neighborhoods to know

Houston's 10 most expensive neighborhoods are home to lavish locations, magnificent mansions, and power players

Impressive homes like this can be found in Piney Point, Houston's priciest neighborhood.

Photo via Compass Realty

Where do our local billionaires and wealthiest live? Many dwell in one of these 10 neighborhoods that were just named the most expensive in Houston by a new report by financial lenders CashNetUSA.

Their analysts calculated listing data from Zillow to identify the most expensive homes on the market in cities across every state. The most expensive neighborhoods are typically in California, New York, and most recently Florida and Colorado. In Texas, the most expensive neighborhood in the state is in Dallas' Highland Park, with homes on average going on the market for over $7.3 million.

Not surprisingly, Houston's priciest neighborhoods are in or just outside the Loop. Many of the most expensive homes sold in March are nestled in these hot 'hoods.

At the top of the list is Hunters Creek Village, with homes in the area selling for upwards of $4.6 million. The two square miles of this neighborhood are home to 4,400 residents, according to their website. The iconic Houston Country Club is a defining feature of this area, bordering the east side of the village. Boosting Hunters Creek's reputation is likely the $20 million-plus mansion a little further west on 120 Carnarvon Drive that sold just last November.

The runner up in the report is Piney Point, located just west of Hunters Creek with homes on the market at $4.2 million. Bunker Hill Village, also west of Piney Point, takes the bronze for having the third highest-value neighborhood with home listings reaching $2.7 million.

Sitting at No. 4 is a neighborhood on the east side of 610 across from The Galleria: Afton Oaks/River Oaks Area. Living so close to River Oaks District, Highland Village, and Memorial Park comes with perks, like a home that might sell for more than $2.6 million.

The top 5 finisher is Hedwig Village, with homes on Zillow selling for $2.1 million.

The homes that round out the top 10 most expensive neighborhoods are located in Spring Valley. Despite being No. 10, their homes are still worth a pretty penny according to Zillow; listings show homes in Spring Valley are going for $1.2 million.

The most expensive neighborhoods in Houston are:

No. 1 – Hunters Creek Village
No. 2 – Piney Point
No. 3 – Bunker HIll Village
No. 4 – Afton Oaks/River Oaks Area
No. 5 – Hedwig Village
No. 6 – West University Place
No. 7 – Southside Place
No. 8 – University Place
No. 9 – Greenway/Upper Kirby Area
No. 10 – Spring Valley

The report can be found on cashnetusa.com.

rent report

New report reveals how many Texans are paying too much for rent

Photo by Francesca Tosolini on Unsplash

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Millions of Texas renters, both current residents and new arrivals, suffer from wallet whiplash.

A new report from the Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers shows 45 percent of the state’s renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Renters occupy more than 4.2 million Texas households, representing nearly half of the state’s residents.

Worse yet, 81 percent of extremely low-income households in Texas spend more than 50 percent of their income on housing, the report says. For that income group, Texas has a shortage of 864,000 affordable homes.

Thirty percent is the standard financial benchmark for spending too much income on rent, while 50 percent puts a renter in the “severely cost-burdened” bucket.

“To sustain growth and secure future prosperity, Texas will need more than 320,000 additional affordable homes [rented and owned] to address workforce housing affordability and meet the demands of a growing population,” says the report.

“Today, the state is creating thousands of new jobs,” the report adds, “but housing supply has not kept pace with demand, driving up housing costs and constraining continued economic growth.”

Not surprisingly, people who live in or move to three of Texas’ biggest metro areas get hit with the state’s highest apartment rental rates. Here’s Apartments.com’s list of the 10 most expensive places for renters in Texas, based on apartments whose average size ranges from 713 square feet in Austin to 771 square feet in Plano:

1. Frisco — $1,477 per month
2. Plano — $1,461 per month
3. Austin — $1,417 per month
4. Dallas — $1,413 per month
5. McKinney — $1,363 per month
6. Grand Prairie — $1,327 per month
7. Irving — $1,318 per month
8. Garland — $1,237 per month
9. Fort Worth — $1,217 per month
10. Houston — $1,183 per month

San Antonio boasts some of the lowest average rent among Texas’ 10 most affordable markets: $1,075 per month. Mesquite, a Dallas-Fort Worth suburb, also fits into that category, with average monthly rent of $1,052.

Earlier this month, Gov. Greg Abbott announced more than $114 million in grants to help develop or rehabilitate properties, providing more than 4,400 affordable rental units.

“As our state grows, we must ensure that Texans have access to the affordable housing they need to thrive,” Abbott says.

rent prices report apartments