# October 2026 Board Update: 140 New Houston Communities, Checked for Fees, Water and Flood Zone | New Houston Apartment Team

> On Oct 25, 2026 we checked 140 ground-up Houston builds for electric, water district, FEMA zone and ISD, and surveyed fees at 11. Here

URL: https://newapartmentshouston.com/blog/october-2026-new-build-board-update/
Last-Modified: 2026-10-25
Author: New Houston Apartment Team

![Laptop showing a spreadsheet next to a printed map and highlighter on a desk by a window](/images/featured/laptop-showing-a-spreadsheet-next-to-a-printed-map.webp)

If you’re shopping for a new apartment in Houston this fall, here’s what the board looked like on Oct 25, 2026. We started from an export of 141 communities built from 2024 to 2026 and tracked 140 of them. Then we checked every one for electric provider, water district, FEMA zone and school district, and surveyed required fees at 11 market-rate buildings.

This post is a dated snapshot. Live prices and counts on the 

New Build Board

[/new-construction-apartments/ →](/new-construction-apartments/)

 update every morning, so some numbers here will move.

## What’s on the board, and what we left out

We track ground-up new construction only: first move-ins from 2024 to 2027, in pre-leasing, lease-up or the first 24 months. That gave us 140 communities.

One building came off for good. **The Watt** is an office conversion (Bisnow; Greystar), so it doesn’t meet our ground-up rule. Two buildings that people sometimes ask about are on the board and live: **Ohm** and **The Aurea**.

Ohm was built in 2024 and sold in August 2026; its manager is Spirit Management Services. A similar name isn’t an affiliation with our brokerage, Spirit Real Estate Group, LLC.

![Row of new garden-style apartment buildings along a suburban Houston road, daytime](/images/content/row-of-new-garden-style-apartment-buildings-along-.webp)

## Electric: who serves each address

| Electric setup | Buildings (of 140) |
| --- | --- |
| CenterPoint Energy area, you pick a plan on Power to Choose | 123 |
| Entergy Texas, no plan choice | 10 |
| Mid-South Electric Cooperative | 1 |
| Electric included or billed by the property | 5 |
| Unresolved | 1 |

CenterPoint’s delivery charge was $4.90 a month plus 6.5333 cents per kWh (PUCT, Oct 2026). The Entergy addresses are in Conroe, Willis and Dayton, and likely Porter. The Mid-South building is The Terrace at Pine Lake Cove. The one we haven’t resolved yet is 1 Riva Row. Our guide to 

electric at a new apartment

[/guides/electric-centerpoint-entergy-mid-south/ →](/guides/electric-centerpoint-entergy-mid-south/)

 explains what each setup means for your bill.

## Water: city, district, or still confirming

| Water source | Buildings (of 140) |
| --- | --- |
| District (MUD or similar), usually billed by the property | 67 |
| City system | 63 |
| Not found yet [confirm] | 9 |
| Conflicting records | 1 |

That’s almost half the board on district water. Billing follows 16 TAC Chapter 24, by ratio or submeter. For the 9 we couldn’t find and the 1 conflict, we’re calling the properties and districts. Our guide on 

MUD water bills

[/guides/mud-water-bills-explained/ →](/guides/mud-water-bills-explained/)

 walks through what to ask.

> **The question we ask every building**
> 
> What was last year’s average water bill for this unit size, and how do you bill it? For newer buildings, we ask for the average since opening.

## Flood zones: facts for every address

| FEMA zone | Buildings (of 140) |
| --- | --- |
| Zone X | 128 |
| Shaded Zone X (0.2% or levee) | 9 |
| Zone AE | 3 |

The three Zone AE buildings are Asher Towne Lake, Sycamore Heights and The Cove at GYB. LOMR-F letters are pending at the first two, and The Cove at GYB has an 11-foot base flood elevation. None of the three is inside the City of Houston. We list zones as facts, never verdicts. See our guide on 

FEMA flood zones

[/guides/fema-flood-zones-for-renters/ →](/guides/fema-flood-zones-for-renters/)

 for what each zone means.

## Fees: what 11 buildings charge each month

We used fee calculators at 11 market-rate board buildings. Required monthly fees ran **$77.62 to $158.06**, with a median of **$98**, or about **$1,176 a year**. These are charges you can’t opt out of, like valet trash, resident benefit packages and tech packages.

![Printed fee sheet with highlighted line items next to a calculator on a leasing office desk](/images/content/printed-fee-sheet-with-highlighted-line-items-next.webp)

Fees matter because the special doesn’t touch them. 8 weeks free on a $1,400 apartment is about $2,585. Spread over 12 months, you pay about $1,185. Add our $98 median fees and it’s $1,283, and year two starts at $1,498 if the base holds. Our guide on 

required fees

[/guides/required-monthly-fees/ →](/guides/required-monthly-fees/)

 lists what each one usually covers.

## Specials: the board median

The board median special was **8.0 weeks** across 128 market-rate communities on Oct 25, 2026, and 52% were at 8 weeks or more. At that median, year two jumps about 18% because renewal is priced from base. The live median updates each morning on the board.

For context, 55% of Houston-area units had a concession in Q2 2026 (Transwestern), and deliveries fall from about 13,000 in 2026 to about 5,600 in 2027 (Northmarq).

## What we’re still confirming

We’d rather say what’s open than guess. As of this update, we’re still working on:

-   The Aurea’s income program, plus age and income rules at Campanile, Lofts at Katy Ranch and LightHaven
-   Electric at 1 Riva Row, Arbor Rose Porter, The Sylvan and Bloom
-   Water at the 10 buildings marked \[confirm\] or in conflict
-   LOMR-F letters for Sycamore Heights and Asher Towne Lake, and The Cove’s elevation certificate
-   §92.0135 flood notices and generator answers from every community
-   Confirmed Opening Soon dates

When any of these change, the card updates with a new date. If we got something wrong, we fix it within one business day and log it on our 

corrections page

[/corrections/ →](/corrections/)

.

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New Houston Apartment Team

Renter brokerage team, Spirit Real Estate Group, LLC

New Houston Apartment Team tracks ground-up new apartment buildings across the Houston metro and shows the whole bill for each one. The team works under Spirit Real Estate Group, LLC, TREC #562021, and is free to renters.

Spirit Real Estate Group, LLC, TREC license #562021

About the team

[/about/#new-houston-apartment-team →](/about/#new-houston-apartment-team)

We don't guarantee pricing or approval. The community sets both, and we confirm them before you sign.

## More news

![Moving boxes in a new apartment on an overcast winter afternoon in Houston, jacket on a chair](/images/featured/moving-boxes-in-a-new-apartment-on-an-overcast-win.webp)

Seasonal Oct 18, 2026

### Moving Between November and February? What to Know About Houston New Builds This Winter (2026-27)

Winter is a slower leasing season for new Houston buildings. How specials, lease terms and renewal timing line up if you move between November and February.

[Moving Between November and February? What to Know About Houston New Builds This Winter (2026-27) →](/blog/moving-this-winter-houston-new-builds-2026/)

Next step

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