News around Texas, January 2012
Jan. 31, 2012
It’s a stable market in AbileneAfter a trend of increasing sales prices during the last half of 2011, the Abilene housing market ended the year with the median sales price up 6% over last year. Despite the year marking the fourth consecutive year of declining sales, local REALTORS® note the market improved in 2011 and is stable overall. Read more at the Abilene Reporter-News.
Jan. 30, 2012
College Station area housing market improvesCollege Station is among 40 new metropolitan areas recognized this month for improvement in housing permits, employment, and house prices. According to the National Association of Home Builders index, the College Station area has seen a 4.5% growth in employment, a 7.8% increase in home prices, and a 3% rise in single-family housing permits. Read more at WTAW.
Jan. 27, 2012
South Texas bucks price trendAccording to FNC’s residential price index, South Texas and Houston are the only two metros to show price increases since the bubble in July 2006. In November, San Antonio showed the largest monthly growth among measured metros with prices increasing 2.1% from October. Read more at Housing Wire.
Jan. 26, 2012
Houston is the star of the economic showAccording to local economists, Houston’s strong performance is the key driver of Texas’s economic performance, which continues to lead the nation as a whole. Strong job growth in manufacturing and in oil and gas exploration and production are cited as reasons why “Houston is the star of the show.” Read more at the Houston Chronicle.
Jan. 25, 2012
Texas unemployment rate reaches lowAccording to employment statistics released by the Texas Workforce Commission, Texas’s unemployment rate has dropped to 7.8%, the lowest it’s been since July 2009 when the recession was just heating up. Read more at the Texas Tribune.
Jan. 24, 2012
Texas real estate upswing rooted in population growthTexas’s dramatic population shift is cited as a key driver of growth in the Texas housing market over the next decade. Texas’s population, which has grown 20.6% over the past decade to 25 million, is expected to add another 14 million between 2010 and 2030. By 2040, 33.7 million people will reside in the four largest metro areas in the state, pushing up housing demand. Read more at Housing Wire.
Jan. 23, 2012
Houston and Dallas lead international economic performanceHouston and Dallas, which ranked 19th and 36th, respectively, were the only American cities to achieve a strong ranking on the Brooking Institution’s Global MetroMonitor 2011. Houston also ranked as the 3rd largest GDP center in the world in the report, which analyzed the economic performance of the world’s 200 largest metros. Read more at the Brookings Institution.
Jan. 20, 2012
Midland-Odessa economy shows strengthPerhaps sensing that the 2011 finish line was at hand, the combined Midland-Odessa economy increased the pace of its growth in November, showing stronger-than-expected month-to-month gains from October to November. Having shown signs of flattening, the Midland-Odessa Regional Economic Index actually surpassed its previous high reached in December 2008 and is 13.6% stronger than November 2010. Read more at the Midland Reporter-Telegram.
Jan. 19, 2012
Houston stays ahead of U.S. housing downturnHouston fared better than most U.S. markets in terms of home prices, according to a recent report from Clear Capital. According to the report, Houston home prices decreased by .8% from 2011 to 2012 while the national average home price dropped 2.1% in 2011. Read more at the Houston Business Journal.
Jan. 18, 2012
Three Texas cities lead real estate reboundHouston, Austin, and Fort Worth recently ranked on Forbes’s list of “The 10 Cities Where Real Estate is Ripe for a Rebound.” According to the list of the top locations currently experiencing or on the verge of bouncing back, the common thread among all 10 cities was a strong job market. Reach about each city’s rankings at Forbes.
Jan. 17, 2012
Austin foreclosure rate slides up in OctoberResidential foreclosure rates in Austin were up slightly in October when compared to the same time one year earlier, according to data from CoreLogic. Austin-area foreclosure rates were 1.06% for the month of October 2011, an increase of 0.05 percentage points over October 2010 when the rate was 1.01%. Read more at the Austin Business Journal.
Jan. 17, 2012
Foreclosure rates in Fort Worth-Arlington area increaseForeclosure rates in Fort Worth-Arlington have increased for the month of October over the same period last year, according to newly-released data from CoreLogic. The data reveals that the rate of Fort Worth-Arlington area foreclosures among outstanding mortgage loans is 1.61% for the month of October 2011, an increase of 0.15 percentage points compared to October of 2010 when the rate was 1.46%. Read more at the Fort Worth Business Press.
Jan. 16, 2012
Retail sector perks up in six states, led by TexasJust six of the 50 states have more retail jobs today than they did at the end of 2006, according to an On Numbers analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Texas had the most success in bucking this national trend, increasing its retail employment base by 30,100 jobs over five years. North Dakota, Oklahoma, Alaska, South Dakota, and Nebraska rounded out the top six states with positive growth. See the full ranking at The Business Journals.
Jan. 16, 2012
South Texas boom offers opportunities in housingWhile the housing business remains emphatically average across the major cities in Texas, in South Texas, where oil and gas drilling is booming, housing can’t be added quickly enough. Now more developers and builders are moving into the sparsely-populated Eagle Ford Shale counties to build everything from housing to pipe yards to warehouses. Read more at the Houston Chronicle.
Jan. 13, 2012
Longview area homes sales on upward trendHome sales in the first half of 2011 for the Longview and East Texas area lagged behind rates from the first half of 2010, but the market appears to be rebounding, according to sales numbers and local REALTORS®. In addition, the average price for a home sold in the Longview-Marshall area in 2011 was $165,800, up by about 20% or $27,500 from the average sales price locally in 2010. Read more at the Longview News-Journal.
Jan. 13, 2012
Amarillo economy recoversAccording to Amarillo National Bank officials, fundamental economic drivers for Amarillo will improve in 2012, even with the spectre of a continued drought. Following on the December Bureau of Labor Statistics survey that indicated 2,300 more people working in Amarillo than the previous year, the bank predicts the local economy will gain 1,700 jobs this year. Read more at the Amarillo Globe-News.
Jan. 12, 2012
Texas schools named ‘Best Values’Kiplinger named Texas A&M University in College Station the leading public college or university in Texas followed by The University of Texas at Austin and The University of Texas at Dallas. Read more at the San Antonio Business Journal.
Jan. 12, 2012
Houston to build more single-family homes in 2012Houston single-family home starts are expected to rise 10% this year, according to Metrostudy. At the same time, single-family home resales are also expected to increase at least 10% over last year. Read more at the Houston Business Journal.
Jan. 11, 2012
Bigger and better in Texas, againThe Texas economy is starting the year off well compared to the rest of the nation with positive reports that indicate a brighter outlook for the future. According to the Texas Real Estate Center, job growth is occurring in several sectors, and a low cost of living is enticing businesses to move to the Lone Star State. Read more at Housing Wire.
Jan. 11, 2012
Texas unemployment rate dropsTexas's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate dropped to 8.1% in November, down from 8.4% in October, and remains below the national unemployment rate of 8.6%.The civilian labor force in Texas grew by more than 21,000 in November, and now stands at 12.3 million workers. Read more at the San Antonio Express-News.
Jan. 10, 2012
Texas tops nation in five-year job growthTexas added far more jobs than any other state in the country in the past five years. The Lone Star State had 10,629,300 non-farm jobs as of November, a gain of 451,100 jobs since the same month in 2006, an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data by The Business Journals's On Numbers shows. Read more at the Houston Business Journal.
Jan. 10, 2012
Parker County home sales and values increaseParker County real estate agents say there are hopeful signs of a recovering local economy. Those signs include a 9% increase in the number of homes sold in Parker County from 2010 to 2011 and a 3% increase in the average sales price. Read more at the Weatherford Democrat.
Jan. 9, 2012
Luxury real estate booms in San AntonioThanks to wealthy Mexicans and Eagle Ford Shale millionaires helping drive the market for expensive homes, luxury real estate in San Antonio appears to be outperforming the rest of the housing market. While the median home price across San Antonio is up about 2% for the year, it's risen 3.3% in the $750,000-and-up category. Read more at the Houston Chronicle.
Jan. 6, 2012
Signs point to healthier Central Texas housing market in 2012The new year should usher in a healthier Central Texas housing market, experts say, thanks to job and population growth, high apartment occupancies, and an anticipated uptick in consumer confidence. Although 2011 home construction is down more than 60% from the region’s 2006 peak, homebuilders say they expect 2012 to be better. Read more about the local market at the Austin American-Statesman.
Jan. 6, 2012
Austin is state’s hottest spot for startupsInvestors poured $280 million into Central Texas startup companies in the third quarter, making the area the state’s hottest spot for early-stage deals. In total, Texas startups raised $517.6 million, according to a report released Thursday by the statewide organization Texas Entrepreneur Networks. Read more at the Austin American-Statesman.
Jan. 5, 2012
Midland has state’s lowest unemployment rateWord is spreading that Midland has plenty of jobs available. The Texas Workforce Commission recently reported that the Midland metropolitan statistical area had an unemployment rate of 4.1% in November, down from 4.5% in October and 5% last November. The city reported the lowest unemployment in the state, followed by Amarillo with 5.1%, and Odessa at 5.3%. Read more at the Midland Reporter-Telegram.
Jan. 5, 2012
Texas is No. 1 in population growthTexas gained more residents than any other state between April 1, 2010 and July 1, 2011, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau population estimates for the states and Puerto Rico. Texas added 529,000 residents to give it the No. 1 spot. The state’s population grew 2.1%. Read more at the Houston Business Journal.
Jan. 4, 2012
Texas claims second largest populationTexas is the No. 2 state in America when it comes to population numbers. According to estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau, the Lone Star State is the second-most populous state in the union with 25.67 million residents. California remained first with 37.69 million. Read more at the Austin Business Journal.
Jan. 4, 2012
Texas economy unchanged in OctoberThe Texas economy was unchanged in October at a level of 99, according to Comerica Bank’s Texas Economic Index. October’s reading brought the year-to-date index average to 97. Read more at the Houston Business Journal.
Jan. 3, 2012
Texas dominates nation’s highest employment levelsAccording to an On Numbers analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, only five of the nation’s 100 major metropolitan areas are currently at their highest employment levels in a decade. Texas’s high-flying metros – Austin, El Paso, Houston, and McAllen-Edinburg – claimed four of the five spots. Read more at The Business Journals On Numbers.
Jan. 3, 2012
Texas posting significant downward trend in yearly foreclosuresDespite a slight increase in November, over the past 12 months foreclosure filings were down 24.3% in Texas. On the national front, residential foreclosures were down 14% from last November. Read more at the San Antonio Business Journal.
Residential listings from Texas REALTORS® across the state.
