| Real Estate Houston apartment rental housing guide | | | | Birmingham Ala., and Nashville, Tenn. also reported |
| 494,853 apt rentals, with 13,864 new units added in | | | | gains as relocations from Katrina began setting down |
| 2007. | | | | roots. |
| Houstons area apartments in 160 cities/towns, 240 | | | | While some of these new apartment residents could |
| different zip codes, 53 public school districts (1,127 | | | | return home in the next year, analysts believe many |
| individual schools), 39 Universities & Colleges and | | | | will remain in their new homes. Probably somewhere |
| 41 major areas. | | | | around half of the people who spread out to new |
| Real Estate apartments in Houston are classified as | | | | locations will end up staying in those locations. |
| either being inside or outside Interstate 610, known | | | | A recent survey by the National Multi-Housing Council |
| as the 610 Loop which include the Central business | | | | of large apartment owners showed that 42% had |
| district and cities of West University (West U.), | | | | seen "modest" improvement in leasing as these new |
| Southside Place, and a portion of Bellaire. The outlying | | | | residents moved from hotels to apartments.Houston |
| areas of Houston, as well as the rest of Bellaire, the | | | | has four major bayous passing through the city. The |
| airports and the suburbs and enclaves are outside the | | | | Buffalo Bayou, which runs into downtown, the Brays |
| loop. | | | | Bayou, which runs along the Texas Medical Center, |
| Another ring road, Beltway 8 (also known simply as | | | | White Oak Bayou runs through the Heights and near |
| the Beltway), encircles the city another 5 miles | | | | northwest area and the Sims Bayou in the south of |
| further out. Yet a third - the Grand Parkway, has | | | | Houston merge in downtown Houston into the |
| begun construction roughly 10 miles beyond that | | | | Houston Ship Channel. The Ship Channel goes past |
| around the outer suburbs and currently extends from | | | | Galveston, Texas into the Gulf of Mexico. |
| Katy to Sugar Land. | | | | Houston has four major bayous passing through the |
| We chronicle all sizes and price ranges, the average | | | | city. The Buffalo Bayou, which runs into downtown, |
| monthly Houston rent is $605 making Houston Texas | | | | the Brays Bayou, which runs along the Texas Medical |
| one of the lowest of the major cites in the country, | | | | Center, White Oak Bayou runs through the Heights |
| by comparison rent in Chicago Illinois $965, Denver | | | | and near northwest area and the Sims Bayou in the |
| Colorado $795, Dallas Texas $695, Ft. Lauderdale | | | | south of Houston merge in downtown Houston into |
| $844, Boston Massachusetts $1425, Los Angles | | | | the Houston Ship Channel. The Ship Channel goes |
| California $890, San Diego California $1,009, San | | | | past Galveston, Texas into the Gulf of Mexico. |
| Francisco California $2,030. Renters in Houston can | | | | Most of Houston is very flat and is about fifty feet |
| thank Hurricane Katrina for boosting rent. Due in part | | | | above sea level in elevation; the Houston Heights |
| to the influx of evacuees last fall, Houston's | | | | area has the highest elevation in the city. The city |
| apartment occupancy rate jumped almost 5% to | | | | once relied on groundwater for its water needs. Land |
| 94%, and rents climbed 3%. | | | | subsidence forced the city to turn to ground-level |
| The Katrina effect | | | | water sources such as Lake Houston. |
| Renters in Houston can thank Hurricane Katrina for | | | | Houston's climate is often compared to that of Dallas, |
| boosting their rents. Due in part to the influx of | | | | Texas. Dallas has a hot and dry climate while Houston |
| evacuees last fall, Houston's apartment occupancy | | | | has a hot and humid climate. While Dallas gets hotter |
| rate jumped almost 5% to 94%, and rents climbed | | | | temperatures, Houston's heat index is often higher. |
| 3% to an average of $692. Atlanta, Dallas, | | | | |