saddle up

Lush and oak-lined new development brings ranch-style living to Houston area

Massey Oaks brings a ranch aesthetic to Pearland.

Photo courtesy of Trez Capital

With Houston’s scorching real estate market showing no signs of cooling off, inventory is at a premium. That means large developments, such as the previously reported Prairieland Village, are in high demand.

To that end, a new project is in the works for those looking for lush, wooded sites in the suburbs.

Trez Capital has just announced the closing of a $44 million loan to Massey Oaks Development, LP for Massey Oaks, a sprawling new development coming to Pearland. The new master-planned community spans 356 acres and will boast approximately 950 homesites upon completion, press materials note.

Situated at the intersection of Harkey Road and McKeever Road, Massey Oaks pays homage to the mature live oaks and other trees on Massey Ranch, which were planted by the Massey family.

Buyers can expect recreational amenities and a ranching aesthetic. The modern homes start at the high $300,000 mark and are zoned to Alvin ISD. Amenities include a center with a lakefront open-air pavilion, playgrounds and a splash pad, walking and biking trails throughout the property, and recreational areas — including a grove and lake park area.

Massey Oaks offers easy access to State Highway 288 and SH35. Meritage Homes and Castle Rock builders are slated for the first phase of home development. The first phase of lots are expected to deliver in the first quarter of 2022, per a press release.

“We’re pleased to provide the financing for Massey Oaks, a modern, new master-planned destination that will attract many families and young professionals due to its natural setting, mature trees, extensive amenities and its location just outside Houston,” said John Sullivan, vice president of Trez Capital, in a statement.

“Houston and the surrounding cities are rapidly expanding and this is one of the last tracts in that area of any size that could be developed. Massey Oaks Development is taking prudent care to capture the character of the land with its storied history as a part of the Massey Ranch, which was founded by the Massey family of Pearland.”

home-for-sale

renter report

Houston home to No. 2 biggest drop in rent prices in U.S. since last year

Photo by Pierre Châtel-Innocenti on Unsplash

Houston nearly topped the list with the second-biggest year-over-year decline in rent prices nationwide.

A new Zumper rent report has revealed that Texas is leading the nation in annual rent declines since 2025, and Houston rent prices have fallen as much as 14 percent since last August.

Zumper's monthly report analyzes one- and two-bedroom rent prices from the previous month across 100 U.S. cities, and tracks one-month and year-over-year changes.

Austin, Houston, and Dallas, respectively, locked out the top three cities where one-bedroom rent prices have plummeted more than anywhere else in the country.

A one-bedroom apartment in Houston had a $1,050 monthly rent price in August, down 14.6 percent since this time last year. Two-bedroom units were 5.4 percent cheaper than they were a year ago and now sit at $1,400 per month.

The reports findings show a similar pattern across Texas' biggest metros as "elevated multifamily supply" was "absorbed through the boom years." Renters currently have the advantageous opportunity to negotiate lower rent from their landlords, according to Zumper CEO Shawn Mullahy.

"Texas is showing exactly what happens when supply materially outruns demand," Mullahy said. "Austin, Houston and Dallas added enormous amounts of inventory, and renters now have leverage because owners are competing to fill it. That won’t reverse until enough of that supply is absorbed."

For comparison, Zumper's National Rent Index for August 2026 found the median one-bedroom rent fell 0.1 percent year-over-year to $1,515, while two-bedroom rent increased 0.5 percent to $1,907

Rent prices across Texas
Austin tops the U.S. with the steepest decline in both one- and two-bedroom rent prices in August. A one-bedroom unit in Texas' capital city had a $1,260 monthly price, down 16.6 percent from August 2025. Rent for a two-bedroom unit declined even further, by 19.1 percent, to $1,610 per month.

One-bedroom apartments in Dallas weren't far behind. Rent for a single-bedroom unit dipped 13 percent year-over-year to $1,270, and the price for a two-bedroom unit fell 13.4 percent to $1,810.

Elsewhere in the North Texas region, rent prices for a one-bedroom unit in Plano have dipped 7.1 percent since last year to $1,310. Single-bedroom units in Irving are renting for $1,210 a month, or 4.7 percent lower than they were the year before.

In Fort Worth and Arlington, one-bedroom units had a monthly asking price of $1,160 and $1,080 in August. Arlington's one-bedroom rent price is unchanged from 2025, and Fort Worth's is down 3.3 percent.

This is how much it cost for a two-bedroom unit across DFW in August, compared to the previous year:

Plano: $1,920 per month, down 3.5 percent
Irving: $1,620 per month, down 4.7 percent
Fort Worth: $1,530 per month, down 5.5 percent
Arlington: $1,460 per month, down 2.8 percent

In San Antonio, single-bedroom rent prices fell 8.6 percent to $960 per month, and two-bedroom rent declined by 4.5 percent to $1,260.

apartments housing real estate rent rent prices zumper houston