Texas’ existing home sales down but prices up in February 2010
A total of 13,064 existing single-family homes were sold in Texas last month, a 2 percent drop from February 2009, according to MLS data compiled by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.The median price was up 2 percent to $141,100 during the same period, and the state finished the month with a 6.9-month inventory of existing homes.
Here is how select Texas cities fared in February (data current as of March 25, 2010):
| Sales | Change from Last Year |
Median Price |
Change from Last Year |
Months’ Inventory |
|
| Austin | 1,276 | up 7% | $182,000 | down 3% | 6.2 |
| Dallas | 2,707 | down 9% | $149,200 | up 1% | 6.1 |
| Fort Bend | 510 | down 7% | $188,700 | up 8% | 4.8 |
| Fort Worth | 538 | up 5% | $106,000 | down 3% | 6.5 |
| Houston | 3,615 | down 4% | $146,600 | up 6% | 6.6 |
| Longview-Marshall | 116 | down 12% | $120,000 | up 1% | 8.9 |
| Odessa | 67 | up 26% | $123,100 | down 5% | 5.8 |
| San Antonio | 1,239 | up 7% | $140,700 | down 1% | 7.8 |
| Temple-Belton | 94 | down 10% | $110,800 | down 11% | 6.7 |
| Victoria | 61 | up 33% | $109,200 | down 23% | 6.6 |
| Texas | 13,064 | down 2% | $141,100 | up 2% | 6.9 |
Additional home sales data for these and other major Texas cities are available on the Center’s website.
At the national level, the National Association of Realtors reported this week that existing-home sales fell 0.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.02 million units in February from 5.05 million in January. That was 7 percent higher than the 4.69 million-unit pace from February 2009.
Total housing inventory at the end of February rose 9.5 percent to 3.59 million existing homes, representing an 8.6-month supply.
The national median existing-home price for all housing types of $165,100 last month, which was 1.8 percent below February 2009.
Source: Real Estate Center, Reuters, CNNMoney.com
Read MoreDon’t mess with Texas – More Americans moving in
More Americans are moving into the Lone Star state than anywhere else in the country, says the Census Bureau.
Americans, it seems, still have a love affair with the West. Texas and Wyoming were the big winners in the Census Bureau’s annual population estimates, which were released on Wednesday.
In the year ended July 1, Texas added more people than any other state, and Wyoming had the highest growth rate in the nation. The population of the United States has grown more than 9% to 307,006,550 since the 2000 census. The population grew 0.86% since last year’s estimates. 
Just three states shrank during the year. Michigan’s population fell by 0.33%, Maine dropped 0.11%, and Rhode Island lost 0.03%.
The report is a kind of sneak preview of the next big 10-year census, which will be released in December 2010.
The 10-year census determines congressional representation and federal aid, among other things.
“The census counts will not only determine how many U.S. House seats each state will have but will also be used as the benchmark for future population estimates,” said Census Bureau Director Robert Groves.
In Nevada, for example, the population has risen 32.27% since the 2000 Census, more than any other state in the past decade. Nevada currently has three seats in the House and will almost certainly pick up another as a result of its population growth.
Source: CNNMoney.com
Read MoreTEXAS CITIES DOMINATE LIST OF TOP PERFORMERS
Texas metros, led by number one Austin–Round Rock, claimed four of the top five spots and nine of the top 16 in the 2009 Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners Best-Performing Cities Index.
Also making the list were Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood (2), McAllen-Edinburg-Mission (4), Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown (5), San Antonio (11), Fort Worth–Arlington (12), Dallas-Plano-Irving (13), El Paso (14) and Corpus Christi (16).
Austin–Round Rock was the first metro to ever be ranked number one twice on the index, the last time being in 2000.
But it doesn’t stop there. Nine other Texas metros made the top 25 out of the 124 smallest metros that were studied.
Those were Midland (1), Longview (2), Tyler (4), Odessa (5), College Station–Bryan (14), Texarkana (17), Waco (18), Laredo (20) and Abilene (21).
Leaders in this year’s index, which ranks U.S. metros based on their ability to create and sustain jobs, are all metros that succeeded in avoiding the worst of economic declines driven by falling housing markets and job losses in manufacturing and global trade.
Regional economic factors also strongly influenced the rankings this year, with the oil and gas sector, technology and alternative energy providing stability among metros in Texas, North Carolina, Washington and Louisiana.
Another factor helping Texas metros move up in the rankings is the state’s favorable business climate and its ability to attract jobs and corporations away from higher-cost states.
Source: Milken Institute
Read MoreDallas area in Top 10 of US Metros Least Touched by Recession
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
Overall rank: 5 out of top 40
The sprawling, vibrant, and diverse metro has a major international airport, professional sports teams, and large corporations. It is home to ExxonMobil, J.C. Penney, and TXU Energy. Employment in the Dallas metro peaked in the second quarter of last year. Gross metropolitan product in the second quarter was down just 1.7% from the peak in the third quarter of 2008. Home prices grew 3% in the second quarter compared with the same period a year earlier. And the unemployment rate in June was 8.2%, up 3.1 points from a year earlier. (Please see below for the various criteria used by the Brookings Institution to determine the overall ranking.)
Job growth (since peak) rank: 13
Gross Metro Product (since peak) rank: 11
Unemployment change (year over year) rank: 32
Home price change (year over year) rank: 3
A combination of stable home prices and sizable sectors in health care, energy, government, and education kept these metropolitan areas relatively stable.
America’s strongest economies have one thing in common—home prices that never got too hot or too cold.
Home prices in metros such as San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Pittsburgh, Rochester, Little Rock, Ark., and Baton Rouge, La., remained steady through boom and bust. Although no metropolitan area entirely avoided the economic downturn, the most resilient metros were protected by a potent mix of recession-resistant jobs.
The upstate New York areas of Syracuse, Rochester, Albany, and Buffalo suffered from declining jobs in manufacturing, but got significant boosts from sizable health-care, education, and government sectors. Construction is booming in Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s capital, as firms take advantage of financing for post-Katrina hurricane recovery work and service-related companies expand to meet the needs of a growing population. Omaha and the state of Iowa have relatively strong insurance sectors.
Texas, the last state to enter recession, has been bolstered by its oil and gas industries—which have also helped Oklahoma, North Dakota, and Louisiana. Texas also has many other things going for it, including affordable home prices and relatively low wages, which attract corporations.
BusinessWeek.com used data and analysis from the Brookings Institution’s new MetroMonitor to come up with the nation’s 40 strongest economies. The MetroMonitor, which measures the nation’s health on a quarterly basis, ranks the top 100 metros based on job growth, unemployment, gross metropolitan product, and home prices.
A 22-year unemployment high in Texas
Although the metros in the ranking are strong by relative standards, their unemployment rates in many cases are now peaking because they entered the recession late. Texas, which had 5 metros in our top 10, including No. 1 San Antonio, is a good example.
The unemployment rate in Texas hit 8.2% in September, rising above 8% for the first time in 22 years. But that’s a very low unemployment rate, compared to the national rate of 9.8% or to Nevada’s 13.3% rate.
Texas is unlikely to face a prolonged downturn, said Terry Clower, an economist at the University of North Texas. The state’s affordable cost of living make it attractive to new residents and corporations, the largest of which tend to be based near Houston and Dallas.
“It’s perceived as a low-cost place to do business,” Clower said. “Because housing is affordable, the wage rates reflect that.”
Marisa Di Natale, a director at Moody’s Economy.com, said late arrivals to the recession will generally face mild downturns.
These metros “haven’t had a big erosion in housing wealth, which has kept consumer spending stronger than it would otherwise be,” Di Natale said.
Source: Business Week
Read MoreHistorical Home Appreciation – Episode #46
Evan and Richard discuss home appreciation over the last 25 years based on a study done by Carl Case. Home appreciation averaged 26+% in 5 year increments since 1980. However, between 2000-2006 appreciation jumped to 89%!
These numbers are national statistics, as our Rockwall Texas area did not see anywhere close to that sort of an increase, but the flipside is that places like Florida, California, Arizona, etc saw more than an 89% increase. The takeaway is that nearly all the “crashing” markets on the east and west coast are really just adjustments back to a normal rate of appreciation.
For more info:
The Matteson Group
Coldwell Banker Apex, Realtors
214.405.3640
Your trusted advisors providing a joy filled real estate experience!
A True Perspective on Homeownership – Episode #16
Evan Matteson and Richard Matteson with The Matteson Group discuss some statistics they recently learned about Homeownership in America. These statistics present a true and accurate picture of the current market. You will not hear about these on the news, that is why we are trying to get the word out! Thanks to Jason Cooley from Integrity Mortgage for providing us with these stats!
The Matteson Group
Coldwell Banker Apex, Realtors
214-405-3640
Your trusted advisors providing a joy filled real estate experience!
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