Would more housing rules raise Houston costs?

A group of developers, builders and others fighting to preserve Houston's freewheeling approach to growth and development often cites Portland as a prime example of the problems caused by excessive regulations.

The central argument advanced by the group, Houstonians for Responsible Growth, is that every new rule adds costs that are passed on to consumers, gradually eroding the competitive advantage they say Houston enjoys because of its low housing prices.

Record Year for Houston Real Estate Doesn't Resonate, Whopping Decline in Sales

With volume softening, a near collapse of the affordable property market, Houston realtors were surprised to read their association's recent pronouncement:
The year 2007 shaped up to be one of the best on record for property sales in Houston.

Realtors can succeed in this environment by catering to the high-end. The liquidiy crisis affecting large banks and their investors is hitting the average middle-class homeowner the hardest.

Houston, Texas Has An Exciting New Internet Portal For Real Estate

Houston, Texas – Real Estate Brokers Meg and Jim Zoller with The Zoller Group and Keller Williams Realty offers to Houston real estate consumers the ultimate online real estate resource with the recent unveiling of their new blog site at FineHomesHouston.com/Blog. This beautifully designed new Houston real estate blog site was developed by Dakno Marketing of Raleigh, NC.

Don't hobble Houston with land planning

The national real estate firm Coldwell Banker reports that, in 2007, a Houston family could buy a four-bedroom, two-and-one-half bath, 2,200-square foot home for $170,000. The same house would cost more than twice that much in Portland and more than eight times as much in San Jose.

Such huge variations in the cost of housing from city to city did not exist 50 years ago. Today, they are mainly due to artificial housing shortages created by heavy regulations and land-use planning.