IT WASN’T LONG AGO, that the greater Fulshear Area was a well kept secret. Even many living in Katy had not heard of Fulshear, even less those in inner city Houston. Now, even the local television stations include Fulshear in their news, weather forecasts and traffic reports. Yes, Fulshear is now on the proverbial “map”. Yet, how many would believe the recent article in USA Today that ranked Fulshear as Number 21 in the “Top Richest Towns in America”. Shocked! It did so, with a median household income of $174,194 and a median home value of $415,900. No matter how you look at the stats, they are impressive. Why Fulshear? It is the remarkable lifestyle which makes this the place to be and the reason why there is now a 4-lane divided highway going thru the middle of it!
June Results For Zip Code 77441:
It would have been difficult for June to surpass the very impressive results from May. It came very close though, and continued the very positive trend lines. However, just like in May, this is still a market in contrast where the averages don’t really tell the whole story. For some Sellers the market is “thumbs up” and others it’s “thumbs down”. The reason is, the market still consists of homes doing very well that are priced below $500,000 and those above not so much. As insight, for Listings priced below $500,000, there were (157) Actives and (58) Listings that Sold in June. Contrast that with the (112) Active Listings priced above $500,000, where only (11), or just 9.8% Sold. Even worse, there were (27) Active homes on the market priced above $750,000, yet only 1 Listing Sold above this figure; and it did so at just $770,850. That means not one home Sold above $775,000 in an entire Zip Code. Obviously, this does not bode well for Homeowners in the highest end of the market.
May Results by Community
Weston Lakes:
In May, the results were somewhat disappointing. However, June witnessed a “U-Turn” and posted refreshing news across the board. Active Listings dropped significantly by (8) to a reasonable total of just (52).
There were also a whopping (21) homes in Pending Status; which is more than impressive. More rewarding yet? There were (9) homes that went under contract within the last 10-days. That shows that the market is active with Buyers. Even more striking, is that the average List Price of those in Pending was $604,082. Wow! There were (10) homes Sold in June too. Weston Lakes
Fulbrook:
Fulbrook is a reflection of the broader market. June ended the month with (1) Listing in Option Pending and (1) home that Sold. Both were Listed below $500,000 and both were my Listings. Okay, I’m bragging a bit. But, we sold the one in Pending before it entered the market. The home that Sold took a lot longer. It took a total of six days! The reason they Sold so quickly is that we helped the Sellers update their homes, so they would have greater appeal to Buyers. This has always been our strategy (oddly, it’s giving Buyers what they want) and it works very well for Sellers by getting a higher price and a quicker sale.
Unfortunately, that is the extent of the good news for Fulbrook. It has succumbed to the fact that there simply are no Buyers in the higher-end price range. As such, Active inventory rose by (2) to a total of (9). Nothing will change the fact though, that Fulbrook is the finest acreage community in Houston. So, it won’t be until Buyers wake up and can “bear” coming out of hibernation, that we’ll begin to see increased activity. In the meantime, the only thing Sellers in the higher-end of the market can do is to be patient. Yea, right! Fulbrook
Fulbrook On Fulshear Creek:
In May, I gave the award for “Most Improved Results” for the year to Fulbrook On Fulshear Creek. Well, it did even better this month. Active inventory declined again, this time in June by (5) to (21). This is one of the lowest levels in quite a while. The reason? Buyer activity increased in June, evidenced by ending the month with (11) homes in Pending Status, up from (8) in May. There were also (3) homes that Sold. The only disappointing news is that all of the homes that Sold were New. That will change next month though. Thus, it appears that this remarkable community is getting the attention it has needed from Buyers. Finally! Fulbrook On Fulshear Creek:
Cross Creek Ranch:
Another good month for CCR. June results continued the upward trend. Active inventory edged up only very slightly; by just (3) to a total of (119). That is good news for this time of year. Although, there was a drop in the number of Listings in Pending Status from (79) in May (a record) to (69) in June, this was still a respectable number. There were also (35) homes that Sold in June. An increase of only (1), but that is over a very impressive preceding month.
The numbers behind the stats tell a good story too. The average List Price for an Active home in CCR is now $507,250. That is impressive by any measure and certainly a long-ways from when CCR opened and the average price was in the $300’s. This reflects the desirability of one of the nation’s finest planned communities and also that of Fulshear.
Importantly too, is that the Resales put up a strong fight against the New Homes and came out victorious for once. In June, there were a total of (55) Active homes on the market and (19) that Sold. As comparison, there are (64) New Homes on the market and (16) that Sold. This may be the first time that there were more Resales than New that Sold. Yea! Cross Creek Ranch
Fulshear Run:
Okay, it wasn’t just another good month for Fulshear Run. Rather, it was a great month! Active inventory dropped from (11) in May to only (7) in June. The reason it did so, was because of Buyer activity. There are now (4) Listings in Pending Status and (2) that Sold. We were excited to have one of the latter; and what we hope will be the first of many.
The sands of time for Buyers wanting to take advantage of this community is nearing an end though. Trendmaker is now down to their last (6) opportunities to own a home here. Most are not yet completed, but all are scheduled to be finished in September. However, they won’t be opening any new Sections until around this time next year with the earliest move-in date not until December 2020. So, now is the time to take a look at Fulshear Run before the time runs out. Fulshear Run
Polo Ranch:
This is the newest community in the Fulshear and is located just west of downtown. It is being developed by Century Communities and is located on gorgeous land. It is expected to have 780 homes at completion with homes ranging from 1,200 to 3,400 square feet. Amenities for the community will include a pool, pavilion, playground, walking trails and other small recreation areas. There was concern from residents of other neighboring communities that the homes in Polo Ranch may hurt the area with homespriced from just $169,000. So, I thought it would be helpful to include Polo Ranch in my monthly newsletter.
The sales have been impressive thus far, considering the entrance and the streets are not completed. There are currently (9) homes on the market that range in price from $200,000 to $306,540. They average $125 per square foot. So, that is reassuring. What should be even more comforting is that there are (6) homes in Pending with an average of $137.51 per square foot. That is comparable to neighboring communities. Polo Ranch
More Insight:
For Sellers, a quick bit of insight. Our market area is the only one in Houston that is so heavily impacted by the New Homes. Since, most Buyers prefer the newest in trends and the latest in designs; you can thank HGTV and Joanna Gaines for this. So, it only makes sense that Sellers do a much better selling their home that more closely resembles the New. Otherwise, the only benefit a Seller can offer is a lower price. Usually, much lower. In short, with intense competition coupled with a challenging the market, it means Sellers have to do more to attract a Buyer. Call us if you need any insight in doing this. We’re here to help and it’s FREE.
For Buyers, most should have received an ample warning about the impact of rising interest rates. When rates rise, you simply pay a lot more for the same home. Recently, the rates rose quickly to roughly 5% for a 30-year fixed, but have since come back down again to just above 3 ½%. Most don’t expect these low rates to last. Since there is lots of good inventory on the market, now is a good time for Buyers to lock in low rates with the purchase of their next home. The message to Buyers is you were warned once, so “don’t wait”.