Heights Home Sales after Harvey

Filed in The Heights & Greater Heights by on September 15, 2017

Heights Home Sales after Harvey Should be Good

This storm was horrible on people’s property and lives all over the city and surrounding counties. In the Heights though we were mostly high and dry (well, maybe not dry, but not under several feet of water). Thus the Heights homes on the market, or going on the market were undamaged. There is lots of turmoil and confusion and lots of helping others not so fortunate, but as it all settles out, Heights home sales after Harvey should be good.
Some surrounding areas did not do as well and may lose popularity for a while.

Floodwaters from Tropical Storm Harvey flow in the Buffalo Bayou in downtown Houston. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Houston Home Sales Effects after Harvey

The effects of hurricane Harvey on Houston home sales  was immediate. HAR Reported yesterday : a 25% drop in sales for August. This is a temporary effect though with several causes.

  • When there is a storm in the gulf insurance policies are not underwritten, thus closings are delayed.
  • When a storm approaches, showings drop, listings drop. Wait-and-see is the attitude of buyers and sellers alike.
  • After a storm hits, houses under contract have to be re-appraised in case of damage. They may close later, or if damaged, may not close at all.
  • Sellers may take damaged homes off the market while sorting through options.
  • Buyers may re-think what neighborhoods to look at after seeing which neighborhoods were hard hit and which were not.
  • There is a period of confusion while people get their lives back to normal after a storm.

Real estate is always location, location, location.

  • If you live in an area with massive flooding, people will be afraid of the area for a while. It may take a couple of years for home sales to come back. It takes a while for people to forget about the storm.
  • If your area had minimal flooding and is not in the flood plain, like most of the Heights, you should be in good shape.
  • If your home for sale is in the 100 year flood plain, buyers will be skittish, even if it has never flooded.

Effects on Heights Sales

I just did a post on how the Heights held up well in this storm. Overall, we did very well.

Buyers feeling the effects of the storm will prefer non-flooding areas like the Heights if they can afford it. Those people flooded out and facing major re-building may chose to sell and move to higher ground. Both of these will add to the demand for Heights homes. Thus we will have to wait for the turmoil to settle down, but Heights home sales after Harvey should be good.

Previous Storm Effects

It is hard to compare the results to our previous hurricane, Ike. Ike caused a huge disruption in home sales for a month, but then the nation went into a recession and Houston home sales stayed low for a year.

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