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88 at region's infamously high prices hinder homeownership, thus creating a ready pool of renters. Cities with the fewest nonowner-occupied properties trend in the Northeast and Mid- west, where "affordable homes mean the op- portunity to be a homeowner is high and less appreciation attracts less investors," Lending- Tree explained. Of the 50 cities studied, Oklahoma City snagged the top slot, with a 15.4 percent share of nonowner-occupied mortgages and a $193,000 nonowner-occupied average loan amount. Philadelphia clocked in at No. 2, with a 14.6 percent share and a $245,000 loan amount. Memphis rocked the No. 3 spot, with a 14.6 percent share and a $126,000 loan amount. Miami, San Francisco, New Orleans, Las Vegas, New York, Los Angeles, and Riverside, California, round out the top 10, respectively. e city with the least nonowner-occupied mortgages: Detroit, with a 5.2 percent share and a $115,000 nonowner-occupied average loan size. Next comes Cleveland at No. 49, with a 5.7 percent share and a $124,000 loan size. Hartford, Connecticut, chalked up a No. 48 ranking, with a 5.9 percent share and a $237,000 loan size. Finishing out the bottom 50 are Indianapolis (47); Cincinnati (46); Pitts- burgh (45); Buffalo, New York (44); Columbus, Ohio (43); Louisville, Kentucky (42); and Salt Lake City (41). TEXAS The Lingering Impact of Harvey on Houston's Housing Market e Houston housing market was a mixed bag in 2017. Listings were up, but sales prices were down from May that year through Au- gust, which is when Hurricane Harvey made landfall and flooded the city. Months later, a study by Realtor.com shows that Houston's housing market is still a mixed bag, just in a different way. "After the hurricane, new inventory evaporated," the report states. "As time has passed, buyer interest has returned, especially in flood-affected areas. ese changes have quickened the pace of sales and pushed home prices higher, restoring the market to normal and tipping the balance back towards a sellers- market." age of 104. Ebby Halliday, REALTORS participated in more than 18,800 transactions in 2017, with a sales volume of more than $8 billion. e firm ranks 12th in the nation in sales volume. Minnesota-based HomeServices of Ameri- ca is the country's second-largest residential real estate brokerage company and, through its op- erating companies, is one of the largest provid- ers of integrated real estate services. HomeSer- vices of America is the owner of the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Real Living Real Estate, and Prudential Real Estate franchise networks. HomeServices is owned by Berkshire Hathaway Energy, a consolidated subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. HomeServices' operating companies offer integrated real estate services, including brokerage services, mortgage originations, title and closing services, property and casualty insurance, home warranties, and other homeownership services. HomeServices Relocation, LLC, is the full-service relocation arm of HomeServices of America, which pro- vides every aspect of domestic and international relocation to corporations around the world. Recovery, however, has picked up. "Starting in March and continuing through May," the report stated, "we see over- all inventory moving quickly again. In fact, in a nod toward normalcy, homes are moving off of the market faster than they did last spring." In the most-affected areas of Harris County, home-price growth that was in double digits before Harvey has only risen to 2 percent since, according to the report. But, when Realtor.com compared people looking to move to Houston versus those looking to move out, the trend towards moving to the city has been growing. At the end of Q 4, the report states, inbound home seekers made up about 45 percent of the market. By the end of Q1, that number increased to 54 percent. Most of the Houston buyers looking outside the city itself didn't stray too far. Nearby Beaumont was a big draw, as was the Gulf Coast city of Corpus Christi. Houston shoppers looking for property outside of Texas favored New Orleans, which was also true for Houston emigrants before Harvey, according to the report. Florida, however, gained a lot of interest from people looking outside of Houston. Miami moved from fifth-most popular to second-most popular, and Orlando and Tampa replaced Los Angeles and Chicago as top- viewed destinations," the report states. Within Texas, but outside the Houston area, Dallas and Austin have seen a bigger share of interest from Houstonians these past nine months. HomeServices Inc. Acquires Ebby Halliday Brand Texas-based Ebby Halliday Real Estate Inc. announced that it is being acquired by HomeServices of America Inc. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. "e acquisition will include Ebby's three real estate brands: Dallas-based Ebby Hal- liday, REALTORS and Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate and Fort Worth-based Williams Trew Real Estate, as well as the firm's affili- ated mortgage and title companies," accord- ing to a press release. "e Ebby Halliday portfolio of companies brands will continue to operate under their current brand names." Born in Arkansas in 1911, Ebby Halliday moved to Dallas in 1938 and eventually opened her own real estate firm in 1945, becoming a Dallas icon during the course of her decades- long career. Halliday passed away in 2015 at the Midland, Texas, reached the No. 1 spot on the Realtor. com 'Hotness' Index for June 2018, moving up 18 spots to a 'hotness score' of 99.16. KNOW THIS