GALVESTON (statesman.com) – Hurricane season officially begins Thursday, and experts have predicted an active season this year with up to six storms rated category three or higher. Yet, the housing market along the nation’s coasts continues to boom.

Builders on Galveston Island are investing about $2 billion in new developments — a record level of investment. These developments will bring three million square feet of new or renovated commercial space and 5,400 new residences, half houses and half condos.

 For example, home builder Ross Novelli Jr. is building condos on pillars 21 feet above sea level in his development called Sunset Cove on the western tip of Galveston Island. More than 80 percent of the development’s 171 lots for single-family homes have been sold.

 Home values continue to rise in the nation’s coastal areas. Insurance analysts estimate that the total value of property exposed to possible hurricane damage has doubled every ten years.

 Although rising, home prices on the Texas coasts are not accelerating at the same pace as they have in Florida, the Carolinas or California, which makes Texas property attractive to out-of-state buyers.