1. Home sale prices have soared

Average home sale prices have increased greatly over the past 16 years, more than doubling in Missouri City and nearly doubling in Sugar Land.

In 2016, the most recent year data was available, the average sale price for a home in Missouri City was $239,400; in Sugar Land, the average home sale price was $315,623.

The number of home sales per year has dropped significantly in both cities compared to the years leading up to the foreclosure crisis.

2. Rent prices are also higher

While rents have increased nationwide in the wake of the foreclosure crisis, Missouri City has seen its average rental rates double from 2010-15.

Only seven years ago, the average Missouri City rent was $637, but in the span of five years, the average rent had skyrocketed to nearly $1,300 in 2015.

Average rents in Sugar Land increased 50.4 percent in the same time period.

Interestingly, the higher rental rates have brought with them higher vacancy rates as well.

In Sugar Land, the vacancy rate for residential rental units increased 2.5 percentage points between 2010 and 2015, while the average vacancy rate in Missouri City nearly doubled in that time.

3. Multigenerational housing is ‘in’

One of the newest trends in home building is multigenerational housing.

Such housing allows for people to live separately under the same roof, with separate kitchens, living rooms and bathrooms.

Such housing can be used in situations where a family has an aging parent living with them or an adult child who moves back in. Meanwhile, other people use multigenerational housing layouts as a way to receive guests who visit from out of town for extended periods of time.

4. Price increases outpace costs for borrowers, census surveys reveal

While home sale prices in Sugar Land and Missouri City soared about 40 percent each from 2010 -15, monthly housing costs in those cities did not keep pace, and they actually decreased by 7.53 percent in Missouri City.

Housing costs include expenses, such as mortgage payments, taxes, insurance, homeowners association fees and utilities. Those average costs for owner-occupied housing units with a mortgage dropped from $1,739 in 2010 to $1,608 in 2015 in Missouri City.

In Sugar Land the average monthly housing cost increased from $2,123 in 2010 to $2,175 in 2015, an increase of only 2.45 percent.

5. Housing units keep pace with population changes

The number of housing units in Sugar Land and Missouri City, including apartments, grew as well between 2010 and 2015. Missouri City saw its housing stock increase by over 14 percent while the population expanded by 9.24 percent.

However, officials—especially in Sugar Land–have said there is little vacant land left on which to add new housing.

Meanwhile, officials with the Houston-Galveston Area Council are projecting a major influx of new residents to Fort Bend County over the coming decades.