Chris Thorpe Real Estate

TEXAS (Real Estate Center, Reuters, CNNMoney.com) – A total of 10,217 existing single-family homes were sold in Texas last month, a 5 percent drop from January 2009, according to MLS data compiled by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.

The median price was up 4 percent to $137,100 during the same period, and the state finished the month with a 6.5-month inventory of existing homes.

Here is how select Texas cities fared in January (data current as of Feb. 25, 2010):

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 single-family home sales fell 7.2 percent to an annual rate of 5.05 million in January from a pace of 5.44 million in December. That was 11.5 percent above the January 2009 pace.

Meanwhile, new home sales also fell at the national level. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of new home sales plummeted 11.2 percent to 309,000 last month, compared with a revised rate of 348,000 in December. According to Census Bureau data, that's a 6.1 percent decline from January 2009.

WASHINGTON (Associated Press) – After one year of activity, the government’s mortgage relief plan has helped about 12 percent of borrowers who signed up for the program.

According to the Treasury Department, about 116,000 homeowners had completed the application process as of last month and are making permanently reduced loan payments, compared with over one million homeowners who began the process.

Over 61,000 homeowners have dropped out of the program either because they failed to make payments or did not return the necessary paperwork.

There have been calls recently for a major overhaul of the program, particularly for the government to further encourage banks to cut borrowers’ principle balances on their primary loans. Nearly one in three homeowners with a mortgage owes more to the bank than their property is worth, according to Moody’s Economy.com.

DALLAS (Dallas Morning News) – After a 4 percent year-over-year fall in February foreclosure postings, March postings increased 30 percent from the same month last year, according to Addison-based Foreclosure Listing Service.

The 5,548 postings for forced sale in March are also 18 percent above the number of homes in this month’s auctions, which saw the first decline in foreclosure filings on a year-over-year basis since October 2007.

By county, Tarrant County March postings rose 37 percent from last year, while Collin and Denton Counties had a 34 percent increase. Dallas County foreclosure postings climbed 23 percent from March 2009.

First-quarter foreclosure postings increased 22 percent from the year ago period to 16,137 postings. This number, however, was down 4 percent from fourth quarter 2009.

Fewer than half the homes scheduled for foreclosure auction each month are sold by lenders.

DALLAS (Dallas Morning News) – North Texas home builders posted more conservative home start numbers in 2009 than in previous years, but some still fared well.

Overall, builders started about 13,500 homes in the area last year, a more than 70 percent decrease from the market’s peak in 2006.

The 20 largest builders built 17 percent fewer homes in 2009 than in 2008.

Fort Worth–based D.R. Horton Inc. increased its starts by 20 percent between 2008 and 2009, building about 2,289 homes last year, according to Residential Strategies Inc. However, this was less than half the number of homes the builder started in 2006.

The next three largest builders — Pulte-Centex, Highland-Huntington and Meritage-Legacy — reduced their starts in the DFW area in 2009.

CARROLLTON (ALNsystems.com) – The number of apartments rented statewide dropped 2.4 percent between December 2008 and December 2009, according to the latest figures from ALN. Meanwhile, rents fell by an average of 2.5 percent.

Here's how select cities fared for the year ending December 2009:

Austin
Occupancy stayed roughly the same, while average monthly rent dropped 4.7 percent from $827 to $788.

Dallas
Occupancy decreased from 89.3 percent to 86.7 percent. Rent fell 3.5 percent, going from $777 to $750.

Fort Worth
Occupancy dropped from 87.5 percent to 85.8 percent. Rent decreased 2.5 percent, going from $675 to $658.

Houston
Occupancy decreased from 88.1 percent to 84.9 percent. Rent was down 0.9 percent, going from $748 to $741.

San Antonio
Occupancy decreased from 88.2 percent to 87.8 percent. Rent decreased 0.1 percent, going from $689 to $688.

Lubbock
Occupancy fell from 92.1 percent to 89.7 percent, while average rent decreased 4.3 percent, going from $638 to $610.

Amarillo
Occupancy dropped from 90 percent to 89.1 percent, while average rent increased 4.9 percent from $561 to $588.

Corpus Christi
Occupancy decreased from 91.6 percent to 89.9 percent. Rent dropped 2.2 percent from $696 to $681.

COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – The nation’s labor market hit bottom in August 2009, but the Texas labor market has not yet hit that mark.

The Texas economy lost 277,400 nonfarm jobs from December 2008 to December 2009, an annual job loss of 2.6 percent. Over the same period, the U.S. economy lost more than four million jobs or 3 percent of its total nonfarm jobs.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 5.6 percent in December 2008 to 8.3 percent in December 2009, while the U.S. rate rose from 7.4 percent to 10 percent during the year.

Only two Texas industries (education and health services, other services) and the government sector had more jobs in December 2009 than in December 2008. Nine other industries experienced net job losses over the 12 months.

Only one Texas metro area, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, experienced a positive employment growth rate from December 2008 to December 2009. Twenty-five metro areas experienced net job losses.

The state’s actual unemployment rate in December 2009 was 8 percent. Amarillo had the lowest unemployment rate followed by Lubbock, Midland, College Station–Bryan, and Abilene.

DALLAS (Dallas Morning News) – Nearly 1,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit filings in Texas have been flagged for possible ill-use of a taxpayer identification number primarily used by illegal immigrants, who are not entitled to the credit.

This number represents nearly one-third of the 3,200 suspicious homebuyer tax credit claims submitted by noncitizens around the country, the total of which are valued at $20.8 million, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for the tax administration, said that involvement of third-party preparers in some questionable homebuyer claims filed nationwide suggested that there may have been “conspiracies and attempts to cheat the government by more than one person.”

Of the 1.5 million claims made to the Internal Revenue Service for the tax credit, the Justice Department has filed one criminal case and one civil injunction against tax preparers for submitting false claims for the homebuyer credit. One of these cases was from Mission, Texas.

LAS VEGAS (Real Estate Center) – Smaller homes, lower prices. That's the outlook for new home builders this year. In fact, 95 percent of those polled by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) say they will do one or the other, maybe both.

Rose Quint, assistant vice president for NAHB's Survey Research Economics and Housing Policy Group, told the media at the 2010 NAHB International Builders' Show that builders were given a list of 40 features and asked which ones they were likely to include in new homes this year. Here's what's hot and what's not.

Items most likely to be found in new homes for 2010:

1. Walk-in closet in master bedroom
2. Separate laundry room
3. Insulated front door
4. Great room
5. Low-E windows
6. Linen closet
7. Programmable thermostat
8. Energy-efficient appliances and lighting
9. Separate shower and tub in master bedroom
10. Nine-foot ceilings on first floor

The least likely items homebuyers will find in new homes this year include:

1. Outdoor kitchen
2. Outdoor fireplace
3. Sun room
4. Butler's pantry
5. Media room
6. Desk in kitchen
7. Two-story foyer
8. Eight-foot ceiling on first floor
9. Multiple shower heads in master bath
10. Smaller kitchen area than in recent years

"Builders will focus heavily on energy-saving features," said Quint. "Things we thought were consumer necessities — such as granite countertops in the kitchen or home offices — are not on the list."

Also on the chopping block this year are energy-guzzlers like the high-ceiling entryways. Builders hope nine-foot ceilings will give the buyer a feeling of more square footage, which has been reduced.

Buyers will be looking for ways to save money. For example, water-saving toilets use an average of 39,000 fewer gallons of water annually for a family of four. That's enough for a lifetime of drinking water for three people, said Shane Judd, senior marketing manager of water conservation for Kohler.

NAHB conducted a consumer survey to compare the wants of older buyers with others.They found that those age 55 and older have a slightly different "want" list in a new home:

1. Washer-dryer in the unit
2. Storage space
3. Windows that open easily
4. Garage door opener
5. Easy-to-use thermostat
6. Master bedroom on first floor
7. Private patio
8. Porch
9. Attached garage
10. Bigger bathrooms

Watch the Real Estate Center's website for a video coming soon with details on what consumers want in a new home this year.