August 2024
Happy August, friends! In the latest version of the Howes Report, you’ll discover key economic updates affecting interest rates, city-wide fundraisers that the whole family is sure to enjoy, and Houston luxury market updates. As always, please feel free to reach out to me for any and all of your real estate needs.
This week, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said officials could cut interest rates at their meeting in September, moving closer to a new phase that seeks to avoid weakness in the labor market amid signs inflation is heading lower. Markets surged Wednesday after the announcement of this anticipated rate cut, and all three major indexes moved sharply higher during the post-meeting press conference. While we don’t know how steep of a cut in rates they will make, any drop will create more affordability for Buyers and more demand for those looking to sell. It looks to be a busy fall market!
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Houston’s most anticipated foodie event of the year begins August 1st and runs through Labor Day, September 2nd, 2024. That’s 35 days of delicious meals and super deals raising necessary funds for the Houston Food Bank. An extensive list of the most popular restaurants will participate and serve specially priced, multi-course prix fixe menus for brunch ($25), lunch ($25), or dinner ($39 or $55), available for dine-in and take-out.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL LIST OF PARTICIPATING RESTAURANTS. I AM HIGHLIGHTING A FEW OF MY MUST TRIES BELOW!
LE JARDINIER – MUSUEM DISTRICT
MAKIIN – UPPER KIRBY
LE COLONIAL – RIVER OAKS DISTRICT
LA GRIGLIA – MONTROSE
BCN – MIDTOWN
The typical “starter home” — defined for this analysis as being among those in the lowest third of home values in a given region — is worth at least $1 million in 237 cities, the highest number of cities ever. Five years ago, there were only 84 such cities. The number of cities with ‘million-dollar’ starter homes has nearly tripled since 2019. The median age of a first-time home buyer was 35 last year, according to the study, a year older than in 2019. The good news for these Buyers is that in many areas in Houston, including River Oaks, we have returned to a Buyers market, with 7 months of inventory available.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE
All housing segments saw a slowdown in sales in June. The luxury segment ($1 million+), which represents just 4.1 percent of all homes on the market, experienced the biggest decline with sales 19.4 percent below where they were in June 2023. The segment that consists of homes priced between $500,000 and $1 million had the smallest decline, with sales down 5.8 percent year-over-year.
Active listings were 40.0 percent above where they were during the same time last year, with 30,053 available homes in June.
Days on Market, or the actual time it took to sell a home, was up from 45 to 46 days. Months of inventory increased to a 4.3-months supply compared to 3.0 months last June. That is ahead of the current national supply which stands at 3.7 months, as reported by NAR.
Look out for your next Howes Report in September!
-Dee Dee Guggenheim Howes