HOUSTON -- The low price of oil is bringing on more uncertainty for a big chunk of Houston's economy. Thousands of layoffs have rocked the oil and gas industry, and there's no clear picture of when things could get better.
KHOU breaks down the "ripple effect" those layoffs are having on the local housing market.
"Bye, see y'all later," said Byron Calais, walking out of his children’s daycare in northwest Houston.
It's Thursday afternoon, on what should be a busy work day for Calais. But his only clients are 4-year-old Leila and 5-month-old Christian.
"This is the first time I've been laid off," Calais said.
He lost his job two weeks ago working for an oil and gas maintenance company.
"Tell us what that uncertainty is like,” KHOU reporter Alice Barr asked. “What's it like to wake up in the morning and not be sure how you're going to take care of your family today?"
"Whew, I'm sorry, I don't know if I can even answer that question," Calais responded.
Adding to the stress, the family just bought their home five months ago, and now they're not sure how they'll keep it.
"I'm nervous," Calais said. "I'm willing to drive Uber if I have to -- anything to just keep some momentum going."
Calais is not alone, and Houston's real estate market is starting to feel the effects.
Leon Green sees it every day in his property management business, Green Residential.
"Homes are sitting on the market for longer periods of time," Green said.
Green deals mostly with home rentals, and he's telling his clients to move a property quickly, they've got to drop their prices.
"This house that we're in right now, it rented for $5,000 about 18 months ago,” Green said. “It's being advertised for lease for $3,800 a month right now."
Of course, that's on the high-end -- the kind of home that typically rents to a foreign oil and gas executive in Houston on assignment.
"That person is harder to find these days," Green said.
It all means more supply than demand. Take, for example, one neighborhood that attracts oil and gas employees: The Lakes on Eldridge in northwest Houston.
Data from the Houston Association of Realtors shows that in the second half of 2014, homes in Lakes on Eldridge were renting for around $4,400 a month and sitting on the market an average 41 days. A year later that changed to $4,300 and 48 days on the market. Active homes right now are sitting an average 89 days and renting for around $4,000.
But that's not the whole story.
"I would begin saying we still have a strong market," said Anne Incorvia, Executive vice president of John Daugherty Realtors.
She says properties inside the loop and in certain school districts are still in high demand. But the pace of construction and growing inventory of homes means prices are evening out. Instead of home values increasing 14 and 15 percent like during the boom years, it's a slower growth.
"Between three and seven percent," Incorvia said.
She believes Houston's increasingly diversified economy protects us from the bottom falling out.
"We're going back to our normal market, we are not going back to the 80's," she said.
But that's little comfort to folks like Calais, trying to plan for his family in an uncertain future.
"We don't know if oil has reached its low, how long we're going to stay down here, how long it's going to take to rebound," he said.
Still, he's heading toward the next challenge with positivity and hope.
"When you love people and you love learning new things, I can't help but somewhat anticipate what's going to happen next," Calais said, looking to the next chapter for his career, his family, and his city.