What it took to become a RamseyTrusted® pro — and the metro, rebuilt into eight sub-markets
Some news I’d been sitting on, plus the metro rebuilt into eight sub-markets that finally cover every single-family listing in the MLS — a third of Inner Loop listings have cut price, nearly half in Fort Bend.
A quick announcementI’m now a RamseyTrusted® pro
Something I’d been working toward became official this week: I’ve been accepted into Ramsey Solutions’ RamseyTrusted program as a referral agent serving the Greater Houston area.
If you follow Ramsey at all, you know they don’t hand this out. The vetting is genuinely thorough — they dig into your track record, how you actually treat people, and whether the way you run your business lines up with what they teach families about money. Then there’s training, and a standard you’re held to on every single referral after that. I’m proud to have cleared it, and honestly a little humbled by how deep it went.
What changes for you: nothing. Same phone number, same person picking it up. What it does mean is that when a family somewhere in Houston goes to Ramsey looking for an agent who won’t talk them into more house than they should buy, my name is one that comes up. That’s a responsibility I don’t take lightly — and it’s the same standard I’ve tried to hold with every one of you already.
Watch: a quick introduction →
About a minute · what I stand for and how I work
This week in HoustonWhat actually changed since last Wednesday
Greater Houston (9-county metro) · single-family · live listing data · per HAR MLS via Repliers
16,832 homes on the market here are asking less than they did the day they listed — 45.1% of everything for sale, median cut 4.6%. That is 282 more than last week, and the fourth straight week the share has climbed. That 45.1% is an average of eight very different markets, though — this week the sub-market map was rebuilt so you can see all of them.
Sub-marketsHow that splits across the metro — the new eight
These buckets were rebuilt this week on HAR’s own numbered market areas, so every single-family listing in the MLS lands in exactly one of the eight below — Katy, the Inner Loop, the Galleria, and the whole coast were missing from the old five. Sorted by cut share, the spread runs 14.4 points: 34.6% inside the Loop to 49.0% in Fort Bend. Median sale price and average days on market: trailing 90 days of closed sales per HAR MLS. Price-cut share and active counts: live listing data as of the send date.
| Sub-market | Active · new this week | Median sale | Avg DOM | Cut price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Bend / SouthwestRichmond · Missouri City · Fulshear · Sugar Land · Rosenberg · Sienna · Stafford | 5,049 · 543 | $365,000 | 48 | 49.0% ▼0.3 |
| Katy / WestKaty · Cypress · Copperfield · Jersey Village · Brookshire · Waller · Hockley | 5,408 · 554 | $354,420 | 43 | 48.2% |
| NorthConroe · The Woodlands · Montgomery · Spring · Magnolia · Willis · Klein · Tomball | 6,865 · 661 | $362,364 | 52 | 47.0% ▲0.7 |
| Bay Area / CoastGalveston · League City · Clear Lake · Friendswood · Texas City · Dickinson · Crystal Beach | 3,639 · 286 | $355,000 | 54 | 46.4% |
| NortheastHumble · Kingwood · Atascocita · Baytown · Crosby · Porter · New Caney · Cleveland | 6,456 · 667 | $272,451 | 52 | 45.5% |
| South / PearlandPearland · Manvel · Angleton · Alvin · Rosharon · Pasadena · Deer Park · Southbelt | 3,573 · 324 | $300,000 | 54 | 43.9% |
| Northwest / Cy-FairGreater Heights · Northside · Northwest Houston · Cypress North · Tomball · Hockley · Waller | 3,165 · 397 | $375,000 | 50 | 39.4% |
| Inner Loop / CentralMontrose · Midtown · Museum District · Bellaire · West U · Galleria · Memorial · Spring Branch | 3,144 · 345 | $457,250 | 42 | 34.6% |
Sub-markets are groupings of HAR MLS market areas; the eight together cover the full 9-county metro.
Market snapshotGreater Houston at a glance
9-county metro · single-family · trailing 90 days · per HAR MLS via Repliers · as of Aug 18, 2026
Here is the part I did not expect. After slipping three weeks straight, the metro median stopped falling this week and ticked up about $350, and sellers actually collected a slightly higher share of asking, 97.9% against 97.6%. Those two things sound contradictory and they are not. The listings still cutting are the ones that started too high in the spring and are working their way down to reality. The homes priced correctly out of the gate are closing in a month at nearly full price, same as they have all summer. Two different markets, one MLS. If you are selling, that gap is the entire argument for getting the number right the first time — a cut is a story your listing tells buyers about itself, and it is not the story you want. If you are buying, where you are looking now matters as much as when: nearly half the inventory in Fort Bend and Katy has already blinked, and inside the Loop only about a third has.
RatesThis week’s mortgage rates
Rates rose three days running to land at 6.75% — which, after all that, is a single basis point below where they sat last Wednesday. On a $350,000 home with 10% down, principal & interest runs about $2,043/month, two dollars lighter than a week ago. That is noise, not news, and it is the point worth making: the 30-year is up about a tenth of a percent over the past month and has gone essentially nowhere over the past week. So whatever extra room buyers have found lately is coming from the asking price, not the rate. FHA sits at 6.32%.
Source: Mortgage News Daily — 30-yr fixed and FHA as of Aug 18, 2026. Run your own numbers on my calculator.
From the blogHouston ZIP codes, mapped
I went through all 252 ZIP codes in Greater Houston and mapped what people actually ask me about — school ratings, flood history, and which ones sit inside a MUD district. A few things surprised me: 41% of these ZIPs are split between two or more school districts, so “what district am I in” often has more than one right answer on the same street.
On the marketThree worth a look that week
Prices and status as of the send date; listings may have since sold or changed.
Listed at $347,000 in late June, no takers for eight weeks, and the seller came down $17,001. At $121/sqft against Pearland’s $161 median, the cheapest square footage in the letter — cul-de-sac lot, built 2006, no rear neighbors. Carrying costs run about $676/month before principal and interest — the lightest load of the three.
See it on EddieWeir.com →Buy the lot and the trees — 12,750 sqft, close to a third of an acre. Vaulted ceilings, exposed beams, downstairs primary. Built 1974, so budget an inspection on the systems; the trade is a $475/year HOA where newer neighborhoods run two to five times that.
See it on EddieWeir.com →A freestanding four-bedroom on the corner with first-floor living — hard to find at this price inside the Loop. A detached patio home in Maxroy Mews: courtyard instead of a yard, $2,391/year HOA that covers water, sewer and trash. It prices under the $267/sqft Heights median because of land you’re not buying — right home for the right buyer.
See it on EddieWeir.com →Your equityYou don’t have to be selling to know your number
With about 5.4 months of supply, pricing and preparation decide everything right now. Even if a move is a year out, it’s worth ten minutes to know where you stand.
LocalAround Houston that week
- Houston Summer Vibe Market — Sat 8/22 & Sun 8/23, Silver Street Studio at Sawyer Yards, free. Eighty-plus artisans a day, indoors and air-conditioned.
- Incredible India: Call of the Flute — Sat 8/22, Miller Outdoor Theatre, free. Classical and folk dance for the stories of Krishna, with live music.
- Matcha & Pilates Market — Sat 8/22, Sugar Land Town Square, free. Vendor market with complimentary outdoor Pilates at 3 and 6 PM.
Buying, selling, or investing this year? Book a 15-minute call — I’ll send back something useful: a value on your home, a shortlist that fits, or the numbers on a deal. No pressure, no pitch.
