{"id":70822,"date":"2025-07-17T20:40:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T20:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/70822\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T20:40:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T20:40:09","slug":"home-edition-first-time-home-buyers-look-to-developing-areas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/70822\/","title":{"rendered":"Home edition: First-time home buyers look to developing areas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tAs land for new development<\/a> in Pearland and Friendswood becomes more scarce, local officials are noting the growing challenges in home affordability for first-time buyers and young, growing families.<\/p>\n

The big picture<\/strong><\/p>\n

Houston Association of Realtors, or HAR, data from May shows only 20% of homeowners in town can afford the median single-family home in Friendswood. In Pearland, that number is 37%.<\/p>\n

Jason Franklin, a licensed agent with Houston-based real estate agency, The Franklin Team, said housing prices don\u2019t tend to drop.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re waiting for prices to drop, you\u2019ll be waiting a long time,\u201d Franklin said.<\/p>\n

Pearland Mayor Kevin Cole said he attributes the city\u2019s high home prices to the desirability to live in the city. However, he acknowledged that it has led some, particularly younger families or people who grew up in the city, to struggle to stay within Pearland.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, developers<\/a> in Manvel and Alvin are building thousands of new homes. Despite this, data from HAR shows housing prices in May were 16% higher in Manvel than Pearland.<\/p>\n

Developments in Manvel, such as Valencia, are selling homes from $300,000-$600,000, while all new home communities in Pearland, including Massey Oaks and Alexander, range from $315,000-$360,000, according to Realtor.com.<\/p>\n

However, incentives from builders can lead to lower interest rates on new homes and help homeowners save on monthly mortgage payments, according to Realtor.com.<\/p>\n

Franklin said Manvel<\/a> and Alvin may appeal more to first-time homebuyers. Cole added that Pearland and Friendswood appeal more to second-time buyers looking to \u201cmove up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

What we know<\/strong><\/p>\n

For Alvin, Friendswood, Manvel and Pearland<\/a>, average home values are at an all-time high, Zillow data shows. Of that group, Friendswood has seen the largest increase\u2014up 43%\u2014in the last five years.<\/p>\n

Cole said he believes lot costs\u2014which represent 20% of a home\u2019s value\u2014and development have driven up home prices.<\/p>\n

In addition, Adam Hill, president of<\/p>\n

Friendswood-based construction company Sterling Builders, said cities with high impact fees, such as Pearland, may have a harder time attracting developers to the area, as they lead to higher prices to build, which can also lead to higher home values.<\/p>\n

Kurt Watkins, spokesperson for Hillwood Communities, which is developing Pomona and Valencia, said developing in more built-out areas comes with more regulations and requirements, which can lead to higher prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrowing cities will typically lag price appreciation compared to built-out cities,\u201d Watkins said.<\/p>\n

What else?<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to a 2024 report from the National Association of Realtors, the median age of homebuyers is at an all-time high, while the percentage of homes bought by first-time buyers is at an all-time low\u2014around 24%\u2014and has declined by nearly 10 percentage points since 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst-time buyers today are in a tough spot,\u201d Franklin said. \u201cThe last time we had a 7% interest rate, they were in junior high. They\u2019re just not accustomed to these high [prices and rates].\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an attempt to help housing costs, Cole said Pearland<\/a> officials are looking to prioritize denser development with smaller, more affordable home designs in upcoming city workshops and planning meetings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I portion [infrastructure cost] over six lots, then my cost per lot is going to be cheaper,\u201d Cole said. \u201cTherefore, I can sell those lots to a builder. They\u2019re just going to put smaller homes, smaller lots and bring pricing down to the individual homebuyer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Manvel Mayor Dan Davis said city officials hope to improve affordability through Manvel\u2019s first-ever 20-year strategic plan, which was adopted in January. The plan, which was based on community input, will prioritize preserving rural areas in Manvel and concentrate on development on highways 6 and 288.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure that we\u2019re strategic about it, that the growth comes in the right locations, so that way 30 years from now, it\u2019s at a place where we can successfully maintain it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Through these plans, Davis said he hopes improvements on roads, utilities and drainage will reduce development costs and in turn lower home prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy family and I bought our … first home in Manvel in 2017 because it was an attainable home for us,\u201d Davis said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to price people out of the market of being able to realize in Manvel the same dream that my family and I were able to realize.\u201d\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As land for new development in Pearland and Friendswood becomes more scarce, local officials are noting the growing…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":70823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[49646,49647,43028,44068,4345,49645,31216,28985,4329,49648,358,3187,9752],"class_list":{"0":"post-70822","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-alvin","9":"tag-del-bello","10":"tag-friendswood","11":"tag-housing-prices","12":"tag-houston","13":"tag-manvel","14":"tag-pearland","15":"tag-pomona","16":"tag-real-estate","17":"tag-sullivan-brothers","18":"tag-texas","19":"tag-tx","20":"tag-valencia"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114870512964519364","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}