ZIP 77380 presents a measured split between its current asking-rent snapshot and its longer rent path. Zillow’s typical observed asking-rent index, blended across rental types, is $1,604 per month, down 2.3% from a year earlier. That current asking-rent index sits below the matched ACS median gross rent of $1,707, a 6.0% gap, even though the two measures describe different housing populations and cost concepts. The immediate direction is therefore softer, while the historical record and household-cost measures require a broader reading than one monthly index observation.
The one-year same-month rent-history measure is a 2.3% decline, the three-year same-month annualized change is a near-flat 0.02% gain, and the five-year same-month annualized change is a 3.5% increase. Recent weakening breaks from the longer five-year growth path rather than confirming it. The history contains 137 observations with 100% reported coverage, which supports continuity of the record but does not make it predictive. Annualized monthly variability of 3.5% calls for moderate caution around one current rent snapshot, while the 5.7% maximum drawdown shows that observed asking rents have previously retreated from earlier peaks. Transparent national discovery ranks of 2,707 for momentum, 2,203 for stability, and 2,781 for the balanced measure place this ZIP’s backward-looking profile in a relatively weak rank position among history-eligible ZIPs; they are not forecasts or investment recommendations.
The 77380 label is both Zillow’s ZIP market identifier and a matched Census ZCTA. A ZCTA is a statistical area and is not identical to a USPS delivery ZIP. Zillow ZORI is a typical observed asking-rent index across rental types, whereas ACS median gross rent is a five-year survey measure for occupied renter homes that includes selected utilities. HUD’s figures are instead administrative, bedroom-specific FMR or SAFMR standards, not asking rents. Using the local HUD bedroom ladder to scale ZIP ZORI produces modelled monthly estimates of $1,306 for a studio, $1,346 for one bedroom, $1,604 for two bedrooms, $2,160 for three bedrooms, and $2,692 for four bedrooms. These are modelled estimates rather than measured bedroom rents. The ZIP index is 19.4% below the local HUD two-bedroom standard of $1,990, illustrating why the standards and observed asking-rent index should not be substituted for each other.
At the current ZIP asking-rent index, the arithmetic 30% required-income screen equals $64,160 annually. That is 21.7% of the matched ZCTA median household income of $88,562, so the area-level income comparison is below the screen; it is not advice and is not an applicant qualification rule. The ACS burden measure provides a separate retrospective household view: 3,939 renter households, or 40.4% of surveyed renter households, reported paying at least 30% of income toward rent. Gross-rent burden reflects occupied households with differing incomes, rents, household sizes, and utility costs, so it cannot establish affordability for a particular applicant or unit.
The matched ZCTA had 31,369 residents and 16,679 housing units in the ACS survey. Of occupied homes, 9,761 were renter occupied, making renters 63.6% of occupied households. The overall vacancy rate was 8.0%, with 1,061 units classified as vacant for rent; those counts identify a survey status, not the rent, condition, concession, or actual availability of any specific listing. Housing stock spans 6,596 single-family units and 4,896 units in large multifamily buildings. That mix matters when reading a blended asking-rent index because the index is not a property-type-specific or bedroom-specific transaction series.
Wider geography offers context but not a replacement market measure. The Spring city context asking-rent figure is $1,750, the Montgomery County context asking-rent figure is $1,733, and the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX metro context asking-rent figure is $1,648; each is broader context for its named geography, not a ZIP reading. ZIP 77380’s $1,604 index is below all three comparisons, including the metro figure by a smaller margin than the city and county figures. This relative positioning is consistent with the ZIP’s lower current index, but it does not reveal whether any individual property is competitively priced.
Redfin’s direct rolling-three-month ZIP resale observation describes the for-sale market, not rental transactions. Its median sold price was $457,397, down 2.7% year over year, with 99 homes sold and a median 41 days on market. Redfin reported 187 active listings, 95 homes of inventory, and 2.9 months of supply. The average sale-to-list ratio was 96.6%; 11.5% of sales closed above list, and 30.6% of listings went off market within two weeks. The annualized ZIP ZORI divided by Redfin’s median sold price is a 4.2% cross-source screening ratio only, not a cap rate, net return, expected return, or property yield. The sale-price decline broadly confirms the recent asking-rent decline as a shared near-term direction, while the sales volume and sub-three-month supply complicate any simple interpretation of resale liquidity from price change alone.
The evidence is strongest for a current rent index below broader asking-rent context, a one-year decline after longer-run growth, substantial renter representation, and a resale market with declining median sold price but continuing recorded turnover. Limits are material: Zillow is an asking-rent index, ACS is a survey of occupied renter homes, HUD is an administrative standard, and Redfin is a direct ZIP resale series. A property-level review should verify the exact bedroom count, advertised rent, utilities, lease term, concessions, listing status, sale comparables, condition, and the applicable taxes, insurance, maintenance, and financing assumptions. None of these area-level measures proves the economics, vacancy, burden, or marketability of a particular property.