News – CENTURY 21 Realty Partners

Foreign Home Buyers Add $11 billion To Texas Economy

By Realty Partners|2017-03-13T15:54:53-05:00September 11th, 2014|News|

It’s common knowledge that everyone wants to buy their own little piece of Texas right now, particularly international homebuyers. Just take a look at the 2014 Texas International Homebuyers Report released this month by the Texas Association of REALTORS®. Take a looks at some of the highlights below. We have already seen international buyers making significant impacts throughout the Houston Area housing market, this trend is very likely continue into the future.

Texas constituted 12% ($11.06 billion) of international home sales in the United States between March 2013 to March 2014. This is a 3% increase from the previous period and the highest level in the past five years.
Texas ranked third in the U.S. for total number of international home sales by state, after Florida and California.
More than half of all international home buyers in Texas originate from Latin America or the Caribbean.
By a significant margin, the majority of U.S. home purchases by Mexican buyers are in Texas, with 65% of purchases occurring in the Lone Star State.

If you are an international buyer who is interested in Texas real estate don’t hesitate to contact us. We have Certified International Property Specialists (CIPS) who are specifically trained on how to handle transactions with international aspects.

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CENTURY 21 brand ranked “Highest Overall Satisfaction for First-Time and Repeat Home Buyers and Sellers

By Realty Partners|2017-03-13T15:54:53-05:00August 7th, 2014|CENTURY 21, News|

I’m sure by now you’ve heard the great news about CENTURY 21… We are the brand that has swept the 2014 J.D. Power Home Buyer/Seller Satisfaction Study! Read all about it in the official press release below.

CENTURY 21 REAL ESTATE SWEEPS J.D. POWER 2014 HOME BUYER/SELLER SATISFACTION STUDY

MADISON, N.J. (August 6, 2014) – CENTURY 21 Real Estate, the iconic brand with the world’s largest real estate franchise sales organization, announced that it has been ranked highest in overall customer satisfaction by the J.D. Power 2014 Home Buyer/Seller Satisfaction StudySM, released today. Specifically, CENTURY 21® Real Estate swept the awards by receiving the highest ranking among national real estate companies across all four customer satisfaction segments in the study, including: First-Time Home-Buyer Satisfaction, Repeat Home-Buyer Satisfaction, First-Time Home-Seller Satisfaction and Repeat Home-Seller Satisfaction.

“CENTURY 21 sales professionals understand that real estate is about developing relationships and building trust with their customers. Customer satisfaction is at the core of everything that they do each and every day,” said Rick Davidson, president and chief executive officer, Century 21 Real Estate LLC. “Our brand reputation is earned and measured with every customer interaction, and these J.D. Power results showcase the quality of our franchise broker network and their affiliated sales professionals.”

The study, now in its seventh year, measures customer satisfaction among first-time and repeat home buyers and sellers with the nation’s largest real estate companies. Overall satisfaction is measured across four factors of the home-buying experience: agent/salesperson; real estate office; closing process; and variety of […]

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2013 Record Year for Houston Area Home Sales

By Realty Partners|2017-03-13T15:54:53-05:00January 26th, 2014|News|

It is no secret that Houston’s economy just keeps pumping, throughout the region both transplants and locals are discovering that buying a home makes sense. Understandably, housing supply has been extremely tight throughout the year. All this growth has driven single-family home sales in the Houston area to the lowest recorded inventory levels. Ever. According to the latest Houston Association of Realtors monthly report, single-family home sales hit a record 73,232 closings in 2013, up an astounding 17.4% over 2012 (itself a very active year). Here’s a look at some statistical highlights from 2013:

The Houston Area recorded 86,000 new jobs created, plenty of those new workers seem to have bought houses.
The Houston Area median home price was $180,000 in 2013, up 9.4% over the previous year.
The Houston Area average home price was a record-setting $265,017, up 10.3% from the previous average of $240,326 a year ago.
Single-family home inventory hit a record low of 2.6 months, meaning that’s how long it would take for the Houston Area to sell every home listed given the current rate of sales. That’s less than the 3.7 months from 2012 and 5.8 months from 2011. A more “balanced” or “typical” market would usually hover around 6 months. This is absolutely a seller’s market.
Total volume of home sales jumped 30.2% to $20.89 billion dollars.

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CENTURY 21 Launches New International Property Search

By Realty Partners|2017-03-13T15:54:53-05:00October 20th, 2013|CENTURY 21|

International real estate grows in prominence and importance with every passing year. Several of our neighborhoods are attracting thriving communities of expats who live, work, and play in a world class metropolitan area. When you live in a region with an economy last measured at $442.4 billion, larger than Austria’s, South Africa’s, or the United Arab Emirate’s, you see a lot of folks from around the world coming to do business or settle down. This works in reverse as well, travel to any global metropolis from Sao Paulo to Shenzhen, and you will see Texans winning friends and influencing people. Texans in general have always welcomed opportunity no matter where in the world it comes knocking. This is why we are excited that CENTURY 21 has revamped and released an industry leading international real estate search. If you are looking to buy real estate in any one of over 71 countries where there is a CENTURY 21 System member, then let us connect you to them through our global referral network. Just want to see what’s on the market down in San Miguel Allende, Mexico? Now you can.

Here is what President and CEO of Century21 Real Estate LLC had to say about the new global real estate search portal.

“Property transactions today are occurring from country to country and continent to continent, through the development and launch of our global website, CENTURY 21 has positioned its over 102,000 sales professionals to collaborate, connect and engage buyers, sellers […]

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End of Summer Market Update: Montgomery County

By Realty Partners|2017-03-13T15:54:53-05:00September 6th, 2013|News|

See how the market is doing with our latest Montgomery County Residential Market Update. Click the link above to see a short video outlining the key market trends at the end of the summer. In case you are wondering, it’s been another white hot summer buying season here in Texas. Many buyers who waited have found fewer homes on the market and higher prices, despite mortgage rates creeping upwards after historic lows. If you would like a market video regarding your city or zip code, contact us and we will be glad to provide one.

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Texas Economic Boom No Secret Even in UK

By Realty Partners|2017-03-13T15:54:53-05:00May 30th, 2013|News|

The most shared story on the UK website BBC News Magazine right now are the 10 reasons why so many people are moving to Texas. Apparently the good news about Texas is no secret even in Europe. Texas has 5 of the top 10 fastest growing cities in the United States by both absolute numbers and by percentage. Houston had the second largest population increase in absolute numbers according to the US Census with San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, and Forth Worth also breaking into the top 10. In terms of percentage the fastest growing city in the USA was San Marcos with a nearly 5% increase. Number 10 on the list, and the fastest growing city in the Houston area was Conroe with a 4.01% year over year population increase. In terms of new arrivals, Texas led the nation with 210,590 last year, followed by North Carolina with 60,106 and Virginia with 40,844. All this good press is no surprise to us, we’ve already been sharing lots of the good news and facts regarding Texas in general and Houston in particular. If anyone in the UK does decide to pack up and move to Houston, they would be pleased to know that Houston has an office of the British Consulate General downtown on Louisiana Street. One of the many perks of living in a world-class city. Expect to see many more families moving into our neighborhoods.

Here are the 10 reasons, check out the BBC article to find the details […]

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Houston New Home Permits Up 44% To Keep Up With Demand

By Realty Partners|2017-03-13T15:54:53-05:00April 25th, 2013|News|

If you’re looking to buy in the Houston area, expect more and more showings to look like this. House Under Construction by Charles Rondeau As reported by the Houston Business Journal, new residential construction permits in Houston are up 44% since March 2012. These figures were compiled in a report by the Greater Houston Partnership. The city issued a total of $187.3 million worth of permits just for March, compared to $130.2 million for the same month last year.

This comes as no surprise since we have had very tight inventory in nearly every Houston area market. With Houston’s economy running wide open, and continued rise as a global city, the demand for more homes and workplaces will only increase. We have witnessed multiple bid scenarios with several of our listings and we expect supply to further tighten before it increases again.

Where have you seen new construction going up? Have you seen multiple offers on a home? Please tell us in the comments!

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C21 Super Bowl Ads

By Realty Partners|2013-10-18T12:17:01-05:00February 4th, 2013|News|

In case you missed it during last night’s “Blackout Bowl” here are the CENTURY 21® ads from Super Bowl XLVII . Prices for 30 second ad spots on CBS started at $4,000,000 a pop, which makes more sense when you consider that Super Bowl XLVII was the highest rated Television event since ratings were first tracked. For the second year in a row, we are proud to see our brand represented in the biggest TV media event of the year.

Is there a CENTURY 21 Agent in the house?

I’m a CENTURY 21 Agent.

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Want a raise? Move to Houston.

By Realty Partners|2017-03-13T15:54:53-05:00January 17th, 2013|News|

Where did wages increase the most in 2012? Since this is the official C21 Realty Partners blog, you may not be surprised to learn that it was none other than our fabulous metropolis, Houston (although we did tie with Seattle who also registered 4.8% year-over-year wage growth). Why did H-town lead the nation in wage growth? Just ask the folks at PayScale who track wage rates across the United States: “The largest city in Texas hosts a variety of strong industries, including aeronautics and healthcare, but the boom in the oil and gas industry has had the biggest positive impact on wages in Houston, historically.” With the Houston’s white-hot energy sector and a robust yet diverse economy that features everything from taco trucks to NASA, Houston will be welcoming many more newcomers in the near future. Given the massive new ExxonMobil campus being built just south of The Woodlands, the Houston job market will keep getting stronger. What does this mean for Real Estate? Higher wages equals more prosperity which means more demand for homes and businesses. The perfect time for natives and transplants alike to contact a CENTURY 21 Realty Partners agent.

The PayScale Index: Houston Metro Area by Quarter

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CENTURY 21® Agents: Navigators of the Future of Homes

By Realty Partners|2017-03-13T15:54:53-05:00January 8th, 2013|News, Realty Partners|

No matter how homes change in the future, buyers and sellers will still rely on real estate agents for expert advice and guidance. Although many of us remember the TV show The Jetsons and their now retro vision of tomorrow, our homes look as though they will be earthbound for the foreseeable future. What does appear to be changing however is how the technology inside of homes is becoming smarter and more interconnected. Although we may not have our own Rosie the Robot, in a few years many of us may have internet controlled HVAC systems and appliances. Our living rooms have evolved from little more than a black and white TV and couch of the 1950s to a room filled with dozens of blinking little plastic boxes and High Definition Television bringing us world of information and entertainment. USA Today has an article welcoming us to the future of homes and how the future is becoming the present. Much like our cell phones, we may not be far from the day where clients are asked if they are interested in a Google house or an Apple house. The convenience, efficiency, and intense personalization that an interconnected “smart” house offers to consumers presents an enormous opportunity for the companies and individuals who offer the best products in the marketplace. Who will help the homeowner navigate the digital maze? Real estate agents, particularly smart agents, such as the SMARTER. BOLDER. FASTER. agents at CENTURY 21 Realty Partners.

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