BELLAIRE AREA REAL ESTATE
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Area Statistics
Price range: $168,000 - $3,000,000 in 2009
Population: 17,113 in 2009 (per Onboard Informatics)
Avg. sales price: $712,962 in 2009
Median sales price: $684,500 in 2009
Bellaire
Bellaire may mean “Good Air” (the city is said to be named for the Gulf’s cooling breezes), but it is more commonly referred to as the “City of Homes.” That’s because the city of Bellaire is largely residential, functioning as a popular bedroom community for families with parents who work in the area. It is completely surrounded by the cities of Houston and West University Place. A family-oriented city, Bellaire is famed for its excellent Little League baseball team. Its public high school, Bellaire High School, is widely recognized for its academic and athletic programs and also has an excellent baseball team, some members of which have gone on to play in the Major Leagues.
History
Bellaire was founded in 1908 by William Wright Baldwin, president of the South End Land Company. The city was founded on what was part of William Marsh Rice’s (the founder of Rice University) 9,449-acre ranch. Baldwin started the City of Bellaire to serve as a residential neighborhood and an agricultural trading center. Six miles of prairie separated Bellaire from the city of Houston, and the two were connected by a trolley line on which construction began in 1909. By 1910, Baldwin had invested more than $150,000 in capital improvements to turn the treeless prairie into an attractive location, with professionally designed landscaping. Bellaire was incorporated as a city in 1918, at which time it had a population of 200. In 1927, the trolley line was replaced by a bus line. By 1940, the city’s population had reached 1,124. Soon after, it had a rapid population explosion in the post-WWII building boom and became a popular Houston-area suburb. In 2000, Bellaire’s population was 15,642. The city currently has a city manager style of government, with a city council made up of a mayor and six other members.
Real Estate
Bellaire real estate is made up of several dozen enclaves. Houstonians are attracted to the area for its convenient location, mix of housing styles and friendly, relaxed atmosphere. In 2006, the median house price in central Bellaire was $519,494.
Bellaire Area Real Estate Listings
