Houston skyline behind a white bridge over a calm bayou lined with trees

Buying a home in
Houston

Q: Does the Texas law on foreign buyers stop Europeans from buying?

Not on its wording. Senate Bill 17, in force since 1 September 2025, restricts buyers linked to a designated country. It names no country: it points to those the US Director of National Intelligence lists as a national security risk in a recent Annual Threat Assessment, or that the governor designates. Nothing in the text applies to EU or UK citizens as such. We did not open the current list, so check it, and take legal advice first if you hold a second nationality, live in a listed country, or buy through a company with ownership links there.

Q: Why is the property tax so high if Texas has no income tax?

Texas has no personal income tax, so schools, counties, cities and special districts rely heavily on property tax. The Tax Foundation puts the average effective rate in Harris County at 1.50% of home value and in Fort Bend County at 1.77% (2024 data). Your bill depends on the combination of districts at the address, and the $140,000 school homestead exemption only goes to people who live in the home. A holiday-home owner should budget for the full rate.

Q: Do I need flood insurance in Houston?

A federally backed lender requires it in a high-risk flood zone, and FEMA notes that most homeowners insurance does not cover flood. Harvey flooded nearly 136,000 structures in Harris County, so the zone on the map is not the whole picture. Policies usually take 30 days to start. Ask for the flood zone, the seller's flood history and a quote before the option period ends, and read the seller's disclosure notice for floodplain and past flooding.

Q: What is a MUD and why does it matter?

A municipal utility district provides water, sewer and drainage in newer areas and can issue bonds and levy its own property tax to repay them. The seller must give you a statutory notice with the district's tax rate, and the standard Texas contract says you must sign it before the contract is final. The notice says the district may impose an unlimited rate of tax to repay its bonds, so ask what debt it carries and how much is still to be built.

Q: If Houston has no zoning, what stops a business opening next door?

In many neighbourhoods, deed restrictions do the work that zoning does elsewhere. These are private covenants recorded against a subdivision, and a state bill analysis calls them an essential tool because Houston has no zoning. Check the restrictions and the association rules for the street, because a plot with no restrictions faces fewer limits on use than a European would expect.

Houston is a very large, spread-out Gulf Coast city with no zoning, no state income tax and local property taxes that make up the difference. Europeans arrive for energy, hospital, space and port jobs. The decisions that matter are which county, which tax districts and how high the ground is.

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Everything about buying in Houston

Short answers on this page. The full guide has the detail, the figures and the sources.

The purchase and the loan

How a purchase runs here and which loans fit.

What homes cost
How a Texas purchase works
The Texas law on foreign buyers
Financing and the loan limit

Prices, taxes and insurance

What homes cost and what you pay on top.

Property tax without an income tax
New neighbourhoods and MUD districts
Flood, wind and hail

Letting and living

Rental rules, local life and how to get there.

No zoning, and what replaces it
Getting there

Read the full guide

Who moves here from Europe

Houston's economy rests on energy, hospitals, space and shipping, and all four recruit abroad. The Texas Comptroller's profile of the Gulf Coast region, which includes Houston, counted 7,517,691 residents in 2022 and found oil and gas extraction almost 12 times as concentrated there as in the United States as a whole. General hospitals in the region employed 100,811 people that year, and exports through the Houston port came to $131.7 billion. The Texas Medical Center says it has more than 120,000 employees and 10 million patient encounters a year. NASA lists a workforce of more than 12,000 at the Johnson Space Center in the south-east of the city.

For a European household that usually means arriving on an employer-sponsored visa with a US salary and no US credit history. A lawfully resident non-citizen can obtain a conventional loan, subject to each lender's own rules. See how a work visa affects the loan.

Colorful two-storey homes with garages along a quiet street in the Houston Heights neighborhood

Houston at a glance

Figures last checked: 4 October 2026

This is not a lending decision: a US specialist confirms what applies to your own situation.

Median sale price	$330,000 for a single-family home and $195,000 for a townhouse or condo in Greater Houston, August 2026 (Houston Association of Realtors).
Loan limit 2026	$832,750 for a one-unit home in Harris, Fort Bend, Montgomery, Brazoria and Galveston counties (FHFA).
Effective property tax	Harris 1.50%, Fort Bend 1.77%, Brazoria 1.69%, Montgomery 1.44% of home value on average (Tax Foundation, 2024 data). No state income tax.
Homestead exemption	$140,000 off the value taxed by school districts, for a home you live in, plus a 10% yearly cap on its appraised value from the second year (Harris Central Appraisal District, checked October 2026).
Flood history	Nearly 136,000 structures flooded in Harris County in Hurricane Harvey, which made landfall on 25 August 2017 (Harris County Flood Control District, via the National Weather Service).
Flights home	ITA Airways began nonstop Rome service from Bush Airport on 1 May 2026. Check the airline schedule for London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Munich.

Historic sandstone courthouse with a dome behind live oak trees in downtown Houston

Two fountains, a green lawn and terraced garden in a Houston park, Texas

Aerial view of large suburban houses with pools around a cul-de-sac in Houston, Texas

Aerial view of large waterfront homes with lawns and boat docks in Houston, Texas

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Before you make an offer in Houston

Note the county of the address and ask for the appraisal district record and last year's tax bill.
Recalculate the tax at your purchase price without the homestead exemption if you will not live there.
Check the FEMA flood zone, the seller's flood history and get flood quotes before the option period ends.
If the home is in a MUD, read the notice, the district's rate and its bond debt.
Find out whether the address is in the TWIA area and how wind and hail are covered.
Read the deed restrictions and association rules for the street.
Check the current list of designated countries under Senate Bill 17 if you hold a second nationality.
Ask the lender for a written estimate of closing costs and cash to close.

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Questions people moving from Europe ask

Does the Texas law on foreign buyers stop Europeans from buying?

Why is the property tax so high if Texas has no income tax?

Do I need flood insurance in Houston?

What is a MUD and why does it matter?

If Houston has no zoning, what stops a business opening next door?

Continue your research

Sources (16)

Figures and rules on this page were checked against these sources on 4 October 2026. Rates, prices and local rules change, so confirm anything you rely on before you commit.

Buying a home inHouston