It's a Great Time to be in Houston

Happy New Year! I am pleased to be here to write this blog post - delighted that the Mayans were indeed incorrect in their calculations for the end of the world. But now I have to pay all of my credit card bills, so there's that.

The fourth quarter reports are out for Houston real estate and it is indeed a good time to live, work  and do business in our fair city. Unemployment in Houston is at 5.8% which according to economists means virtually no unemployment at all. This is a drop of 3.4% from the November 2011unemployment rate of 7.3%. Great progress indeed. Houston home sales are up by 27.9% and the area added over 85,000 jobs in the past year. Wow! 

The good news continues with market rates up, absorption up, and vacancy rates down.


2013 will be another banner year for Houston BOMA with membership at an all-time high and an aggressive strategic plan for the year. You can look for the return of the RPA program with four course offerings in 2013. We are launching the Real Estate Roundtable whereby we anticipate working with members of related real estate organizations to further promote our collective goals and address industry issues.  Our January luncheon program focuses on the Affordable Care Act and its impact on our members, information you won't want to miss. And our 2013 TOBY program is well underway with entries due today. Also very exciting is our Top Golf event which is right around the corner - we are all looking forward to experiencing Houston's newest entertainment venue! 

The Texas State Legislature convenes in 2013 so your Legislative Advocacy Council is gearing up to attend Texas BOMA Advocacy Day and represent our membership on issues of critical importance to our industry.  Get involved! You too can attend and be a part of the process.

It's going to be another very busy year at BOMA so don't miss out on a thing. Stay tuned to the Buzz and other communications or visit our website at www.houstonboma.org to keep up with all that is happening at YOUR association. #tb

Market data provided by Colliers International.