re: Current housing surge vs. last decade's housing surge

For one there is alot more liquidity in the market place.

WARNING your about to get a long opinion of Houston market place.

in houston there are alot of outside investors/corporations buying houses in cash. a few years ago a few select realtors were hired by companies to buy any house thet met a set of guidelines(3/2/1800 square foot/etc.) realtors would put it under contract without consulting the buyer. Supply has sucked for a while.

now I heard that the investors are slowly working to divest their holdings. Supply will increase soon.

The Heights is booming and it should be. But everytime I drive around there I continue to see vast open lots ripe for development. Yeah builders are trying to control the prices. but supply will catch up. this is just me but the idea of selling a 5 to 10 year old townhome that is surrunded by brand new ones does not sound too appealing to me right now. I know sometime soon I willneed to make that jump, but I am ok with taking my time and seeing what takes place in the marketplace over the next 6-10 months. I have a great deal on rent so I know im not throwing away much money.

In houston I am too skeptical of the housing price surge to buy anything. I dont think a bubble will pop as there are plenty of jobs, but i do think it will deflate a bit. Supply will catch up to demand and the hiring spree made by oil and gas will slow a bit/move more employees around the state.

I have some friends selling their townhouse in midtown. Priced to what the levels have been in the early part of the year, and they are not getting contract offers in less than a week that others were getting. i think its starting to slow down.

Houston is also very sprawling... I hear rumors of companies like SHell buying the Strack propoerty just north of the Woodlands. Plan is potentially to build a campus there, much like Exxon. If that happens then The Woodlands will continue to explode.