There is a significant uptick in the rental real estate market in Houston recently. First, let’s take a look at single family home rentals. The September single family home average lease price went up slightly to $2180/month. This 3% increase in price was not a big increase from last year September. But noteworthy is the the number of leased listings. That number increased over 25% in September, compared to September of 2021. The takeaway? More homes are leasing but the prices, while increasing, are not increasing proportionately. Another interesting note is the townhome/condo rental market. The average lease price for a townhome/condo went up from last year 8% to $1935 (wow, not so much less than a single family home), while the number of leased listings for townhome/condos only increased 4.3%. The takeaway? Rental condos/townhomes are more expensive now, with fewer units being leased. Might be a good time to buy an investment condo/townhome!
At the time of writing this article, the trip has not started yet, but by the time you are reading this, Susan should be in Japan! The City of Houston and the Greater Houston Partnership + a group of Japanese related company leaders are currently visiting Tokyo. The goal is to showcase Houston as a great place to open a branch and do business. A group of 37 delegates include Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and GHP President and CEO Bob Harvey are traveling together. A few planned stops include the US Embassy, a JETRO seminar, a visit to Houston’s sister city Chiba (it’s the 50 year anniversary of this sister city relationship), a bullet train ride (Texas is planning a bullet train line), visits to several companies (Sumitomo, Mitsubishi Heavy, Daikin), and a special performance to watch the Houston Ballet perform Swan Lake. Susan will be posting on FB stories and Instagram so find her on social media to follow the highlights of this special trip!
In Annoura family news, Ty Annoura medaled and took 5th place at a national amateur wrestling tournament called Freak Show, held in Las Vegas, NV. The tournament was Oct 15-16 at the West Gate Hotel and Casino. Susan flew straight there from Mexico to cheer and support (and to buy many sandwiches, snacks, and sports drinks). Ty was entered in the 120 pound class, in the Boys 18U division as well as the 18U Elite division, so he wrestled double the amount of matches as most participants. After winning all four of his opening rounds, he battled in 10 MORE bouts on day 2 until finally winning 5th place in the Elite division. Wrestlers from all over the country were there, including several state champions and Fargo famous competitors. Kids of all ages, boys and girls, all competed at this huge competition of 3500+! With Ty making it to almost the very end, we missed our last flight out and had to scramble to find a hotel. They woke up at 4am and caught the first flight back to Houston, then went straight to work and school!
In Mexico, people do not have to have a real estate license to practice real estate, so you need to be careful if you are buying property there. It is highly recommended that if you are buying property, that you use an agent who is a member of AMPI. AMPI is a Mexican real estate association for real estate professionals who adhere to best practices and a code of ethics. There are roughly 5000 members of AMPI and each year they have an annual conference called the Congreso. The Congreso is held in a different city and as of 2018, the Houston Association of Realtors has sent the chairman of the Global Committee to attend. Susan was the chairman in 2018 so attended her first Congreso in Oaxaca, Mexico. The following year, her agent Pius was the chairman so she went with him to the 2019 Congreso in San Luis Potosi. In 2020, the Congreso was canceled because of COVID, and in 2021, Susan went again to the Congreso, this time in Tampico. Over the years, Susan has made some great relationships with realtors all over Mexico as well as some great relationships with other American realtors who also attend the Congreso every year. This year, the Congreso was held October 12-14 in Tijuana. A group of about 10 Texas realtors flew to San Diego, then crossed the border into Tijuana. Together, they attended many networking events, the expo, and the convention itself. In attendance in the international delegation was the 2021 NAR President Charlie Oppler, who spoke on stage and led a very beneficial international networking event. There were beautiful parties and dinners and a final gala at the end. Through these international conferences, international connections can be made, which can result in new business! To see a list of Annoura Realty’s new Mexican listings in Manzanillo (co-marketing with Happy Coast Real Estate), check out this page:
Every year, the Houston Mayor hosts the Consular Ball, a formal dinner party honoring the 90+ countries’ consulates with offices in Houston. The tradition of the Consular Ball goes back 70 years. It was first organized by the Houston Junior Chamber of Commerce in 1952 and is now organized by Houston International Initiatives (HII), whose core objectives are to support Houston’s international community engagement and to increase Houston’s global presence in the world. In addition to the annual Consular Ball, HII is also a big supporter of the Sister Cities of Houston initiative. For Japan, Houston’s sister city is Chiba, which is near Tokyo. Oct 22-30, a group of city officials together with local business owners and leaders (including Susan!) will visit Tokyo and Chiba to promote business and cultural exchanges. The Houston Ballet is set to perform Swan Lake in Chiba, which should be a very memorable event. This year’s Consular Ball was held on Saturday Oct 8, 2022 at the George R Brown Convention Center. Mayor Sylvester Turner was the host. Susan and Koh were invited to join the Japanese Consul General’s table and it was indeed a very beautiful and magical evening!
