LEADER LISTING The Leader • Saturday, July 25, 2020 • Page 1B
Contentious housing project back in play By Adam Zuvanich azuvanich@theleadernews.com
Photo by Zarah Parker Laura Gleen, left, and Kevin Strickland attended a neighborhood meeting on March 14 at the property at 1433 Dian St., where a developer plans to construct a 108-unit apartment complex that would cater to low-income renters.
mentation that the civic club’s southern boundary is 15th Street – just north of the project site – meaning the Shady Acres group did not need to be notified as required by the statute used to award the tax credits. In a letter outlining his
decision, Wilkinson wrote that he sided with the developer because the map provided by the civic club was outdated and that the developer’s argument was corroborated by information on the civic club’s Facebook page and by records
Market Update
Area home sales plunge as pandemic takes hold
recipients during the meeting. Based on the latest application log on the TDHCA’s website, dated June 26, the project’s score had it in good position to be awarded the tax credits. Nearby resident Kevin Strickland, who is part of the
GREENWOOD KING
PROPERTIES Agent Spotlight
Juli Moore
By Landan Kuhlmann
y o u r f i n d t o p l a c e
time last year $567,915 got you a home here – this year one can be had for $545,450 on average through the end of June, according to HAR. Year-to-date median price dropped slightly (1.4 percent) down to $473,500. 77009 On the eastern edge of the Heights, there was the most dramatic sales downturn year-over-year. Only 32 homes closed in this area last month, nearly a 53 percent drop from the 68 sold last year. Through the end of June, this zip code has also experienced the second-largest dip in year-to-date sales. Agents have seen just 215 sales, compared to 296 during the same period last year. Accompanying the sales increase were price spikes. The average home buyer paid $538,528 in these neighborhoods, an 11 percent June increase year-over-year. Median home price rose to $454,000, with the 12.2 percent spike the largest in area neighborhoods. To date, a home costs $505,901 while the median price sits at $435,000. 77007 For the southernmost portion of the area that includes Rice Military, it was a rough month as it was for many others. June saw a 15.2 percent dip in sales, with just 72 last month compared to 85 the previous June. There has also been more than a 12 percent downturn to date, with 363 sales so far in 2020. Average June home prices rose 2.7 percent year-overyear, up to $573,877. Median prices for the month also rose with a 4 percent increase to $488,750. Year-to-date, the average home buyer has paid $513,402, a 6 percent dip from the same period last year. Year-over-year median price through the end of June is relatively steady, rising from $455,000 to $459,000.
6007 Pineshade, $520s Kristin Tillman, 281.785.3566
a
local neighborhoods. Pricing trends in this neighborhood saw both average and median prices increase slightly year-over year. The average home closed for $286,284 (a 4.6 percent rise), while the $282,500 median price was a jump of about 2.6 percent. Year-to-date, homes are going for $284,053 (flat from last year), while median prices are 4.9 percent higher than 2019 at $277,900. 77091 The zip code including the Northside and Greater Inwood neighborhoods was the only locale in the area to experience a spike in sales. June closings were up 41.2 percent year-over-year, with 24 coming off the market compared to 17 the previous year. Also the only neighborhood ahead of its pace from last year, there have been 107 sales through the end of the month – up 32.1 percent from 2019. On the pricing front, yearover-year June average prices dipped down to $230,925, while median prices increased by 2.3 percent up to $243,500. Year-to-date, the average home here has cost $256,112. Through the same period last year, median price is up to $255,000. 77008 Down in the Heights, buyers were slightly less frequent than the same month last year. Agents saw 92 homes come off the market in this area, down 7.1 percent from the 99 sold last June. The neighborhood has sold just 430 homes through the end of June 2020, marking a 15.4 percent downturn from the same point in 2019. Average home price in this market was $537,485 last month, down 5.6 percent for the month year-over year. Meanwhile, median home prices came in at $476,500 last month, a 6.4 percent drop from June 2019. At this
P R O P E R T I E S
Photo from Houston Association of Realtors website Homes sales in many of the local zip codes saw a sharp dip last month.
h o m e
713.502.0775 / jmoore@greenwoodking.com
landan@theleadernews.com
The Houston Association of Realtors (HAR) said in a recent news release that home sales in the region at large have surged back to normal Houston summertime levels despite the COVID-19 pandemic, due to properties going under contract before the pandemic hit. However, many local neighborhoods cannot say the same. In the six zip codes served by The Leader, five of them saw a significant dip in year-over-year June closings and are well off of their 2019 pace, according to the most recent report from HAR, while home prices saw a mixed bag of results. Only the Northside/Greater Inwood area (77091) saw a year-over-year rise in June home sales per the report, while the Woodland Heights/ Sunset Heights/Northside Village neighborhood (77009) saw the most dramatic dropoff. New listings were down 7 percent in Houston the week ending July 13, while properties withdrawn due to COVID-19 rose by 2.1 percent last week, according to HAR. 77018 In the Garden Oaks and Oak Forest neighborhoods, sales dropped by nearly 14 percent compared to the same month last year. Over the course of the month, 62 homes closed in the area – down from 72 sales during the same period last year. Through the end of the month, the area is also 7.4 percent behind its 2019 pace, with 301 homes sold by month’s end. Home prices here showed the most significant dip for buyers, with average prices dropping 13.7 percent down to $485,353. Meanwhile, median home sale prices came in at $398,950 – down nearly 12 percent year-over-year. Yearto-date, the average price is down 2.9 percent, while median prices held at $415,000. 77092 On the western edge of the area, there was also a significant decline in sales. Just 19 homes came off the market last month, compared with 24 the previous June – a 20.8 percent dip. Accordingly, the area is also well off last year’s sales pace, with just 99 homes sold through the end of the month. The figure marks a 32.2 percent drop from the 146 sold through this time last year – the largest among
with the City of Houston Department of Neighborhoods. So the Dian Street Villas project was back in the running for the tax credits heading into Thursday’s meeting of the TDHCA governing board, which was scheduled to select
GREENWOOD KING
Area homeowners’ monthslong effort to block an affordable housing project in their neighborhood might fall short – by a margin of one block. The several hundred Heights-area residents opposed to the Dian Street Villas, a 108-unit, mixed-income apartment complex planned for 1433 Dian St., thought they had successfully thwarted the project on June 23. That’s when the developer’s application for 9 percent federal housing tax credits was terminated by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA), which awards the annual tax credits based on a competitive scoring system. The TDHCA ruled at the time that the developer, Houston-based nonprofit Texas Inter-Faith Housing, should have notified the Shady Acres Civic Club of its plan as part of its application submitted earlier this year. The decision was based on information provided by the Shady Acres Civic Club, which told the TDHCA that the project site was within its boundaries. But TDHCA executive director Bobby Wilkinson reinstated the application July 9 after an appeal by the developer, which provided docu-
group opposed to the project, said he thought it had a “50/50” chance of being awarded. “It’s difficult to predict,” he said. “There’s so much politics in all of this.” Russ Michaels, the executive director for Texas InterFaith Housing, did not respond to a text message seeking comment. He previously said the project, which calls for three stories atop a parking garage and 96 of the 108 units to be reserved for low-income renters, likely would not move forward without tax credits that are worth millions of dollars over a 10-year period. The project had a favorable score going into Thursday’s selection meeting in large part because it received letters of support from the Houston City Council and State Rep. Anna Eastman. The office of city council member Abbie Kamin, who represents the area and voted to support the project, did not comment about its status when asked to provide one earlier this week. “I hope the application is approved,” Eastman said in a Wednesday text message. “To lose the opportunity over a technicality in how neighborhood organization boundaries are registered with the state seems wrong to me. The folks
1911 W. 15th, $470s Dena Musfy, 281.935.6993
3014 Heritage Creek Oaks, $420s Colleen Sherlock, 713.858.6699
1137-A W. 21st, $390s Juli Moore, 713.502.0775
See Dian P. 3B