Texas housing market took some hits but is still standing
(An article by Steve Brown)
By now you’ve heard about the huge debt problems in Ireland, the protests in London over government cutbacks and the growing financial crisis in Spain.
You can’t help but hear about it – on television and every news website. And of course there’s the home foreclosure crisis in Florida, cascading unemployment in Michigan. And California is basically broke.
What does all that have to do with Texas? If not for the dire national and international news, we’d be feeling a lot better about our economy and real
estate market. Texas is in comparatively good shape when it comes to housing, commercial real estate and unemployment.
But it’s hard to feel good about that with all that’s going on in the rest of the world.
That’s a shame. During the Oil Patch meltdown of the late 1980s, our neighbors to the north and in booming West Coast markets didn’t seem to give a whit about our woes here in Texas.
Of course, the downturn is more universal this go-round, and the declines are steeper. But still, the Texas real estate market deserves props for getting through two years of a nuclear economic winter and only catching a cold.
Don’t take my word for it. Just this week the Brookings Institution put out its regular economic assessment of major U.S. metro areas, and Texas and Dallas-Fort Worth were near the top of all the lists. D-FW, and most of the other big Texas markets, were included in the top U.S. housing markets during the third quarter, according to the Brookings report. North Texas is among the areas that have seen the smallest home price declines since the nation’s housing market fell with a thud.
North Texas also got high marks for being one of the areas with the highest economic output and stronger employment markets.
And D-FW was singled out by Brookings as one of the top overall 20 markets in the country.
The only area where North Texas doesn’t outperform the rest of the country is in number of foreclosed homes. And there we are close to the middle of the pack.
Brookings estimates that about four out of every 1,000 D-FW homes with a mortgage is now in lender hands. The average among major U.S. metro areas is closer to six out of 1,000.
So again, things here aren’t so bad compared with the rest of the country. It’s just that it isn’t easy to get past all the noise about the international financial mess and problems in places like California and Arizona.
And Americans in general – the real estate industry found in a recent survey – are more pessimistic than in previous economic periods. The weight of all the bad buzz on our real estate market won’t be lifted right away. But when the chatter about U.S. economic trends improves, don’t be surprised if attitudes about Texas’ property market turn on a dime. Again, the hole we have to climb out of isn’t very deep.
Source: Dallas Morning News
Read MoreTexas “Shadow” Inventories Low
Texas’ five major metros have some of the lowest “shadow” inventories of unsold homes in the United States.
A recent study by CoreLogic Inc. shows Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos has the lowest in the nation at 4.2 months. San Antonio-New Braunfels is next at 4.7, followed by Fort Worth-Arlington at 6.3. Dallas-Plano-Irving has the fifth-lowest inventory at 6.7 months, while Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown is seventh with 7.3 months.
Shadow inventory homes are properties that have been foreclosed on or are in the process of foreclosure but are not currently listed for sale, writes Dallas Morning News real estate writer Steve Brown.
Texas’ average shadow home inventory is 5.5 months. The average inventory among the 50 largest U.S. cities included in CoreLogic’s study is about 16 months.
Source: CoreLogic, Dallas Morning News, Real Estate Center
Read MoreTexas faring better than U.S. in foreclosures
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest mortgage delinquency survey indicate Texas is faring better than the nation in actual foreclosures.
“Texas’ seriously delinquent loans stood at 5.2 percent versus 8.7 percent of loans nationally,” said Real Estate Center Research Economist Dr. Jim Gaines.
Loans considered “seriously delinquent” are 90 or more days past due or in the process of foreclosure.
Foreclosure was started on 0.85 percent of all loans in Texas during third quarter 2010, Gaines said. Nationally, that number was 1.34 percent.
The percentage of loans in foreclosure in Texas at the end of the quarter was 1.8 percent, compared with 4.4 percent nationally.
“Texas delinquent loans have picked up, but third quarter 2010 total delinquencies were down nearly 2 percent from the previous year,” Gaines said. “Both the United States and Texas are running at around 9.5 percent delinquency on all loans.”
Source: Mortgage Bankers Association
Read MoreDFW Metroplex Ranked 2nd in Nation for Home Appreciation
Houston is expected to post the nation’s strongest home price appreciation over the next year, according to a new report by Veros Real Estate Solutions.
Houston’s relatively low unemployment — 8.7 percent in August — contributed to the city showing an increase in home prices in the third quarter and that trend should only continue, says Veros’ VeroFORECAST.
“Texas is looking strong, with four of the top ten markets in the appreciation forecast,” said Eric Fox, Veros’ vice president of statistical and economic modeling, in a statement.
The report predicts that good performances from Houston, Dallas and Amarillo will help the state of Texas lead the nation in terms of home price appreciation over the next 12 months. Dallas and Amarillo ranked second and third, respectively, behind Houston in the forecast of the nation’s projected five strongest markets. Beaumont/Port Arthur ranked No. 7.
Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown is expected to see a 3.8 percent increase in home prices over the next year, more than any other U.S. city. Dallas and Amarillo home prices are expected to rise 2.7 percent. Beaumont/Port Arthur’s projected price appreciation over the next year is 2.3 percent.
Meanwhile, Florida home markets continue to struggle as the state placed four metro areas in the rankings of the five projected weakest markets led by Port St. Lucie /Fort Pierce, which is projected to show a 7.2 percent price depreciation.
Source: Houston Business Journal
Foreclosures fall in Texas and U.S. over 2009
Residential foreclosures in July were down 2.9 percent in Texas and down 10 percent nationwide compared with a year ago, the latest RealtyTrac survey finds.
In all, 11,727 postings were filed last month in Texas, which means 1 in every 819 housing units received a notice, RealtyTrac said. Postings were down 3.7 percent from June, the real estate data firm said.
Nationwide, 325,229 postings were filed, or 1 in every 397 housing units. Although it’s a drop from a year ago, the number was up 3.6 percent from June, the firm said.
July was the 17th straight month that U.S. foreclosure postings topped 300,000, RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio said.
Nevada continued to have the nation’s highest foreclosure rate, with 1 in every 82 housing units receiving a notice, RealtyTrac said. It was followed by Arizona and Florida.
Foreclosure filings in California accounted for 21 percent of the national total in July, RealtyTrac said. Even so, filings were down 38 percent from a year ago and down 3 percent from June.
Source: Star Telegram
First-time home buyers tax credit extension passes senate
The U.S. Senate has approved a plan to extend incentives for first-time home buyers. The plan would give buyers an extra three months to close on their house. Under the current plan buyers had to sign a sales contract by April 30th and have until June 30th to complete the sale to receive up to $8,000 in tax credits. The new senate version would extend that closing date to September 30th, but the U.S. House still has to approve the plan.
Source: NEWS CHANNEL 3 – WASHINGTON D.C.
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