Richard Ray helps clients answer questions following flood
Since Hurricane Harvey blew through Houston leaving devastation behind, many people are asking questions.
“People want to know what this will do to the real estate industry, what will happen to home prices, and where do we go from here,” said Richard Ray, Realtor with John Daugherty, Realtors.
First, Houston had a large inventory of rentals. Yet, by the time the hurricane left town, people were completing rental applications.
“Anything for rent went fast. Those who would be rebuilding or undecided were looking at rentals. For every rental, there were at least six or seven applications,” Ray said.
Also, high-rises grew and apartments high above ground grew in-demand.
“This storm might mean that Houston will begin seeing more high-rises and higher apartments,” Ray said.
Answers to many questions will have to wait and see what the government does, what the market will do and how the public responds.
“Homes that have not flooded are worth more, but the question is should these homes for sale raise their prices. We will have to see how this plays out, but I do not think this is the moral path we will follow, not in Houston,” Ray said.
However, many people have found the silver lining in the storm.
“Those who were considering remodeling before their homes flooded, will now being doing exactly that. However, others are leaving their neighborhoods, so we will see a migration to different parts of the city that did not flood,” Ray said.
Homes that flooded for the first time during the hurricane will probably not be impacted as much, as far as value is concerned.
“After all, this was a 1,000-year flood, so we do not expect Houston to have this type of flood again for a long time. But if a home has flooded three or more times, it might be time to make a change,” Ray said.
Houston has seen floods before and the city always bounced back stronger.
“Houston still has one of the lowest costs of living in the country and some of the best home prices in the nation, and I don’t think that will change,” Ray said.
Houston’s recovery and answers to questions will all take some time, and as we move into the fall, there will be many things to raise our spirits from activities to the seeing recovery efforts, he said.
“The real estate industry is here to help. We all have been in the communities helping all that we could before, during and after the hurricane. We are all working to help families get back to normal. We are here to help,” Ray said.