009.   Buyers saw mortgage assistance programs drying up, credit requirements rise, and the homebuyer tax credit expire. Permits by Region The number of housing permits filed by builders in 2010 and change compared with the previous year: BUILDER SNAPSHOTS The 10 most active builders in the Houston market ranked by the number of single family home construction permits filed in … [Read more...]

Should HOA’s allow Solar Panels in Houston I recently talked with David who works for a company selling Solar Panels in Houston.  I thought boy he must be making a fortune, with all the sunshine we have.  What homeowner does not want to cut their dreaded electric bill in the summer? David told me that sells were much better for him in the northeast.  That Home Owner Associations in Houston were among the worst his company had dealt with.  His company calculated that it took them over a year to convince an HOA … [Read more...]