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    $300,000 Playland House

    Playland: This $300,000 house comes with its own wooded wonderland, waterfall pool & putting green

    Barbara Kuntz
    Barbara Kuntz
    Apr 29, 2014 | 6:01 am

    Editor's Note: Houston, the surrounding areas and beyond are loaded with must-have houses for sale in all shapes, sizes and price ranges. In this continuing series, CultureMap snoops through some of the best and gives you the lowdown on what's hot on the market.

    With an expected 10,000 new employees moving to the major Exxon Mobil corporate campus near The Woodlands in 2015, a little gem of a house with a backyard oasis is sure to go fast — especially at the listing price of $300,000.

    Walk through

    The quaint single-family house sits at the end of a cul-de-sac on a one-block street, affording owners peace and quiet under towering pine trees. The back of the property is just across Lake Woodlands Drive from the award-winning Palmer Course of The Woodlands Country Club.

    Enter into the large, open main room with hardwood floors and center contemporary fireplace serving as an architecturally interesting divider between the living area and dining room. The kitchen features an artisan backsplash, under counter lighting, pass-through snack bar and moveable island in the middle.

    The breakfast nook at the end of the kitchen takes in views of the backyard via oversized windows. In fact, the backyard is visible from the kitchen, living and dining rooms and all three bedrooms in the house, thanks to multiple double-paned windows.

    Hardwood floors continue into the master bedroom and lead to French doors taking owners to a private deck. Double sinks and a huge double shower with bench are highlights of the master bath. The other two bedrooms, each with walk-in closets, share a second bath with clawfoot tub and vessel sink.

    Step outside
    The backyard is truly a retreat with natural-style swimming pool, hot tub and spa, waterfalls, bridge to a garden escape and sandy beach. A path off the patio takes you into a wooded wonderland with four-hole putting green, sand trap and chipping area. Outdoor seating is spread throughout the yard, offering a new owner many places to enjoy the outdoors.

    The brick-and-wood house comes with a two-car attached garage on the 15,240-square-foot lot.

    Square footage: 1,800

    Asking price: $300,000

    Listing agent: Betty Bellomy, John Daugherty, Realtors

    A pathway meanders to a patio.

    18 On the Market 39 Cottage Grove place The Woodlands April 2014
    Photo courtesy of © TK Images
    A pathway meanders to a patio.
    unspecified
    news/real-estate

    housing affordability news

    This is how much Houston home prices have fallen since 2024

    Amber Heckler
    Jan 16, 2026 | 4:30 pm
    16403 Sheffield Run Drive, Houston home for sale
    Estately.com/
    This home at 16403 Sheffield Run Dr. in Houston's Berkshire Oaks neighborhood is on the market for $309,900.

    A new real estate analysis has revealed housing prices across the Southern United States have seen a major large-scale decline from 2024-2025, with Houston homebuyers experiencing the 11th-steepest "price correction" in the region.

    Houston-area buyers have a better chance of purchasing an affordable home this year after prices cooled 1.5 percent from 2024-2025, the study found.

    Online real estate marketplace Zoocasa compared year-over-year median price changes for single-family homes across 20 cities in the South based on local real estate data. The study also looked at housing affordability in the American West, Midwest, and Northeast.

    In Zoocasa's ranking of the Southern cities where affordability is improving the most, Houston ranked No. 11.

    In 2024, the median price for a single-family home in Houston was nearly $340,000, which has since dropped to $335,000 in 2025. Local sellers may not be happy about cooling prices, but it does make housing more attainable for first-time homebuyers.

    Better housing prices will surely attract even more new residents to the area, especially since Houston was the second-hottest destination for movers in 2025, and its suburbs are still booming in popularity.

    "Affordability is on the rise across Texas, with major cities seeing significant price corrections," the report said. "Most importantly for buyers, the median home price in each of these cities remains more affordable than the national median."

    The national median price of a home in the third quarter of 2025 was $426,800, according to the latest information from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

    Housing affordability elsewhere in Texas
    Dallas was the No. 2 Southern city where housing is becoming more affordable. Dallas-Fort Worth's housing prices fell 5.71 percent from 2024-2025. The median price of a single-family home in North Texas fell from $397,700 to $375,000 during the one-year span.

    In Beaumont-Port Arthur (a metro area east of Houston), housing prices have fallen 4.62 percent year-over-year, making it the metro with the No. 5 steepest price correction in the South. Median home prices dropped to $217,000 in 2025, or $10,500 lower than the year before, the report found.

    Austin's housing prices fell 2.04 percent during the same time span, landing the Capital City in the No. 9 spot. The median price of a single-family home in Austin fell from $437,925 in 2024 to $429,000 last year.

    Surprisingly, San Antonio ranked near the bottom of the list with housing prices increasing by five percent year-over-year. Single-family homes in the Alamo City had a median price just under $300,000 in 2024, which spiked to $315,000 in 2025.

    Housing market predictions in 2026
    Zoocasa predicts the 2026 U.S. housing market is "poised for a steady revival" since mortgage rates have dipped nearly a full percentage point since this time last year. Current interest rates for a a 30-year mortgage are sitting at 6.16 percent, the study said.

    The NAR report additionally found that pending home sales have grown by 2.6 percent year-over-year from 2024.

    "Homebuyer momentum is building," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "The data shows the strongest performance of the year after accounting for seasonal factors, and the best performance in nearly three years, dating back to February 2023."

    The top 10 Southern cities where housing affordability is improving the most in 2026 are:

    • No. 1 – Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Florida
    • No. 2 – Dallas, Texas
    • No. 3 – Durham, North Carolina
    • No. 4 – Ocala, Florida
    • No. 5 – Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas
    • No. 6 – Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida
    • No. 7 – Jacksonville, Florida
    • No. 8 – Atlanta, Georgia
    • No. 9 – Austin, Texas
    • No. 10 – Raleigh, North Carolina
    real estatehousing affordabilityreal estate reporthousing prices
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