Houses are in short supply – and high demand – in The Woodlands.

With the move of the Exxon Mobil to the south part of Montgomery County and a number of other companies setting up shop in Town Center, homes in the area are selling fast.

Greg and Michele Flory, agents with Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene, have lived and worked in The Woodlands for 15 years – and report that business has taken a turn for the better in the past year.

“It probably started last fall – that’s when it started gaining momentum,” Greg Flory said. “Beginning the first of the year, it just took off. There was more and more buyer demand, but we weren’t seeing a comparable increase in houses.”

Flory said there are about 280 homes on the market in The Woodlands – not enough to meet the needs of consumers.

“That’s not very many homes, when you consider all the people wanting one,” he said. “A lot of people are scrambling to find a place to live.”

Flory keeps track of the numbers.

He said active house listings are down 54 percent from the same period last year, with contracts up 20 percent.

Flory said “months of inventory” is another way to gauge the real estate business. The term refers to the number of available homes divided by the average sales.

A balanced market is usually six months, Flory said. In other words, all the currently listed houses would sell within six months.

“If there’s more than six months, it’s a buyer’s market,” he said. “Right now, our inventory is 1.8 months. The inventory is in terms of a week or two.”

Most houses in the area are taking even less time to sell.

“It’s not uncommon to have a new home come into the market and have multiple offers in one day,” Flory said.

The highest bidder takes the prize.

Flory said homes in The Woodlands usually sell at 97 percent of the asking price.

Some of his clients want to offer 20 percent off the list price.

“I tell them don’t even bother,” he said. “The one who gets the house comes in above list price. List price is kind of our starting point.”

Most sales are in the $200,000 to $300,000 price range, Flory said. “That seems to be the hot market for investors.”

Oil and gas companies are transferring employees in and out, and larger companies encourage people to lease instead of buy, Flory added.

He said that out of 2,000 Exxon employees moving to the area, 800 will lease rather than buying.

“That’s a huge influx of people wanting to lease on top of what we already have,” he said. “It’s already booming.”

Like a zoo

To keep up, Michele Flory usually awakes at 5:30 a.m. to set appointments for listings.

“When she arrives at a showing, you can’t find a parking spot,” her husband said. “There are so many people.”

Michele recalled that on a recent listing, she pulled up to a whole street of cars.

“It was a zoo,” she said. “Sometimes we take turns going in, and other times we all go in at the same time.”

She said that the high demand has led to an increase in “pocket listings” – or homes sold by agents in private transactions, before they are ever entered into the Multiple Listing Service.

Pocket listings

“Pocket listings have always been around,” she said.

“It’s become more important to us recently, as inventory started to decline. We had to talk to each other to see what would be coming up in the market.”

The Florys are part of a group of about 25 agents who often share these private listings.

“Pocket listings are so hot right now,” Michele said.

“You really need to be looking with a Realtor or else you are going to miss these. The market is just tight.”

There is so much competition for homes that the Florys recommend switching the order of selling and buying.

“Traditionally, people put their homes on the market and then started shopping,” Flory said. “Now most agents are advising clients to find the new home first and get it under contract.”

Michele agreed.

“Do not sell your house until you find something to buy,” she said.

“Otherwise you’ll be living in something temporary. We can sell your house, and we can sell it quickly.”

All types of homes are selling, in all parts of The Woodlands, Flory added.

Homes under $500,000 have two months inventory or less.

Homes in the $600,000 to $800,000 range have four months.

Flory said that homes around $900,000 have three months inventory this year compared to 10 months at this time last year.

Homes that are more than $1 million are down in sales, but inventory is down as well, she said.

“Newer listings in this price come on the market and sell right away,” she said.

“Exxon effect”

Flory said that some residents are waiting for Exxon to officially open its new campus before selling – in hopes of getting a maximum value.

“We call it the ‘Exxon effect,’ ” he said. “We see not only a lot of home owners, but also builders, waiting for Jan. 2014.”

He thinks now is as good a time as any for a sale.

“We don’t have room for everybody,” he said. “This is going to be a nice market for many years.”

Flory said people come to The Woodlands for the schools, the green space, the parks and the hike and bike trails.

“People are buying houses, but they’re also buying the lifestyle,” he said. “There are enough companies moving here. We have restaurants, entertainment, more and more people are going to Houston less and less.”

New homes

Susan Vreeland-Wendt, director of marketing for The Woodlands Development Co., said there are several neighborhoods in Creekside Park offering new homes.

“Most of the current new home development is taking place in the Village of Creekside Park,” she said.

“Of the 255 home sales we have had to date this year, 181 of them were in Creekside Park with 75 being east of Kuykendahl and 46 west of Kuykendahl.”

Homes and homesites are also available in the gated community of Carlton Woods Creekside, Vreeland-Wendt added.

“Another active area is East Shore on Lake Woodlands, where there have been 23 new home sales to date this year,” she said.

“In the neighborhood of May Valley in the Village of Sterling Ridge, 48 homes have been sold this year so far.”

Liberty Branch

Development is under way in Liberty Branch, a new neighborhood that will feature around 400 Americana-style homes designed with front porches and sidewalks in the front yard.

“Model homes will be available by late summer or early fall of this year,” she said.

There is a limited amount of land left.

“We have approximately 2,500 residential lots left to develop, and more than 5,200 multi-family residences are planned,” Vreeland-Wendt said.