Podcast Guest Bill Baldwin: The Ralph Bivins Project

HOUSTON, – RALPH BIVINS: This is Ralph Bivins with the Ralph Bivins Project. We’re here today with Bill Baldwin of Boulevard Realty. It is a significant agency that deals with Central Houston markets and a lot of the Inner Loop areas. Bill has served as president of the Houston Heights Association, and he is on the City Planning Commission. He knows a lot about the city, about what is being built and what is being sold. So, Bill, here we are, early 2024. How do you feel about how the year has begun?

BILL BALDWIN: We are off to a good start in 2024. Most of us are glad 2023 ended. It was not our finest moment in real estate. We had a number of challenges, from lawsuits to rising interest rates. We called it the Golden Handcuffs. 72 percent of the country used to have interest rates under 4 percent and homes were not likely to move as much as when the rates were 3, 4 and 5 percent. We had a pause which created an inventory problem which created a supply and demand imbalance which was not good for anyone.

2024 is off to a very good start. There is optimism, look, people seem to want to talk only about a looming recession. Can we just agree there was no recession, there is no recession? The American economy is resilient. Houston’s economy is very resilient, and we should put all this talk behind us.

A draw-up is coming, but it will be slow. There will not be a massive draw-up during the first quarter of 2024. There’s continued agreement that interest rates will go down, which will free up some inventory which will create a more balanced market. Certainly, there’s optimism in real estate, there’s enthusiasm out there. There is pent-up demand as well.

I had an open house for one of my agents the other day and hundreds of people were there. Hundreds. Of course, there were multiple offers on that deal, and it did go slightly over the asking price. But what I know is that one person got it and 199 are still in the marketplace waiting for the right house and the right opportunity. So, I know there’s pent-up demand. We’ve counted more showings in January than ever before. We’ve seen a little uptick in inventory. I think we are very well poised in Houston, Texas, for a very good real estate year, coming off what was not a very good real estate year.