Real Estate Education
Texas Real Estate Market News
The Texas Real Estate Market is Strong. Now is a great time to jumpstart a career in this industry.
We know you are inundated with news on how the National Real Estate Market is faring but we wanted to provide you with some specifics on the Market here in Texas so you can judge for yourself. We hope this provides you, those you work with and those who are thinking about this as a career choice with some valuable insight into just how strong the Texas Real Estate Market is!
SAN ANTONIO (NAI REOC) – Leasing velocity and demand for retail space this year are steadily moving the San Antonio retail market along the road to recovery, according to NAI REOC's third quarter 2011 report of the city's retail market.
“Despite challenges, the San Antonio retail market continues to show general improvement, thanks in large part to a stable economy that is reportedly one of the strongest in the nation,” said Kim Gatley, NAI senior vice president and director of research, citing the city's top ranking on Forbes' list of “Best Cities for Jobs Right Now.”
The firm surveyed nearly 45.6 million sf of area retail space and found the citywide vacancy rate was at 12.8 percent. The rate was 13 percent last quarter and 13.3 percent a year ago. The city had a total of 315,819 sf of positive net absorption year-to-date.
Meanwhile, the citywide average quoted triple-net rental rate remained relatively stable at $18.17 per sf annually, down four cents from last quarter but up 25 cents compared with the same quarter last year, marking a 1.4 percent annual increase.
While demand for anchor space has not yet returned in full force, small and mid-sized transactions continue to fuel healthy activity, according to the report.
Employers in the Austin-Round Rock area expect slightly stronger hiring levels this fall, according to a Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.
Austin was ranked fifth on a list of U.S. cities with the most healthy employment outlooks.
Among the companies surveyed, 71 percent will maintain headcount, 19 percent plan to increase staff levels, while eight percent will reduce workforce.
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It’s been said that people change careers frequently, as many as 10 times between the ages of 18 and 38.
Not Rita Santamaria.
Instead of changing careers, she found a way to marry her two favorite industries, resulting in one, big, successful venture – Champions School of Real Estate.
"It’s not an easy career," Santamaria said. "But it’s a long lasting career."
Indeed, that was almost 30 years ago, and she’s still going strong.
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When we created the Builder Healthy Markets Index several years ago, there were few classically healthy markets to speak of. With nearly every economic metric falling--home prices, employment, household formation, and incomes--only one or two markets managed to score higher than 50, the barometer for a truly healthy market.
Today, thanks to an improving U.S. economy, which has finally started to lift employment and incomes, nearly half the top 100 MSAs on our list could be considered healthy. But even though incomes are rising and employment prospects have improved, there's still one metric weighing on home building activity--home prices are projected to decline this year in virtually every major housing market.
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HOUSTON (Grubb & Ellis) – According to Grubb & Ellis' fourth quarter 2010 Houston office trends report, the Bayou City's office leasing market ended 2010 on a positive note with 551,655 sf of net absorption, pushing the year-end growth total back into positive territory at 92,652 sf.
The report called this "an encouraging sign heading into 2011 that companies are starting to ramp back up and take advantage of reduced rents and attractive concessions offered by landlords."
In addition, the report forecasts:
COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – The Texas economy gained 231,700 jobs from December 2009 to December 2010, an annual growth rate of 2.3 percent, according to the Real Estate Center's latest Monthly Review of the Texas Economy.
U.S. nonfarm employment rose 0.8 percent over the same period.
The state's private sector posted an annual employment growth rate of 2.7 percent compared with 1.2 percent for the U.S. private sector from December 2009 to December 2010.
Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 8.3 percent in December 2010, up from 8.2 percent in December 2009, while the nation’s rate decreased from 9.9 to 9.4 percent over the same period.
All Texas industries except trade and information had more jobs in December 2010 than in December 2009.
All Texas metro areas had more jobs in December 2010 than in December 2009. Odessa ranked first in job creation followed by Brownsville-Harlingen, Waco, Longview, and Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood.
The state's actual unemployment rate in December 2010 was 8 percent. Midland had the lowest unemployment rate followed by Amarillo, Lubbock, College Station-Bryan and Abilene.
TEXAS (San Antonio Express-News) – Real Estate Center economists have been saying it for the past few years, and now the latest census data are supporting it: Texas is on the verge of a population boom.
"Today, one out of 12 Americans lives in Texas — the same proportion that lived in New York City in 1930," wrote Michael Barone recently in the Wall Street Journal.
"Metropolitan Dallas and metropolitan Houston, with about six million people each, threaten to overtake our fourth-largest metro area, San Francisco Bay (population about seven million), in the next decade," he said.
Barone, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, was comparing census data from the past eight decades.
According to the San Antonio Express-News, initial census numbers last month were necessary so states could know how many congressional districts they would have. Texas picked up four additional districts.
Look for more 2010 census data to be released as the year progresses.
Austin 10th-strongest commercial real estate market, report says
Austin is forecast to have the 10th strongest commercial real estate market nationally for the next four years, according to a new Grubb & Ellis Co. report.
The real estate services and investment firm Monday released its "2011 Real Estate Forecast," which foresees the start of a slow recovery in the leasing market for all property types in the coming year.
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America's Best And Worst Job Markets
Washington, D.C., is hot, and so is Austin. Miami and Southern California lag badly.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As 2011 gets underway, Washington, D.C.--flush with government and government-supporting jobs--has the healthiest labor market among major U.S. metro areas. By one estimate, there's roughly one advertised job opening for every unemployed worker in the D.C. region, which includes parts of Maryland and Virginia. The nation's capital has an unemployment rate of just 6%, according to the latest data. That's the lowest among the country's largest 50 metros, and 3.8 percentage points below the national average.
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Young People Are Heeding Austin’s Call, Data Shows
WASHINGTON — Austin, Tex., drew the largest numbers of young Americans from 2007 through 2009, according to an analysis by a senior demographer at the Brookings Institution, replacing Riverside, Calif., which was the most popular destination for young people in the middle of the decade
Migration slowed greatly during the recession, and rates have continued to remain low. But in an analysis of migration still occurring among some of the country’s most mobile citizens — people ages 25 to 34 — the cities at the top of the list were those that had remained economically vibrant, like Dallas, and those that were considered hip destinations, like Austin and Seattle, the demographer, William H. Frey, found.
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Austin Named Best All-around City
MSNBC Real Estate – Last decade's bipolar housing market is over. The ups, the downs, the thrills, the spills — largely behind us. Yes, prices and sales are stuck in neutral in large swaths of the country.
But let's ring in the new decade optimistically, with Walletpop's Top 10 List of the Best Places to Buy a Home in 2011. This mostly unscientific and partially biased list is based on a grab-bag of lifestyle priorities and, yes, thorough reporting.
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Austin Business Journal – Austin was one of the top 10 cities for young entrepreneurs last year, according to Under30CEO.
The website’s list was compiled from surveys to readers asking everything from resources and schools to social scenes for young entrepreneurs. New York came in No. 1 on the list, citing its position as the country’s largest city, “which gives it just about anything a business or young person would want.”
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KATY (KATY EDC) – Gadberry’s “10 from 2010” has chosen Katy as the most dynamic high-growth suburban area in the United States.
The rapidly growing suburban city just west of Houston has added 17,641 households since 2000. The number of households increased by 8.7 percent from 2009 to 2010. Overall, Katy was the fourth fastest-growing area since 2000 among the ten cities listed, with a 267 percent growth rate.
The average household income in Katy has risen more than 21 percent since 2000 while the average length of residency was 4.7 years in 2010.
Three other Texas cities made this year’s list, all in North Texas. Haslet placed second with Keller right behind at third. Frisco ranked sixth on the list.
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HOUSTON (Newsweek – THE TEXAPLEX)
For sheer economic promise, no place beats Texas. Though the Lone Star State’s growth slowed during the recession, it didn’t suffer nearly as dramatically as the rest of the country. Businesses have been flocking to Texas for a generation, and that trend is unlikely to slow soon. Texas now has more Fortune 500 companies—58—than any other state, including longtime corporate powerhouse New York.
Austin boasted the strongest job growth in NEWSWEEK’s Top 10, both last year and over the decade. Home to the state capital and the ever-expanding University of Texas, the city is arguably the best-positioned of the nation’s emerging tech centers. It enjoys good private-sector growth, both from an expanding roster of homegrown firms and outside companies, including an increasing array of multinationals such as Samsung, Nokia, Siemens, and Fujitsu.
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HOUSTON (Metrostudy, Houston Business Journal) – Houston’s economy is showing signs of recovery, according to a recent Metrostudy report.
The annual 2009 Census Household survey showed that the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown area added over 140,000 to its total population, a 2.5 percent increase over one year.
“The continued arrival of people in Texas fuels demand for housing markets,” said David Jarvis, director of Metrostudy’s Houston division. “This, coupled with a more optimistic employment outlook, signals continued stability in the Houston housing market.”
For the 12 months ending in June 2010, the Houston region lost 17,100 jobs. As recently as December, the 12-month loss exceeded 100,000 jobs. By year’s end, year-over-year comparisons are expected to show moderate gains.
Houston ranked tenth among major U.S. metros for high-salary jobs, according to employment website TheLadders.com.
“We’re seeing hiring in the energy (oil and gas) sector,” said TheLadders.com Editor-in-Chief Matthew Rothenberg. “Considering the makeup of the local economy, it is not a surprise that there are a large number of engineering and consulting positions opening in Houston as well."
The Houston housing market has continued to show stability through 2nd quarter 2010. Home starts for the quarter were at 5,942, a more than 12 percent increase over the first quarter. And home closings have outpaced new supply, indicating a higher housing demand and reducing total inventories of homes. At current absorption rates, the level of housing supply stands at 6.1 months.
However, the New Home Buyer Tax Credit should be taken into consideration (see "Weak Home Sales Numbers Not Whole Story" in today's RECON).
COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Home sales statistics are likely to paint a picture of a weakening market through the end of 2010 and the first half of 2011. While it’s tempting to attribute the bleak numbers to a deteriorating housing market, an economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas &M University said that doesn’t tell the whole story.
"The year-over-year decline in existing home sales will be the result of comparing months when there was no tax credit with those from a year earlier, when the tax credit was artificially increasing sales," said Dr. Mark Dotzour, the Center’s chief economist.
The $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers went into effect in January 2009 and was planned to expire in November 2009. Home sales gradually started to increase after the tax credit was announced, after bottoming out in January at an annual rate just above 4.5 million sales.
Existing home sales gradually increased in 2009 as buyers and real estate agents became more familiar with the program. Sales topped an annual rate of five million in July 2009 for the first time since September 2008.
As the tax credit deadline approached, home sales spiked in September, October and November 2009. November 2009 was the peak at an annual rate of almost 6.5 million.
The tax credit was extended late in 2009 to include sales with contracts written until April 30, 2010, and closed by June 30 (extended to September 30). Initial homebuyer response to this extension was tepid, but sales picked up substantially in March, April and May 2010, when sales were up 18 percent, 28 percent and 18 percent, respectively, over the same months in 2009.
Then the process reversed itself. Pending home sales fell dramatically in May 2010, the month after the tax credits expired. This was followed by a significant drop in home sales in June and July. In Texas, July 2010 sales were down approximately 25 percent from July 2009.
Dotzour said August figures may not be much better since many buyers purchased homes before the tax incentive expired.
"When you 'bring forward' sales through tax incentives, sales will be lower after the tax credit ends," he said.
Unless Congress creates a new tax credit this fall, Dotzour said monthly sales for 2010 will likely exhibit significant variance from 2009, and a true reading of housing market conditions may not be possible until June or July 2011.
TEXAS (The Atlantic) – Even in the middle of the Great Recession, Texas is faring well compared with the rest of the nation, racking up an ever-growing list of accomplishments.
In addition to ranking fourth in the country with the least amount of state debt, Texas has four cities in the Milken Institute’s Top Five Best Performing Cities Index, four among Forbes' list of top ten “Cities Where the Recession is Easing,” and four in last year’s Top Ten in Homebuilding.
Texas is home to three of the top five most resilient major metro areas for employment, with McAllen first, Austin third, San Antonio fifth and El Paso and Houston not far behind in the top 15.
The Lone Star State also claims 64 Fortune 500 companies — more than any other state — in addition to being dubbed Top State for Business for the second time in three years by CNBC.
The Atlantic says these accomplishments are because Texas' major cities have chosen comparatively stable industries — Houston is the nation’s energy hub, Austin leads in education and technology, and San Antonio dominates the health care and education sector in addition to military spending.
"Our research shows that the more tax incentives and less regulation you have, and the less likely businesses are to get sued, the more likely it is they'll want to come and prosper in your state," said Brooke Rollins, president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
These factors support Texas’ position as a global economic leader, having the 15th largest economy in the world.
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COLLEGE STATION -- Texas is leading the United States in the current U-shaped economic recovery. The state’s economy experienced its second month of positive annual employment growth after 16 months of job losses.
Texas’ annual employment growth rate was 0.9 percent from June 2009 to June 2010 compared with a negative rate of 0.1 percent for the nation. After 17 months of job losses, the state’s private sector posted a positive annual employment growth rate of 0.4 percent.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 7.8 percent in June 2009 to 8.2 percent in June 2010, while the U.S. rate in June was 9.5 percent, the same as in June 2009.
Six Texas industries — education and health services; mining and logging; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; manufacturing; and transportation, warehousing, utilities — and the government sector had more jobs in June 2010 than in June 2009. Five other industries experienced net job losses over the same period.
Sixteen Texas metro areas experienced positive employment growth rates from June 2009 to June 2010, up from 13 for the period from May 2009 to May 2010. College Station-Bryan ranked first in job creation followed by San Angelo, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood and Waco.
The state’s actual unemployment rate in June 2010 was 8.5 percent. Midland had the lowest unemployment rate followed by Amarillo, Lubbock, San Angelo, Abilene and College Station-Bryan.
The Real Estate Center's complete economic review is available on the Center's website.
Dallas Morning News -- Dallas city officials learned Wednesday that the city will receive about $20 million more in property tax revenue next year than was recently projected.
According to City Manager Mary Suhm, property values dropped by about $3.6 billion, or 4.3 percent, compared with 2009. The city had anticipated an 8.5 percent decline in taxable value.
According to figures provided to the city by the Dallas Central Appraisal District, the certified property tax value for the city this year will be $78.8 billion.
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CNNMoney -- The "Keep Austin Weird" campaign must have worked, because the Texas capital is among the country's oddball cities that bucked the downturn.
In fact, Texas cities starred on the new list of recession-proof metro areas, with six of 21 spots, according to MetroMonitor, a quarterly report released by Brookings Institute's Metropolitan Policy Program.
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MainStreet -- This recession has been a brutal one for many job-seekers. The job market has deteriorated in many parts of the country, but some cities were harder hit than others, and some cities are starting to emerge from the recession, offering new job opportunities
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- TPrivate-sector employers added jobs in April for the third consecutive month, a signal that the nation's employment picture may be brightening, according to a report released Wednesday.
In a separate report, an outplacement firm said planned job cuts dropped to the lowest level in nearly four years in April.
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HOUSTON (Houston Business Journal) – About 8.5 percent of local retail space was vacant at the end of the first quarter, the lowest amount of empty space since third quarter 2008, according to Bethesda, Md.-based Costar Group Inc.
That translates to 25.9 million sf of vacant retail space out of Houston’s rentable inventory of 305.6 million sf.
This is an improvement from fourth quarter 2009, when vacant space claimed 8.7 percent of the market’s 305.4 million sf.
The first quarter also reported a net absorption of approximately 863,700 sf of retail space, according to Costar, as well as a delivery of 207,000 sf. An additional 308,000 sf is now under construction in Houston.
Overall quoted rental rates fell to $14.64 per sf last quarter from $15.01 a year earlier.
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The U.S. economy kept growing in the first three months of this year but at a much slower pace than at the end of 2009, according to a government report Friday.
Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation's economic activity, rose at a 3.2% annual rate in the quarter, the Commerce Department said.
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- New home sales improved in March at the fastest single-month rate in 47 years, according to a government report released Friday, as buyers snatched up properties ahead of the tax credit that's set to expire.
New-home sales rose 26.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 411,000 last month, compared to an upwardly revised annual rate of 324,000 in February, the Census Bureau said. The gain snapped a four-month streak of declines.
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AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal, San Antonio Business Journal) – The Department of Energy has granted $10 million in stimulus money to Austin and San Antonio to improve commercial and residential building efficiency.
Austin will use the funding to expand an Austin Energy program that pays property owners to make efficiency upgrades and install solar panels and other renewable energy systems. The utility will work with federal officials over the next few months to develop a project plan for the money, which will be spread out over three years.
About 2,500 customers per year have participated in the Austin Energy program since its inception.
The San Antonio Green Retrofit Initiative will receive Alamo City’s full $10 million award. The program will be the area’s single-point-of-service energy efficiency delivery program. It will target residential, commercial, institutional, industrial and public buildings.
San Antonio Retrofits will include comprehensive audits, identification of appropriate technology changes and modifications of energy systems.
Austin and San Antonio were the only two Texas cities of the 25 nationwide given "Retrofit Ramp-Up" grants.
SAN ANTONIO (Foreclosure Listing Service Inc.) – Bexar County foreclosure posting activity has dropped 20 percent over the past month, from 1,654 to 1,328 postings, according to Foreclosure Listing Service (FLS).
FLS President George Roddy Sr. was cautiously optimistic, calling it "welcomed news," but warning that foreclosure postings have been on the high end for a while. He also reminded that posting activity naturally fluctuates from month to month.
"For the upcoming May auctions," he said, "posting activity was down 20 percent from April. Last month's (April's) posting activity pushed foreclosure notices in Bexar County up 20 percent from the previous month. March's postings were up 7 percent compared to one month earlier. But February's postings were down 24 percent from those filed for January. So over the last four months, month-to-month foreclosure posting activity has been down in two months and up in two months."
Also, because foreclosure posting activity in Bexar County has been less in May than in April six of the last eight years, Roddy suspects some families have applied I.R.S. tax refunds toward their delinquent mortgages.
He said same-month comparison from one year to the next is more telling than month-to-month activity.
"Over the last year, May's foreclosure posting activity in Bexar County dropped 8 percent," he said.
AUSTIN (Foreclosure Listing Service Inc.) – Foreclosure filings in the Austin area fell 22 percent over the past month, dropping from 1,451 to 1,139, according to Foreclosure Listing Service Inc. (FLS).
"This decline is welcomed news, but I must warn that one month's activity does not change a long-established trend," said George Roddy Sr., FLS president. "Foreclosure postings have been on the high end for some time now. In fact, for the past 16 consecutive months, posting activity has topped 1,000 each month in the Austin metro."
Roddy added that Uncle Sam might have played a role in the drop in filings.
"In six of the last ten years, Travis County foreclosure posting activity for May has been less than in April," he said. "I suspect that as some families have received an IRS tax refund, they have applied that toward their delinquent mortgages to save their homes."
Roddy said a more important factor to watch than month-to-month activity is the same month comparison from one year to the next.
"Over the last year, May's foreclosure posting activity in the Austin Metro dropped 11 percent," he said. "This was the first time in 28 successive months that same-month-to-same-month posting activity declined. Now, this is definitely welcomed news, but even it does not warrant a happy dance. I will be looking for declines for six months in a row for the long-term trend to truly change.”
Austin remained at number 24, and robust employment growth kept Houston at number four. Meanwhile DFW moved up three places to number 27.
HOUSTON (Houston Business Journal) – The Institute for Regional Forecasting (IRF) predicts that 3.7 million people and 1.5 million jobs will be added to the eight-county Houston MSA over the next 25 years.
Additionally, Houston will experience a growth at 2.5 percent per year between now and 2020, increasing the population from its current 5.1 million to 7.4 million. At the same time, about 700,000 jobs will be created in the area, according to the IRF annual long-term forecast.
By 2035, IRF estimates that the area will include four million jobs and 9.5 million people.
Houston will also continue to follow a decentralization trend, with suburban counties receiving a growing number of new jobs and population growth. These counties have recently captured about 44 percent of all employment growth and 51 percent of all population growth.
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Following are some of the most significant aspects of the Austin Office Research Report:
Austin remained at number 24, and robust employment growth kept Houston at number four. Meanwhile DFW moved up three places to number 27.
The Austin-Round Rock area tied for first on a list of large metros where the recession is easing. Central Texas tied Washington D.C. in the Forbes.com ranking that compiles job growth and real estate industry improvement, among other indicators.
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AUSTIN (Austin Board of Realtors) – Area home sales in January 2010 were at 884, up 5 percent from the same month in 2009, according to the Multiple Listing Service report by the Austin Board of Realtors.
The median price remained stable in the same period, up 1 percent to $179,250.
"At this point, we can look back and see that January 2009 was the low point of this cycle. With steady improvement throughout 2009 that continued in January 2010, we can see that we’re one year into the recovery in Austin," said John Horton, chairman of the Austin Board of Realtors.
Throughout 2009, the volume of single-family home sales in Austin improved steadily. In the first half of the year, the gap in year-over-year sales volume closed consistently, reaching levels similar to 2008 during the summer peak, with the exception of a dip in August.
In fall 2009, sales volume began outperforming 2008 and surged in October and November, spurred by the original deadline for the first-time homebuyer tax credit. In December 2009, sales volume returned to a modest increase of 5 percent compared with December 2008, a growth rate that was maintained in January 2010.
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That calculation includes default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions.
Overall, 100,045 housing units received foreclosure filings in Texas last year, up 4 percent from 2008 and up 18 percent from 2007.
In comparison, Nevada posted the highest foreclosure rate in 2009, with over 10 percent of its housing units receiving foreclosure filings. Colorado was tenth in the nation, with 2.37 percent of its units receiving foreclosure filings.
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After declines for the last four consecutive years, single-family homes starts are expected to climb 9.9 percent in 2010 to 3,019, according to a forecast by the University of Texas at El Paso. Last year’s 2,747 home starts were down 8.3 percent from the 2,995 that were begun in 2008.
The projection for 2010 is still well below the 4,472 home starts in 2005.
Overall, the influx of soldiers at Fort Bliss, the transition of Texas Tech University’s medical campus into a full university campus and the national economic recovery are expected to improve the outlook in El Paso in 2010.
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"The resiliency of the job market and relatively stable home prices will translate to a more positive consumer confidence level locally,” said Eldon Rude, Austin director of Metrostudy, which tracks the new home market in Austin and 30 other markets across the country. “Consumer confidence is an important driver of home sales."
Rude said builders in the Austin area cut new home production by approximately 19 percent in the last year, resulting in 6,490 new home starts in 2009.
"Starts have stabilized in recent quarters, builders have closed more homes than they have started for the last three years. This strategy has resulted in far fewer inventory issues in the Austin new home market compared to the more challenged markets across the United States," he said.
Metrostudy anticipates that new home starts in the five-county Austin region will be maintained at 2009 levels because of the expected lack of job growth through at least the first half of 2010 and the continued capital constraints facing builders.
Experts believe the region is at or near bottom with respect to housing starts and starts will begin to increase toward the end of 2010 and into 2011.
The conference was sponsored by the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin and the Austin Board of Realtors.
Industries looking up include high-tech manufacturing, paper, petrochemicals, staffing, housing and energy.
New and existing home sales improved over the six-week period, but the level of activity remains weak.
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Universal City buys over 3.6 million kilowatt hours of wind energy from CPS Energy annually through the company’s Windricity program. The program allows customers to choose wind as their power source.
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Total construction contract values for residential properties in October were $434 million, up 1 percent from $429 million in October 2008.
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We know you are inundated with news on how the National Real Estate Market is faring but we wanted to provide you with some specifics on the Market here in Texas so you can judge for yourself. We hope this provides you, those you work with and those who are thinking about this as a career choice with some valuable insight into just how strong the Texas Real Estate Market is!
Texas Real Estate Market News
New Texaplex Video
Source: Better Homes and Gardens | David Winans & Associates
Texas Real Estate Market News
ALAMO CITY RETAIL MARKET'S SIGNS OF RECOVERY
SAN ANTONIO (NAI REOC) – Leasing velocity and demand for retail space this year are steadily moving the San Antonio retail market along the road to recovery, according to NAI REOC's third quarter 2011 report of the city's retail market.
“Despite challenges, the San Antonio retail market continues to show general improvement, thanks in large part to a stable economy that is reportedly one of the strongest in the nation,” said Kim Gatley, NAI senior vice president and director of research, citing the city's top ranking on Forbes' list of “Best Cities for Jobs Right Now.”
The firm surveyed nearly 45.6 million sf of area retail space and found the citywide vacancy rate was at 12.8 percent. The rate was 13 percent last quarter and 13.3 percent a year ago. The city had a total of 315,819 sf of positive net absorption year-to-date.
Meanwhile, the citywide average quoted triple-net rental rate remained relatively stable at $18.17 per sf annually, down four cents from last quarter but up 25 cents compared with the same quarter last year, marking a 1.4 percent annual increase.
While demand for anchor space has not yet returned in full force, small and mid-sized transactions continue to fuel healthy activity, according to the report.
Source: RECON, November 8, 2011
Texas Real Estate Market News
Austin job market among strongest in U.S.
Employers in the Austin-Round Rock area expect slightly stronger hiring levels this fall, according to a Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.
Austin was ranked fifth on a list of U.S. cities with the most healthy employment outlooks.
Among the companies surveyed, 71 percent will maintain headcount, 19 percent plan to increase staff levels, while eight percent will reduce workforce.
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Source: Austin Business Journal, September 14, 2011
Texas Real Estate Market News
Interview with Houston Real Estate Legend – Rita Santamaria
It’s been said that people change careers frequently, as many as 10 times between the ages of 18 and 38.
Not Rita Santamaria.
Instead of changing careers, she found a way to marry her two favorite industries, resulting in one, big, successful venture – Champions School of Real Estate.
"It’s not an easy career," Santamaria said. "But it’s a long lasting career."
Indeed, that was almost 30 years ago, and she’s still going strong.
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Source: Real Estate Observer, March 25, 2011
Texas Real Estate Market News
Gathering Strength: The Healthiest Markets for 2011
When we created the Builder Healthy Markets Index several years ago, there were few classically healthy markets to speak of. With nearly every economic metric falling--home prices, employment, household formation, and incomes--only one or two markets managed to score higher than 50, the barometer for a truly healthy market.
Today, thanks to an improving U.S. economy, which has finally started to lift employment and incomes, nearly half the top 100 MSAs on our list could be considered healthy. But even though incomes are rising and employment prospects have improved, there's still one metric weighing on home building activity--home prices are projected to decline this year in virtually every major housing market.
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Source: Builder 2011, March 3, 2011
Texas Real Estate Market News
HOUSTON OFFICE MARKET PICKING UP SPEED?
HOUSTON (Grubb & Ellis) – According to Grubb & Ellis' fourth quarter 2010 Houston office trends report, the Bayou City's office leasing market ended 2010 on a positive note with 551,655 sf of net absorption, pushing the year-end growth total back into positive territory at 92,652 sf.
The report called this "an encouraging sign heading into 2011 that companies are starting to ramp back up and take advantage of reduced rents and attractive concessions offered by landlords."
In addition, the report forecasts:
- Many of the recent lease signings will not immediately counter the run-up in vacancy as most of the larger tenants will not occupy their space until the second half of 2011 and into 2012.
- Asking and effective rental rates are expected to start stabilizing sometime early to mid-year 2011.
- Houston’s office investment market will see an uptick in transaction volume with continued resurgence of lender activities and allocations for new loans, interest rates at or near all-time lows and the buy-sell gap narrowing.
- The office market appears to have already reached bottom as many submarkets have started to see an uptick in leasing activity, but a quick bounce-back is unlikely with modest job growth expected in 2011.
Source: RECON, January 25, 2011
Texas Real Estate Market News
THINGS THAT GO BOOM: TEXAS' POPULATION
COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – The Texas economy gained 231,700 jobs from December 2009 to December 2010, an annual growth rate of 2.3 percent, according to the Real Estate Center's latest Monthly Review of the Texas Economy.
U.S. nonfarm employment rose 0.8 percent over the same period.
The state's private sector posted an annual employment growth rate of 2.7 percent compared with 1.2 percent for the U.S. private sector from December 2009 to December 2010.
Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 8.3 percent in December 2010, up from 8.2 percent in December 2009, while the nation’s rate decreased from 9.9 to 9.4 percent over the same period.
All Texas industries except trade and information had more jobs in December 2010 than in December 2009.
All Texas metro areas had more jobs in December 2010 than in December 2009. Odessa ranked first in job creation followed by Brownsville-Harlingen, Waco, Longview, and Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood.
The state's actual unemployment rate in December 2010 was 8 percent. Midland had the lowest unemployment rate followed by Amarillo, Lubbock, College Station-Bryan and Abilene.
Source: RECON, January 25, 2011
Texas Real Estate Market News
One of 12 Americans lives in Texas (and other 2010 census findings)
TEXAS (San Antonio Express-News) – Real Estate Center economists have been saying it for the past few years, and now the latest census data are supporting it: Texas is on the verge of a population boom.
"Today, one out of 12 Americans lives in Texas — the same proportion that lived in New York City in 1930," wrote Michael Barone recently in the Wall Street Journal.
"Metropolitan Dallas and metropolitan Houston, with about six million people each, threaten to overtake our fourth-largest metro area, San Francisco Bay (population about seven million), in the next decade," he said.
Barone, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, was comparing census data from the past eight decades.
According to the San Antonio Express-News, initial census numbers last month were necessary so states could know how many congressional districts they would have. Texas picked up four additional districts.
Look for more 2010 census data to be released as the year progresses.
Source: RECON, January 25, 2011
Austin Real Estate Market News
Austin Market NewsAustin 10th-strongest commercial real estate market, report says
Austin is forecast to have the 10th strongest commercial real estate market nationally for the next four years, according to a new Grubb & Ellis Co. report.
The real estate services and investment firm Monday released its "2011 Real Estate Forecast," which foresees the start of a slow recovery in the leasing market for all property types in the coming year.
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Source: Austin Business Journal , January 03, 2011
Austin Real Estate Market News
Austin Market NewsAmerica's Best And Worst Job Markets
Washington, D.C., is hot, and so is Austin. Miami and Southern California lag badly.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As 2011 gets underway, Washington, D.C.--flush with government and government-supporting jobs--has the healthiest labor market among major U.S. metro areas. By one estimate, there's roughly one advertised job opening for every unemployed worker in the D.C. region, which includes parts of Maryland and Virginia. The nation's capital has an unemployment rate of just 6%, according to the latest data. That's the lowest among the country's largest 50 metros, and 3.8 percentage points below the national average.
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Source: Forbes, January 06, 2011
Austin Real Estate Market News
Austin Market NewsYoung People Are Heeding Austin’s Call, Data Shows
WASHINGTON — Austin, Tex., drew the largest numbers of young Americans from 2007 through 2009, according to an analysis by a senior demographer at the Brookings Institution, replacing Riverside, Calif., which was the most popular destination for young people in the middle of the decade
Migration slowed greatly during the recession, and rates have continued to remain low. But in an analysis of migration still occurring among some of the country’s most mobile citizens — people ages 25 to 34 — the cities at the top of the list were those that had remained economically vibrant, like Dallas, and those that were considered hip destinations, like Austin and Seattle, the demographer, William H. Frey, found.
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Source: New York Times, January 11, 2011
Austin Real Estate Market News
Austin Market NewsAustin Named Best All-around City
MSNBC Real Estate – Last decade's bipolar housing market is over. The ups, the downs, the thrills, the spills — largely behind us. Yes, prices and sales are stuck in neutral in large swaths of the country.
But let's ring in the new decade optimistically, with Walletpop's Top 10 List of the Best Places to Buy a Home in 2011. This mostly unscientific and partially biased list is based on a grab-bag of lifestyle priorities and, yes, thorough reporting.
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Source: MSNBC - Real Estate, January 7, 2011
Austin Real Estate Market News
Austin a top spot for young entrepreneurs
Austin Business Journal – Austin was one of the top 10 cities for young entrepreneurs last year, according to Under30CEO.
The website’s list was compiled from surveys to readers asking everything from resources and schools to social scenes for young entrepreneurs. New York came in No. 1 on the list, citing its position as the country’s largest city, “which gives it just about anything a business or young person would want.”
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Source: Austin Business Journal, January 4, 2011
Texas Real Estate Market News
FAST-GROWING KATY PLACES FIRST
KATY (KATY EDC) – Gadberry’s “10 from 2010” has chosen Katy as the most dynamic high-growth suburban area in the United States.
The rapidly growing suburban city just west of Houston has added 17,641 households since 2000. The number of households increased by 8.7 percent from 2009 to 2010. Overall, Katy was the fourth fastest-growing area since 2000 among the ten cities listed, with a 267 percent growth rate.
The average household income in Katy has risen more than 21 percent since 2000 while the average length of residency was 4.7 years in 2010.
Three other Texas cities made this year’s list, all in North Texas. Haslet placed second with Keller right behind at third. Frisco ranked sixth on the list.
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Source: Real Estate Center, January 11, 2011
Texas Real Estate Market News
The Top 10 Places in America Poised For Recovery
HOUSTON (Newsweek – THE TEXAPLEX)
For sheer economic promise, no place beats Texas. Though the Lone Star State’s growth slowed during the recession, it didn’t suffer nearly as dramatically as the rest of the country. Businesses have been flocking to Texas for a generation, and that trend is unlikely to slow soon. Texas now has more Fortune 500 companies—58—than any other state, including longtime corporate powerhouse New York.
Austin boasted the strongest job growth in NEWSWEEK’s Top 10, both last year and over the decade. Home to the state capital and the ever-expanding University of Texas, the city is arguably the best-positioned of the nation’s emerging tech centers. It enjoys good private-sector growth, both from an expanding roster of homegrown firms and outside companies, including an increasing array of multinationals such as Samsung, Nokia, Siemens, and Fujitsu.
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Source: Newsweek, November 11, 2010
Texas Real Estate Market News
METROSTUDY: HOUSTON POINTING TOWARD ECONOMIC RECOVERY
HOUSTON (Metrostudy, Houston Business Journal) – Houston’s economy is showing signs of recovery, according to a recent Metrostudy report.
The annual 2009 Census Household survey showed that the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown area added over 140,000 to its total population, a 2.5 percent increase over one year.
“The continued arrival of people in Texas fuels demand for housing markets,” said David Jarvis, director of Metrostudy’s Houston division. “This, coupled with a more optimistic employment outlook, signals continued stability in the Houston housing market.”
For the 12 months ending in June 2010, the Houston region lost 17,100 jobs. As recently as December, the 12-month loss exceeded 100,000 jobs. By year’s end, year-over-year comparisons are expected to show moderate gains.
Houston ranked tenth among major U.S. metros for high-salary jobs, according to employment website TheLadders.com.
“We’re seeing hiring in the energy (oil and gas) sector,” said TheLadders.com Editor-in-Chief Matthew Rothenberg. “Considering the makeup of the local economy, it is not a surprise that there are a large number of engineering and consulting positions opening in Houston as well."
The Houston housing market has continued to show stability through 2nd quarter 2010. Home starts for the quarter were at 5,942, a more than 12 percent increase over the first quarter. And home closings have outpaced new supply, indicating a higher housing demand and reducing total inventories of homes. At current absorption rates, the level of housing supply stands at 6.1 months.
However, the New Home Buyer Tax Credit should be taken into consideration (see "Weak Home Sales Numbers Not Whole Story" in today's RECON).
Texas Real Estate Market News
WEAK HOME SALES NUMBERS NOT WHOLE STORY
COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Home sales statistics are likely to paint a picture of a weakening market through the end of 2010 and the first half of 2011. While it’s tempting to attribute the bleak numbers to a deteriorating housing market, an economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas &M University said that doesn’t tell the whole story.
"The year-over-year decline in existing home sales will be the result of comparing months when there was no tax credit with those from a year earlier, when the tax credit was artificially increasing sales," said Dr. Mark Dotzour, the Center’s chief economist.
The $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers went into effect in January 2009 and was planned to expire in November 2009. Home sales gradually started to increase after the tax credit was announced, after bottoming out in January at an annual rate just above 4.5 million sales.
Existing home sales gradually increased in 2009 as buyers and real estate agents became more familiar with the program. Sales topped an annual rate of five million in July 2009 for the first time since September 2008.
As the tax credit deadline approached, home sales spiked in September, October and November 2009. November 2009 was the peak at an annual rate of almost 6.5 million.
The tax credit was extended late in 2009 to include sales with contracts written until April 30, 2010, and closed by June 30 (extended to September 30). Initial homebuyer response to this extension was tepid, but sales picked up substantially in March, April and May 2010, when sales were up 18 percent, 28 percent and 18 percent, respectively, over the same months in 2009.
Then the process reversed itself. Pending home sales fell dramatically in May 2010, the month after the tax credits expired. This was followed by a significant drop in home sales in June and July. In Texas, July 2010 sales were down approximately 25 percent from July 2009.
Dotzour said August figures may not be much better since many buyers purchased homes before the tax incentive expired.
"When you 'bring forward' sales through tax incentives, sales will be lower after the tax credit ends," he said.
Unless Congress creates a new tax credit this fall, Dotzour said monthly sales for 2010 will likely exhibit significant variance from 2009, and a true reading of housing market conditions may not be possible until June or July 2011.
Source: Real Estate Center, July 23, 2010
Texas Real Estate Market News
TEXAS ONE, RECESSION ZERO
TEXAS (The Atlantic) – Even in the middle of the Great Recession, Texas is faring well compared with the rest of the nation, racking up an ever-growing list of accomplishments.
In addition to ranking fourth in the country with the least amount of state debt, Texas has four cities in the Milken Institute’s Top Five Best Performing Cities Index, four among Forbes' list of top ten “Cities Where the Recession is Easing,” and four in last year’s Top Ten in Homebuilding.
Texas is home to three of the top five most resilient major metro areas for employment, with McAllen first, Austin third, San Antonio fifth and El Paso and Houston not far behind in the top 15.
The Lone Star State also claims 64 Fortune 500 companies — more than any other state — in addition to being dubbed Top State for Business for the second time in three years by CNBC.
The Atlantic says these accomplishments are because Texas' major cities have chosen comparatively stable industries — Houston is the nation’s energy hub, Austin leads in education and technology, and San Antonio dominates the health care and education sector in addition to military spending.
"Our research shows that the more tax incentives and less regulation you have, and the less likely businesses are to get sued, the more likely it is they'll want to come and prosper in your state," said Brooke Rollins, president of the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
These factors support Texas’ position as a global economic leader, having the 15th largest economy in the world.
Read Full Article
Source: The Atlantic, July 31, 2010
Texas Real Estate Market News
TEXAS LEADS ECONOMIC RECOVERY
COLLEGE STATION -- Texas is leading the United States in the current U-shaped economic recovery. The state’s economy experienced its second month of positive annual employment growth after 16 months of job losses.
Texas’ annual employment growth rate was 0.9 percent from June 2009 to June 2010 compared with a negative rate of 0.1 percent for the nation. After 17 months of job losses, the state’s private sector posted a positive annual employment growth rate of 0.4 percent.
The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 7.8 percent in June 2009 to 8.2 percent in June 2010, while the U.S. rate in June was 9.5 percent, the same as in June 2009.
Six Texas industries — education and health services; mining and logging; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; manufacturing; and transportation, warehousing, utilities — and the government sector had more jobs in June 2010 than in June 2009. Five other industries experienced net job losses over the same period.
Sixteen Texas metro areas experienced positive employment growth rates from June 2009 to June 2010, up from 13 for the period from May 2009 to May 2010. College Station-Bryan ranked first in job creation followed by San Angelo, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood and Waco.
The state’s actual unemployment rate in June 2010 was 8.5 percent. Midland had the lowest unemployment rate followed by Amarillo, Lubbock, San Angelo, Abilene and College Station-Bryan.
The Real Estate Center's complete economic review is available on the Center's website.
Source: Real Estate Center, July 23, 2010
Texas Real Estate Market News
DALLAS PROPERTY VALUES HIGHER THAN EXPECTED
Dallas Morning News -- Dallas city officials learned Wednesday that the city will receive about $20 million more in property tax revenue next year than was recently projected.
According to City Manager Mary Suhm, property values dropped by about $3.6 billion, or 4.3 percent, compared with 2009. The city had anticipated an 8.5 percent decline in taxable value.
According to figures provided to the city by the Dallas Central Appraisal District, the certified property tax value for the city this year will be $78.8 billion.
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Texas Real Estate Market News
America's most recession-proof cities
CNNMoney -- The "Keep Austin Weird" campaign must have worked, because the Texas capital is among the country's oddball cities that bucked the downturn.
In fact, Texas cities starred on the new list of recession-proof metro areas, with six of 21 spots, according to MetroMonitor, a quarterly report released by Brookings Institute's Metropolitan Policy Program.
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Texas Real Estate Market News
20 Cities Surviving the Recession (Hint: Texas has six of them)
MainStreet -- This recession has been a brutal one for many job-seekers. The job market has deteriorated in many parts of the country, but some cities were harder hit than others, and some cities are starting to emerge from the recession, offering new job opportunities
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Texas Real Estate Market News
Job reports show signs of growth
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- TPrivate-sector employers added jobs in April for the third consecutive month, a signal that the nation's employment picture may be brightening, according to a report released Wednesday.
In a separate report, an outplacement firm said planned job cuts dropped to the lowest level in nearly four years in April.
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Texas Real Estate Market News
HOUSTON RETAIL VACANCY FALLS
HOUSTON (Houston Business Journal) – About 8.5 percent of local retail space was vacant at the end of the first quarter, the lowest amount of empty space since third quarter 2008, according to Bethesda, Md.-based Costar Group Inc.
That translates to 25.9 million sf of vacant retail space out of Houston’s rentable inventory of 305.6 million sf.
This is an improvement from fourth quarter 2009, when vacant space claimed 8.7 percent of the market’s 305.4 million sf.
The first quarter also reported a net absorption of approximately 863,700 sf of retail space, according to Costar, as well as a delivery of 207,000 sf. An additional 308,000 sf is now under construction in Houston.
Overall quoted rental rates fell to $14.64 per sf last quarter from $15.01 a year earlier.
Read Full Article
Texas Real Estate Market News
Economy grows for third straight quarter
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The U.S. economy kept growing in the first three months of this year but at a much slower pace than at the end of 2009, according to a government report Friday.
Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the nation's economic activity, rose at a 3.2% annual rate in the quarter, the Commerce Department said.
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Texas Real Estate Market News
New-home sales rise fastest in 47 years
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- New home sales improved in March at the fastest single-month rate in 47 years, according to a government report released Friday, as buyers snatched up properties ahead of the tax credit that's set to expire.
New-home sales rose 26.9% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 411,000 last month, compared to an upwardly revised annual rate of 324,000 in February, the Census Bureau said. The gain snapped a four-month streak of declines.
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Texas Real Estate Market News
AUSTIN, SAN ANTONIO RECEIVE GREEN GRANT MONEY
AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal, San Antonio Business Journal) – The Department of Energy has granted $10 million in stimulus money to Austin and San Antonio to improve commercial and residential building efficiency.
Austin will use the funding to expand an Austin Energy program that pays property owners to make efficiency upgrades and install solar panels and other renewable energy systems. The utility will work with federal officials over the next few months to develop a project plan for the money, which will be spread out over three years.
About 2,500 customers per year have participated in the Austin Energy program since its inception.
The San Antonio Green Retrofit Initiative will receive Alamo City’s full $10 million award. The program will be the area’s single-point-of-service energy efficiency delivery program. It will target residential, commercial, institutional, industrial and public buildings.
San Antonio Retrofits will include comprehensive audits, identification of appropriate technology changes and modifications of energy systems.
Austin and San Antonio were the only two Texas cities of the 25 nationwide given "Retrofit Ramp-Up" grants.
Source: Real Estate Center Online News
Texas Real Estate Market News
CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM: BEXAR COUNTY FORECLOSURES DOWN
SAN ANTONIO (Foreclosure Listing Service Inc.) – Bexar County foreclosure posting activity has dropped 20 percent over the past month, from 1,654 to 1,328 postings, according to Foreclosure Listing Service (FLS).
FLS President George Roddy Sr. was cautiously optimistic, calling it "welcomed news," but warning that foreclosure postings have been on the high end for a while. He also reminded that posting activity naturally fluctuates from month to month.
"For the upcoming May auctions," he said, "posting activity was down 20 percent from April. Last month's (April's) posting activity pushed foreclosure notices in Bexar County up 20 percent from the previous month. March's postings were up 7 percent compared to one month earlier. But February's postings were down 24 percent from those filed for January. So over the last four months, month-to-month foreclosure posting activity has been down in two months and up in two months."
Also, because foreclosure posting activity in Bexar County has been less in May than in April six of the last eight years, Roddy suspects some families have applied I.R.S. tax refunds toward their delinquent mortgages.
He said same-month comparison from one year to the next is more telling than month-to-month activity.
"Over the last year, May's foreclosure posting activity in Bexar County dropped 8 percent," he said.
Source: Real Estate Center Online News
Texas Real Estate Market News
AUSTIN FORECLOSURE FILINGS DOWN, MARKET EXPERT CAUTIOUS
AUSTIN (Foreclosure Listing Service Inc.) – Foreclosure filings in the Austin area fell 22 percent over the past month, dropping from 1,451 to 1,139, according to Foreclosure Listing Service Inc. (FLS).
"This decline is welcomed news, but I must warn that one month's activity does not change a long-established trend," said George Roddy Sr., FLS president. "Foreclosure postings have been on the high end for some time now. In fact, for the past 16 consecutive months, posting activity has topped 1,000 each month in the Austin metro."
Roddy added that Uncle Sam might have played a role in the drop in filings.
"In six of the last ten years, Travis County foreclosure posting activity for May has been less than in April," he said. "I suspect that as some families have received an IRS tax refund, they have applied that toward their delinquent mortgages to save their homes."
Roddy said a more important factor to watch than month-to-month activity is the same month comparison from one year to the next.
"Over the last year, May's foreclosure posting activity in the Austin Metro dropped 11 percent," he said. "This was the first time in 28 successive months that same-month-to-same-month posting activity declined. Now, this is definitely welcomed news, but even it does not warrant a happy dance. I will be looking for declines for six months in a row for the long-term trend to truly change.”
Austin remained at number 24, and robust employment growth kept Houston at number four. Meanwhile DFW moved up three places to number 27.
Source: Real Estate Center Online News
Texas Real Estate Market News
BY THE NUMBERS: BAYOU CITY GROWTH
HOUSTON (Houston Business Journal) – The Institute for Regional Forecasting (IRF) predicts that 3.7 million people and 1.5 million jobs will be added to the eight-county Houston MSA over the next 25 years.
Additionally, Houston will experience a growth at 2.5 percent per year between now and 2020, increasing the population from its current 5.1 million to 7.4 million. At the same time, about 700,000 jobs will be created in the area, according to the IRF annual long-term forecast.
By 2035, IRF estimates that the area will include four million jobs and 9.5 million people.
Houston will also continue to follow a decentralization trend, with suburban counties receiving a growing number of new jobs and population growth. These counties have recently captured about 44 percent of all employment growth and 51 percent of all population growth.
Read Full Article
Source: Houston Business Journal, April, 2010
Texas Real Estate Market News
AUSTIN OFFICE MARKET TURNAROUND EXPECTED
AUSTIN (Marcus & Milllichap) – Austin led the nation in economic growth in 2009, a trend that should continue this year as the venture capital markets begin to thaw, helping to support a turnaround in the local office market in late 2010, according to the 2010 National Office Report by Marcus & Millichap.
Following are some of the most significant aspects of the Austin Office Research Report:
- Payrolls are anticipated to expand by 2.5 percent in 2010 with the addition of 19,100 positions. Of those, 4,700 jobs are expected in office-using sectors, a 2.6 percent gain.
- Development will slow to 330,000 sf of competitive office stock this year, a 0.8 percent increase to inventory. Demand growth will be outpaced by new construction, resulting in a 50 basis point rise in vacancy to 20.6 percent by year-end 2010.
- Asking rents will retreat 4.1 percent this year to $24.65 per sf, while effective rents will slide 5.9 percent to $19.75 per sf, the lowest rate since 2006.
Austin remained at number 24, and robust employment growth kept Houston at number four. Meanwhile DFW moved up three places to number 27.
Source: Real Estate Center Online News
Texas Real Estate Market News
Austin Best Economic Recovery In U.S.
The Austin-Round Rock area tied for first on a list of large metros where the recession is easing. Central Texas tied Washington D.C. in the Forbes.com ranking that compiles job growth and real estate industry improvement, among other indicators.
Read Full Article
Source: Loopnet, March, 2010
Texas Real Estate Market News
AUSTIN HOME SALES UP 5 PERCENT LAST MONTH
AUSTIN (Austin Board of Realtors) – Area home sales in January 2010 were at 884, up 5 percent from the same month in 2009, according to the Multiple Listing Service report by the Austin Board of Realtors.
The median price remained stable in the same period, up 1 percent to $179,250.
"At this point, we can look back and see that January 2009 was the low point of this cycle. With steady improvement throughout 2009 that continued in January 2010, we can see that we’re one year into the recovery in Austin," said John Horton, chairman of the Austin Board of Realtors.
Throughout 2009, the volume of single-family home sales in Austin improved steadily. In the first half of the year, the gap in year-over-year sales volume closed consistently, reaching levels similar to 2008 during the summer peak, with the exception of a dip in August.
In fall 2009, sales volume began outperforming 2008 and surged in October and November, spurred by the original deadline for the first-time homebuyer tax credit. In December 2009, sales volume returned to a modest increase of 5 percent compared with December 2008, a growth rate that was maintained in January 2010.
Read Full Article
Source: Austin American Statesman, February, 2010
Texas Real Estate Market News
HOUSTON (Houston Chronicle) – Texas ranked 29th in state foreclosure rates for 2009, with 1.06 percent of the state’s total housing units receiving at least one foreclosure filing, according to a report by RealtyTrac.
That calculation includes default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions.
Overall, 100,045 housing units received foreclosure filings in Texas last year, up 4 percent from 2008 and up 18 percent from 2007.
In comparison, Nevada posted the highest foreclosure rate in 2009, with over 10 percent of its housing units receiving foreclosure filings. Colorado was tenth in the nation, with 2.37 percent of its units receiving foreclosure filings.
Read Full Article
Source: Houston Chronicle, January, 2010
Texas Real Estate Market News
EL PASO (El Paso Times) – Boston-based HIS Global Insight projects the city’s economy to grow 4.7 percent this year, more than its 3 percent projection for Texas, which may be nudged by increased home construction projections.
After declines for the last four consecutive years, single-family homes starts are expected to climb 9.9 percent in 2010 to 3,019, according to a forecast by the University of Texas at El Paso. Last year’s 2,747 home starts were down 8.3 percent from the 2,995 that were begun in 2008.
The projection for 2010 is still well below the 4,472 home starts in 2005.
Overall, the influx of soldiers at Fort Bliss, the transition of Texas Tech University’s medical campus into a full university campus and the national economic recovery are expected to improve the outlook in El Paso in 2010.
Read Full Article
Source: El Paso Times, January, 2010
Texas Real Estate Market News
AUSTIN (Home Builders Association of Greater Austin) – The Austin area's new home market could be headed toward a recovery, experts said Wednesday at the 2010 Economic Housing Forecast.
"The resiliency of the job market and relatively stable home prices will translate to a more positive consumer confidence level locally,” said Eldon Rude, Austin director of Metrostudy, which tracks the new home market in Austin and 30 other markets across the country. “Consumer confidence is an important driver of home sales."
Rude said builders in the Austin area cut new home production by approximately 19 percent in the last year, resulting in 6,490 new home starts in 2009.
"Starts have stabilized in recent quarters, builders have closed more homes than they have started for the last three years. This strategy has resulted in far fewer inventory issues in the Austin new home market compared to the more challenged markets across the United States," he said.
Metrostudy anticipates that new home starts in the five-county Austin region will be maintained at 2009 levels because of the expected lack of job growth through at least the first half of 2010 and the continued capital constraints facing builders.
Experts believe the region is at or near bottom with respect to housing starts and starts will begin to increase toward the end of 2010 and into 2011.
The conference was sponsored by the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin and the Austin Board of Realtors.
Source: Home Builders Association of Greater Austin, January, 2010
Texas Real Estate Market News
The Texas economy showed signs of improvement in the past six weeks through November, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ Beige Book survey.
Industries looking up include high-tech manufacturing, paper, petrochemicals, staffing, housing and energy.
New and existing home sales improved over the six-week period, but the level of activity remains weak.
Read Full Article
Source: Houston Business Journal, December, 2009
Texas Real Estate Market News
This city east of San Antonio is the first in Texas to receive the Green Power Community distinction from the Environmental Protection Agency.
Universal City buys over 3.6 million kilowatt hours of wind energy from CPS Energy annually through the company’s Windricity program. The program allows customers to choose wind as their power source.
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Source: Universal City Business Journal, December, 2009
Texas Real Estate Market News
Future residential construction is looking up, but nonresidential construction is not faring as well, according to McGraw-Hill Construction.
Total construction contract values for residential properties in October were $434 million, up 1 percent from $429 million in October 2008.
Read Full Article
Source: Dallas Business Journal, December, 2009
Texas Real Estate Market News
- Several Texas metro areas have been ranked in the top spots of the 2009 Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners Best Performing Cities Index. The Lone Star State claimed four of the top five spots, including No. 1, and nine of the top 16 spots.
- The Austin-Round Rock area was named the No. 1 Best Performing City, with Killeen-Fort Hood-Temple, Mc Allen-Edinburg-Mission and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown claiming the second, fourth and fifth spots, respectively. Additionally, Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown was named one of the top five largest cities, and Midland was named the No. 1 small metro.
- The index ranks U.S. metro areas based on their ability to create and sustain jobs, and includes long-term (five years) and short-term (one year) measurements of employment and salary growth, and four measurements of technology output growth. The report credits Texas’ favorable business climate and ability to attract jobs and corporations away from higher-cost states with propelling metropolitan areas to the top of the index.
Source: Milken Institute, November, 2009
Texas Real Estate Market News
Analyst: Dallas-Fort Worth home prices to turn positive next summer
The long run of declines in Dallas-Fort Worth home prices should turn positive next summer, an industry analyst said Thursday.
First American CoreLogic, a California-based housing and finance information firm, is forecasting that home prices around the country will bottom out by spring.
Read Full Article
Source: Dallas Morning News, October 30, 2009
Texas Real Estate Market News
RealtyTrac: Not as many Houston-area foreclosures in third quarter
The number of foreclosures in the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area increased just 1.5 percent between the second and third quarters, according to figures released Wednesday by RealtyTrac.
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Source: Houston Business Journal, October 28, 2009
Texas Real Estate Market News
NOW'S THE TIME TO BUY, IF . . .
COLLEGE STATION- "It appears we are at the bottom of the housing market in most Texas cities," said Real Estate Center Chief Economist Mark Dotzour after reviewing the state's latest home sale numbers.
Dotzour mentioned two years ago that new home construction needed to fall dramatically to avoid the level of overbuilding that could damage Texas housing markets. He even picked summer 2009 as the bottom of the housing cycle because bankers would constrain credit to homebuilders and developers.
Read Full Article
Source: Real Estate Center, August 14, 2009
Texas Real Estate Market News
More Great News About Texas!
According to Forbes, Best Cities to Buy a Home:
#1 Houston
#2 Austin
#5 San Antonio
#6 Dallas
Read Full Article
Source: Maurna Desmond, Forbes.com, July 14, 2009
Texas Real Estate Market News
Round Rock Texas named second fastest growing city in the country
Annual census report shows Round Rock, Texas as #2 of the top 10 fastest growing cities in the nation.
Read Full Article
Source: Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer, July 1, 2009
Texas Real Estate Market News
Austin will be 5th fastest growing U.S. metro in coming years
The population of the Austin metro area will grow to more than 2.7 million by the year 2025, according to an analysis of government data by bizjournals.
The projected growth rate of Austin and its suburbs ranks 5th among 250 U.S. metropolitan areas studied in the report
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Source: Austin Business Journal, June 2, 2009
Texas Real Estate Market News
Texas Real Estate Texaplex
With national headlines looking down see why Texas is looking up
Texas Real Estate Market News
10 of the top 25 fastest growing counties are in Texas!
Ten of the top 25 fastest growing counties in the country between July 2007 and July 2008 are in Texas, according to a Capital Area Council of Governments analysis of the most-recent U.S. Census report.
Read full article Austin Business Journal.
Source:Austin Business Journal, March 27, 2009,
Texas Real Estate Market News
RREEF Report: Recession Fails to Diminish Demand for Green Real Estate
In Downturn, Owners Eye Existing Buildings for Sustainability, Energy Efficiency Measures
The fundamental shift in real estate markets toward sustainable buildings will experience only a mild disruption from the global recession and credit crunch, according to research published last month by RREEF, the investment management business of Deutsche Bank's Asset Management division.
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Source:CoStar Group written by Andrew Burr, March 18th, 2009
Texas Real Estate Market News
Positive Houston & Dallas News
- While other cities are struggling to create growth, Houston is maintaining its reputation as a bustling area with boundless economic growth possibilities according to Site Selection magazine. The 2009 "Top Metro" rankings have been released and Greater Houston tops the list as the No. 1 metro area in the nation for corporate location and expansion activity. This is a key factor for job growth and retention in Houston, which will ultimately lead to increased residential and commercial real estate activity.
- This is the first time the Houston Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) has taken the number one spot. The announcement was made by Site Selection in its 30th anniversary "Governor's Cup" issue.
- Dallas followed at number two and Chicago, which has won the title the last six out of seven years, came in third place.
Source: March 17th, 2009
Texas Real Estate Market News
2008 Total Building Permits: 42,697
"They like to do things big in Houston. Now the metro area, home to nearly
5.8 million people, can lay claim to being the largest home building market
in the country, with 42,697 building permits. The market is still benefiting
from an influx of population and jobs and rebuilding in the wake of Hurricane
Ike. Employment rose 2.2 percent last year, representing the addition of an
incredible 57,000 jobs. Home building activity in Houston has only fallen 31
percent since 2005. Also, existing home prices actually rose in Houston last
year, 2.8 percent, to $160,200, still a very affordable level. Roughly one third
of the home building action is in Harris County, followed by Houston proper
and Fort Bend County."
Source: Houston Press: Builder Magazine Source: March 3rd, 2009
Texas Real Estate Market News
Have You Heard the Good News? Houston Leads Nation in Job Growth.
Houston had the best year of any market, picking up an additional 57,300 jobs, according to a new bizjournals analysis.
The study focused on the 88 U.S. markets that have at least 250,000 nonfarm jobs. Collectively, the nation's major labor markets lost nearly 1.2 million jobs last year, according to the analysis.
Texas dominated the small list of markets that added jobs last year, nailing down the top three positions, and four of the top five.
Bizjournals compared nonfarm employment totals for the final month of the past two years, based on the latest figures released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Source: GHBA Weekly eNewsletter, February 18th, 2009
Texas Real Estate Market News
Positive Houston & Dallas News
- The Association of Foreign Investors in Real Estate just ranked Houston as the 8th best investment market in the world!
- Texas has taken its place as the No. 1 destination state for residential relocations for the fourth year in a row, according to Allied Van Lines' 41st Annual Magnet States Report.
- Even as more corporations announce coming layoffs, including Home Depot, BBVA Compass Bank, Caterpillar and others, the Texas Workforce Commission reported that Houston added 57,300 jobs in 2008, a gain of 2.2 percent
Source: HAR, January 27th, 2009
Texas Real Estate Market News
Good News about Houston
- NAR Chief Economist Dr. Lawrence Yun was in Houston on Friday speaking at an event. While he was here, HAR set up some interviews for him with local media.
- Each of the outlets has run his interviews, including Channels 2, 11 and 13, and the Houston Business Journal and Houston Chronicle.
- During his interviews, he cited Houston and Denver as the top markets to watch next year and predicted a 5%+ rise in pricing for the Houstonmarket in 2009.
- He also said that Houston's real estate market is undervalued by any measure and that the expected job growth in our area will help maintainHouston's better performance relative to the nation.
- You may also view a quick interview with Dr. Yun conducted by HAR Chairman Michael Levitin here: http://www.har.com/hartv/?v=454.
Source: November 24th, 2008
Texas Real Estate Market News
Texas Metros are Top Performers
SANTA MONICA, CA (Milken Institute) - Texas made a strong showing in "America's Best-Performing Cities," the Milken Institute's annual ranking of metros based on economic growth.
Although Provo-Orem, Utah, came out the winner among the 200 large metros that were studied, six major Texas metros made the top 25. Austin, Round Rock was ranked fourth, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission seventh, Killeen,Temple, Fort Hood 13th, San Antonio 15th, Houston, Sugar Land, Baytown 16th and Dallas-Plano-Irving 23rd.
Within the small metros division, which included 124 areas, Texas dominated. Midland ranked first in the nation. Longview and Odessa came in at seventh and tenth, respectively. At 37th, El Paso showed the biggest gain among small metros, jumping 85 spots from its 2007 position.
Source: Real Estate Center Online News, September 19th 2008
Texas Real Estate Market News
Historical Low Rates
Rates are near an historic 40-year low. Even one/half of one percentage point difference means a buyer could save more than $1,000 per year on a median-priced home
Source: floridarealtors.org, "The Upside of Florida Real Estate:20 Market Positives."
Texas Real Estate Market News
Job Growth
The state's annual job growth rate leads the nation's by a ratio of more than 2-1.
Austin Business Journal, 1/18/2008
Texas Real Estate Market News
Texas Economy Remains Strong
Texas Ranked No. 1 in Economic Development.
Business Facilities magazine, January 10, 2008
Texas Real Estate Market News
Texas is headquarters to 45 Fortune 500
Companies and home to 14 of the 100 Fastest Growing Businesses in America.
Source: Fortune Small Business magazine.
Texas Real Estate Market News
Texas ranked No. 1 in economic development. Based on a state-by-state survey of economic development deals over the last 12 months, Business Facilities magazine named Texas, with a total of $15.4 billion in investment and 9,335 jobs to be created from new projects, its State of the Year for 2007.
While a housing downturn continues in other areas of the country, particularly in California and Florida, and a current threat of a recession is in the air, Texas' economy remains relatively healthy, (Dr. James P. Gaines, research economist, Real Estate Center at Texas A & M University) said. Affordable housing, a lower cost of living and cost of doing business, rising employment opportunities and attractive lifestyle are drawing more people than ever to Texas. These and other circumstance point toward a Texas-sized boom over the next 25 years, he said.
Source: Star-Telegram, 2/28/2008
Texas Real Estate Market News
Stable Home Market
There is a less than 1 percent chance that home prices will fall in San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Dallas or Fort Worth during the next two years, according to the most recent Winter 2008 U.S. Market Risk Index. The index is released by PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. and looks at the measures including price appreciation, affordability, unemployment, foreclosures and unsold inventory to predict volatility in home prices in the largest 50 cities.
Source: San Antonio Express-News, 2008 "Risk Index paints optimistic picture for Texas housing", 1/18/2008
Texas Real Estate Market News
"While nationwide home prices are down almost 2 percent this year, many areas of the country, including North Texas, are holding up well. The job markets in Texas are the strongest in the country."
Source: Lawrence Yun, chief economist with the National Association of Realtors, January 14, 2007
Texas Real Estate Market News
Still a Great Investment
Over the past five years, the average homeowner has seen an increase of 50 percent in value.
Source: National Association of Realtors® (NAR)
Texas Real Estate Market News
Over the long-term, real estate has consistently appreciated. On a national level, home appreciation has historically increased 5-6 percent annually.
Source: National Association of Home Builders
Texas Real Estate Market News
A recent PMI Group study reported that the risk of U.S. housing price declines remained low in many areas of the South, Midwest and Northwest. Among the 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas, Texas cities were the lowest and most stable in risk outlook during 2007.
Source: Front Lines Dallas housing market: nation's most stable
Texas Real Estate Market News
"Despite the national slowdown, Texas is still strong. There's no reason prices shouldn't continue to rise despite the increase in foreclosures and the slowdown in transactions, construction and new home starts."
Source: Dr. James Gaines, research economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.
Texas Real Estate Market News
Benefits of Home Ownership Ownership trumps renting. Consider these financial benefits:
- Deductions on your annual income tax return
- Locked-in payment with a fixed rate mortgage
- Home price appreciation if you plan to live there for a few years
- Monthly mortgage payment comparable to rent payments.
Source: floridarealtors.org, "The Upside of Florida Real Estate: 20 Market Positives"
Texas Real Estate Market News
"Owning a home is one of the best builders of wealth," says Todd Nordstrom, a sales associate with Esslinger Wooten Maxwell. "There is a huge difference in net worth between renters and owners." In fact, the most recent Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances shows the median net wealth of a homeowner household is $171,700 compared with just $4,800 for a renter household.
Source: NAR's 2007 Profile of Florida Homebuyers and Sellers. "Homes Are Selling, New and Resales" media.floridarealtors.org
Texas Real Estate Market News
