According to the most recent Texas Quarterly Housing Report, the effects of last year's federal homebuyer tax credits continued to linger for the Texas real estate market in the second quarter of 2011.
Read all of Texas real estate sales volumes remain consistent
According to the latest Monthly Review of the Texas Economy, the word "robust" describes the annual job growth rate for the state's private sector for the year ending in June
Read all of Texas private sector job growth 'robust'
Most homeowners associations are well-run and provide great benefit to residents through their amenities environment. It's not hard, however, to find stories about seemingly one-sided disputes between HOAs and homeowners. To be honest, some of the reports, like tales of foreclosure or huge, unannounced assessments, are upsetting.
Read all of Texas Legislature clamps down on over-reaching HOAs
Nationally, pending home sales rose strongly in May with all regions experiencing gains from a year ago, pointing to higher housing activity in the second half of the year, according to the National Association of Realtors.
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What some people consider a double-dip recession, others view simply as the continuation of the recession that has gripped the nation for the past couple of years.
Read all of Recession: Double-Dip or Final Stage?
According to the latest monthly data compiled by the Houston Association of Realtors, March sales of single-family homes fell 4.4 percent versus one year earlier. As in February, the popular middle segments of the Houston housing market, consisting of homes priced between $80,000 and $250,000, experienced declining sales while the low and high ends saw an increase in number of sales. Compared to March of 2009, a year without unusual market factors such as Hurricane Ike in 2008 and the 2010 tax credit, single-family home sales were up 6.6 percent.
Read all of Houston's average home price edges upward
Home Ownership Remains at the Core of the American Dream
Read all of 7 Reasons Why Now is a Great Time to Buy a Home! Reason # 7
Reason #5 The subprime mortgage crisis brought underwriting standards back into the mortgage origination process. And while the final quarter of 2009’s financial meltdown led to a sense that financing had dried up, mortgage funds are now available.
Every major price index points to a housing market that has hit bottom and is moving in a positive direction. After 30 months of declining values, home prices appear to be stable or appreciating in nearly every U.S. market. In August of 2010, the median home price was $182,600, amounting to an 11 percent increase over the low that was reached in February of 2010 at $164,000.
Read all of Reason #3 - Prices are trending back up and #4 - Sellers are motivated
For individual home buyers, there are only a few facts that really matter: • Can I afford this home? • Is it a good investment? • Does it meet my family’s needs?
A Smart Buyer’s Guide to Seizing the Market It’s Prime Time! No doubt you’ve heard the news: The housing market hit a rough patch this summer. Sales of existing homes declined at a rate that took many by surprise, sending pundits into a “what’s next” tailspin. As the prognosticators pondered, savvy buyers didn’t miss a beat. They got that the doomsayers were taking a onedimensional view of the buyer’s market and that market skittishness gives rise to an even more favorable climate for buying a home.
Read all of 7 Reasons Why Now is a Great Time to Buy a Home!
If I buy a house today, will it be cheaper tomorrow? In other words, if I buy now, what is the likelihood my property’s value will decline, and I won’t be able to sell it for what I paid for it? Put yet another way, have we hit bottom on home prices?
Read all of Risks of home pricing declines in Texas considered low
February 2011 marked a slight slowdown in the Houston real estate market following a galloping start to the new year in January when home sales rose for the first time in seven months. Despite last month's decline in sales volume, average and median home prices rose to the highest levels ever recorded for a February in Houston.
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Fortunately, most Texans weathered the last decade far better than other Americans, particularly those in other high-growth states. But it was not easy. Nationally, the Great Recession's impact was most felt in employment. Between 2000 and 2009, the total number of payroll jobs declined 0.7 percent from 131.79 million to 130.92 million. Meanwhile, the total number of private sector jobs declined 2.4 percent from 111 million to 108.37 million. Job losses in the private sector were partially offset by an 8.5 percent increase in government jobs during the decade, from 20.8 million to 22.55 million jobs.
Read all of A decade of a roller coaster recession not quite over until more jobs created
Despite the bone-chilling winter weather, Houston's housing market heated up in January, recording the first increase in property sales since June 2010. Pricing also heated up in the first month of the new year with the average price of single-family homes reaching the highest level ever for a January in Houston.
Read all of Houston market heats up in spite of frigid January
The number of commercial and residential properties that went back to their lenders dipped at a recent Harris County foreclosure auction, though more properties posted for foreclosure than earlier in the year.
Read all of Houston foreclosures still in decline
Smart Business learned more from Dana Johnson, chief economist of Comerica Bank, about prospects for the Texas economy in 2011 and how it compares to the national economy. The following are excerpts from that interview: What is your outlook for the Texas economy for 2011?
Read all of Small business network releases outlook for Texas economy in 2011
According to a recent report in the Oklahoman, home values are up over five years in Amarillo, Dallas, Fort Smith, Houston, Lubbock and Wichita, Kansas. The latest report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) reports the following metro-area values ticking up over the last five years in its all-transactions index, counting purchases and refis.
Read all of Taking the long view on home values
For the fifth month in a row following expiration of the 2010 homebuyer tax credit, sales of single-family homes across Greater Houston declined in November while the prices of those homes rose. Despite the lingering sales chill, the market enjoyed boosts in both the average and median price, achieving the highest levels ever seen in a November. According to the latest monthly data released late December by the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR), November sales of single-family homes throughout the Houston market fell 22.0 percent when compared to November 2009.
Read all of End of Year 2010 - Sales decline, prices rise in Houston
Employment in the Texas private sector is keeping the state's job growth headed in the right direction.
Read all of Employment growth helps Texas outpace nation
