Neglected mansions, unsold luxury cars and discount dinners: How the oil downturn has slammed Houston’s richest neighborhood
Oil prices have dropped nearly 70 per cent due to competing markets
Luxurious properties with lush gardens lost more than £500,000 in value
One restaurant is offering a three-course dinner for price of a barrel – $30
Houston Opera forced to offer free tickets to now-unemployed patrons
By LYDIA WILLGRESS
DailyMail.com
26 February 2016
Houston’s richest neighborhood is suffering as oil prices continue to drop.
Luxurious houses have lost more than £500,000 in value as dozens of residents face losing their jobs.
The Houston Opera has been forced to offer free season tickets to now-unemployed patrons while fancy restaurants are offering cut-price dinners.
Ouisie’s Table, a River Oaks institution, is offering an ‘Oil Barrel Bargain’ – a three-course dinner for the price of a barrel of oil, now around $30.
The area – known as the world’s oil capital – is believed to have been particularly hard hit as tanking energy firm shares make up much of oil and gas executives’ compensation.
In River Oaks, the average price of a property has tumbled from $2million to $1.3m as oil prices slide by nearly 70 per cent.
Paige Martin, a Keller Williams broker who specializes in the neighborhood, said: ‘When oil does well, River Oaks does well. When oil does bad River Oaks does bad. Not everybody can afford a $10m house.’
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