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Houston home prices may rise, post-Harvey

Displaced buyers and renters will compete for a limited number of properties, say real estate specialists

Published Sun, Sep 3, 2017 · 09:50 PM
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Austin

IT MIGHT seem like Houston's historic flood would make America's fourth-largest city a less desirable place to live, but it's going to get more expensive, real estate experts say.

The supply of houses and apartments is expected to drop sharply with tens of thousands of homes destroyed and uncertain prospects for future flood insurance costs.

Following a pattern seen in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, that's likely to drive up home prices and rents in high-and-dry neighbourhoods. Displaced buyers and renters will compete for a limited number of properties, said Nela Richardson, chief economist for the real estate brokerage and data firm Redfin.

Before the flooding from Hurricane Harvey, Houston had been a rare, fast-growing US metropolitan area that had retained an affordable housing market, although prices had risen in recent years and held steady through an oil-price crash starting in 2014 i…

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