Five Woods Realty

Amidst reports of rising interest rates, due to the market reacting to the persistently strong state of the economy, it is good to share some positive news on the home sales front where new home sales are having a resurgence. "New home sales jumped 4.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 738,000 units last month, the highest level since May 2023, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau said on Thursday."

The Texas Legislature is more bipartisan than many would think and it's great to see the two predominant parties in Texas politics converging on policy ideas around solving the housing affordability crisis. "Texas Democrats and Republicans may be approaching a bipartisan consensus on how to tackle the state’s housing affordability crisis at a time when a majority of Texans say they spend too much money on keeping a roof over their heads. The Texas Democratic Party over the weekend?adopted a platform?that includes calls to relax local zoning regulations that determine what kinds of housing can be built and where. Housing experts and advocates argue those rules drive up home prices and rents by preventing real estate developers from building enough homes to meet demand. More than half of the state’s 4.2 million renter households?spend too much of their income on keeping a roof over their heads, according to Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. That finding echoes?the results of a Texas Lyceum poll released last month, which shows that nearly two-thirds of Texans, homeowners and renters alike, say they spend too much on housing — compared with 44% of Texans four years ago. That agreement crosses partisan lines, with 69% of Democrats and 61% of Republicans telling pollsters that housing costs take up too much of their budget." #housing #affordablehousing #housingpolicy

Not a good list for Houston to be on, but a further demonstration of the challenges the Harris County region must work to overcome. "Harris County, which encompasses much of Houston, was deemed a high risk for climate disasters, with a 99.97 score. Additionally, it had a low resilience score of 12.73 out of a possible 100, and a very high vulnerability score (89.53 out of 100). The climate flip-flopping from severe droughts to floods, and now even hurricane-level winds at a moment's notice, prompted researchers to calculate the county's estimated annual cost to disasters at a stunning $2.2 billion.?Texas also ranked the third worst state for climate disasters, with 39 FEMA disaster declarations in the last decade. The state's expected annual loss for climate and weather events is estimated at $8.2 trillion, per Claimguide's study.?"

Houston we have a problem. The rent is too darn high, interest rates are too darn high, and these home prices are not fallen down anytime soon. It's time to evolve new solutions to affordable housing and we are working to bring you just that. So join our movement by liking this post and our page, sharing our page, and keeping in touch as we press forward in making a more affordable future possible. ?#StayTuned?#AffordableHousing #HousingAffordability