The housing market in the United States fluctuates in response to national economic trends, government policies, interest rates – and, sometimes, regional events, such as extreme weather that brings catastrophic flooding. On August 25, 2017, Hurricane Harvey barreled on shore and stalled over southern Texas, dropping more rainfall in a few days than the area typically receives over the course of a full year.
Experts say it will require billions of dollars and many years for the hardest hit areas to return to pre-storm normalcy following the excruciatingly slow exit of Hurricane Harvey, which dumped more than 1 trillion gallons of water over the 1800+ square miles situated in Harris County, Texas.
At the time of this writing, Houston Metropolitan
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The largest refinery in the United States is located in Port Arthur. Ten refineries and one in five of the offshore platforms in the Gulf of Mexico shuttered operations – forcing close to 3 million barrels of crude oil each day from the nation's supply as operators wait for flood waters to recede so they can assess damage. This disruption will cause a spike in gas prices at the pump, which could impact consumer buying decisions across the US. Analysts predict price-hikes between 5-cents and 25-cents per gallon, depending on how long facilities remain battened down or in …show more content…
The mortgage market is structured in a way that many homeowners have substantial equity in their homes. And, even without sufficient insurance, they will be able to rebuild. Financial and housing market experts don't foresee entire neighborhoods abandoning what is left of their homes to start over in another part of the country. After Katrina, more than 250,000 evacuees came to Houston for shelter. One hundred thousand of those people stayed to start a new life. There will likely be some net migration changes in the near-term that could trig comprehensive plan reviews to accommodate long range recovery