I have a few friends in Houston, and have gone out to visit them. I fell in love with the area, but then I also went early in the year, before it got too hot and humid! Last time was in 2002, around March.
I remember picking up a flyer for a house for sale just up the street where a friend of mine lived. Fairly new 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath Colonial on a 1/4 acre lot, 2 car garage, brick front. About the only thing it lacked compared to the typical equivalent up here in Maryland was a basement. But in Houston, I hear that's a good thing.
Anyway, the asking price was $95,000. Which is about what my 1254 square foot 1973 vintage condo appraised for around that timeframe. I'd imagine up here in Maryland, a house like that would've gone for around $250-300K at the time, and today more like $500K.
Have prices gone up much in Houston over the last 4 years? Oh yeah, I do remember being taken aback by property taxes. I forget what the taxes were on that particular house, but I also looked at some new housing down there, and I think your typical $125K or so house had a tax bill of something like $3,000.
Also, I think one reason I fell in love with the area was simply because it was so new to me. I'd never been there before, was 1500 miles away from home, so there was just something new around every corner. If I lived there, and saw the same old thing day in and day out, I'd probably get bored with it.
I did like the fact that the beach was close, though.