Chris Thorpe Real Estate

NEW HOME SALES DROP 33 PERCENT NATIONALLY

Chris Thorpe — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 01:59:00 GMT

NEW YORK CITY (New York Times) – New single-family homes sold at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 300,000 in May, down 32.7 percent from the April rate of 446,000, according to the latest government figures.

The May sales rate is 18.3 percent below that of May 2009 when the rate was 367,000.

These numbers surpassed the 23.8 percent decline in January 1994, making the current decrease a record low.

TDHCA ALLOTS ENTERPRISE COMMUNITY $5.7 MILLION

Chris Thorpe — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 01:55:00 GMT

TEXAS (PRNewswire) – The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) allocated Enterprise Community Partners Inc. $5.7 million in Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funding to provide down payment and closing cost assistance, gap financing, and a zero percent mortgage for potential homebuyers interested in single-family homes in the North Texas area.

Texas NSP is focusing on 13 cities: Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, Lancaster, Midlothian, Waxahachie, Granbury, Greenville, Cleburne, Forney, Corsicana, Weatherford and Rockwall.

Qualifying families must earn 80 percent or less of the area median family income, which is approximately $55,000 for a family of four, and are eligible to receive up to $30,000 each.

The funding is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

TEXAS 12TH IN SENIOR CARE COSTS

Chris Thorpe — Mon, 03 May 2010 19:52:00 GMT

DALLAS (Dallas Business Journal) – Texas has the 12th-lowest home-care costs and other long-term care services in the country, according to Genworth’s 2010 Cost of Care Survey.

The median annual rate for home care costs statewide is $41,070, 6 percent lower than the national average of $43,472.

Annual nursing home private rooms cost, on average, $58,765 in Texas, compared with $75,190 nationally. These rates represent an increase of 3 percent in Texas over the past five years and 5 percent nationally.

The study reported that annual costs for assisted-living care in one-bedroom, single-occupancy units in Texas have increased 5 percent over the past five years, compared with 7 percent nationally.

A previous Genworth report found that 78 percent of Texans prefer home care for long-term care, while 18 percent chose assisted living and 2 percent chose a nursing home.

FORECLOSURES INCREASE ACROSS TEXAS

Chris Thorpe — Mon, 03 May 2010 19:51:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (RealtyTrac) – The four major Texas metros had increases in residential foreclosures in the first quarter of this year, according to RealtyTrac statistics released yesterday.

Austin–Round Rock fared best, although foreclosure filings increased to 2,908 properties and 0.44 percent of the area’s total housing units. Filings increased 20.51 percent from fourth quarter 2009 and 27.26 percent from first quarter 2009.

In Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington, foreclosures were filed for 13,637 properties, 0.57 percent of the area’s housing units. This was a 28.3 percent increase in filings from the previous quarter and a 56.95 percent increase from first quarter 2009.

Foreclosure filings in Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown totaled 11,223 last quarter, which represents 0.5 percent of its housing units. Filings were up 27.01 percent from fourth quarter 2009 and 63.2 percent from first quarter 2009.

San Antonio foreclosure filings hit 3,569 for the first three months of 2010, representing 0.46 percent of the city’s housing units. The number of filings was 21.89 percent more than in fourth quarter 2009 and 25.23 percent more than in first quarter 2009.

TEXAS CITIES BEST PLACES FOR JOBS

Chris Thorpe — Mon, 03 May 2010 19:48:00 GMT

FORT WORTH (Fort Worth Star-Telegram) – For the second year in a row, Texas cities took half of the top ten spots in Newgeography.com's annual ranking of the best cities in the nation in which to find a job.

Austin–Round Rock–San Marcos ranked first, San Antonio–New Braunfels second, Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown third, Dallas-Plano-Irving fifth and Fort Worth–Arlington seventh.

Among the medium-sized cities that Newgeography.com ranked, El Paso was fifth, McAllen-Mission-Edinburg was sixth and Corpus Christi was seventh.

College Station–Bryan was the third best smallest city in which to find a job. Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood was fourth.

The rankings are based on three-month rolling averages of monthly employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics from November 1999 to January 2010.

SIXTY PERCENT OF DALLAS COUNTY HOME VALUES DECREASING

Chris Thorpe — Mon, 03 May 2010 19:47:00 GMT

DALLAS (Dallas Morning News) – Sixty percent of Dallas County homeowners will see a decrease in their home values this year, according to the Dallas Central Appraisal District. Last year, that number was 55 percent.

Values will increase for 20 percent of homeowners, and the remaining 20 percent will see no change.

While this will mean lower taxes for many homeowners, it will also mean a reduction in property tax revenue for local governments. That's bad news for Dallas County, which is expecting a $56 million shortfall, and for the city of Dallas, which is anticipating nearly twice that.

The appraisal district reappraised about 360,000 homes this year. The roughly 280,000 homes that were not reappraised this year also will not change in value.

TEXAS LAGS IN CENSUS PARTICIPATION

Chris Thorpe — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:20:00 GMT

WASHINGTON (U.S. Census Bureau) – Parts of Texas have some of the lowest rates of mail participation so far in the 2010 Census, according to a report released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Nationally, 46 percent of households have mailed back their forms. But in parts of Texas, the participation rate is significantly lower. Among those Texas cities with the lowest mail participation rates as of Monday, March 29, 2010, are:

Brownsville, 25 percent (Census 2000, 63 percent)
Laredo, 27 percent (Census 2000, 63 percent)
Austin, 33 percent (Census 2000, 68 percent)
Houston, 33 percent (Census 2000, 64 percent)
San Antonio, 37 percent (Census 2000, 72 percent)

“We’re concerned about the relatively low response from parts of Texas,” said Census Bureau Director Robert Groves. “Every household that fails to send back their census form by mail must be visited by a census taker starting in May — at a significant taxpayer cost. The easiest and best way to be counted in the census is to fill out and return your form by mail.”

For every percentage point increase in mail response, taxpayers will save an estimated $85 million in federal funds. Those funds would otherwise be required to send census takers to collect census responses in person from households that don't mail back the form.

TEXAS' JOB LOSS RATE DECREASING

Chris Thorpe — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:20:00 GMT

COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Both the U.S and the Texas labor markets hit bottom in August 2009 and since then have been losing jobs at decreasing rates. Texas’ job loss rate has decreased from 4 percent in August 2009 to 2.3 percent in February 2010. Over the same period, the U.S. job loss rate has decreased from 5 percent to 2.5 percent.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 6.8 percent in February 2009 to 8.2 percent in February 2010, while the U.S. rate rose from 8.2 percent to 9.7 percent during the same period.

Only one Texas industry, education and health services, and the government sector had more jobs in February 2010 than in February 2009. Ten other industries experienced net job losses over the same period.

Four Texas metro areas had positive employment growth rates from February 2009 to February 2010. They were College Station–Bryan, Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood, Waco and McAllen-Edinburg-Mission. Twenty-two metro areas had net job losses.

The state’s actual unemployment rate in February 2010 was 8.3 percent. Amarillo had the lowest unemployment rate followed by Midland, College Station–Bryan and Lubbock.

The Real Estate Center's complete monthly Texas economic review is available online.

CENSUS AND SENSIBILITY

Chris Thorpe — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:18:00 GMT

COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Did you know that the 2010 Census plays a vital role in the amount of representation and federal funding Texas receives? Or that this year's form has been shortened and simplified? And did you know that the first U.S. Census was administered by...

Well, we won't tell you. But you can learn everything you ever wanted to know about the 2010 Census on this week's Real Estate Red Zone podcast.

Also, Bryan Pope talks with Real Estate Center Education Coordinator Denise Whisenant about her role with TREC's Education Working Group.

In “Small Towns, Big Deals,” Edie Craig shares the biggest real estate stories from towns we haven't covered before, including Terrell, Newark and Willis.

You can listen to the free podcast from your computer by going to recenter.tamu.edu/podcast and clicking the “play” button beneath each episode. To subscribe, click on the RSS feed found on the podcast page. You can also subscribe through iTunes and download each episode to your iPod.

LOOK! UP IN THE SKY! IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S A PARK!

Chris Thorpe — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:15:00 GMT

DALLAS (Dallas Morning News) – A deck park over Woodall Rogers Frwy. will bring more than five acres of green space to downtown Dallas’ arts district in early 2012.

The Woodall Rodgers Park, which will extend three blocks from St. Paul to Pearl Street, will have a performance pavilion, a restaurant, walking trails, a dog park, a children's discovery garden and playground, water features and an area for games.

The park was designed by landscape architect and designer Jim Burnett of Houston and Dan Biederman of New York.

The Woodall Rodgers Park Foundation needs to raise $27 million to meet the $110 million cost of the park.

TEXAS' EXISTING HOME SALES DOWN, PRICES UP IN FEBRUARY

Chris Thorpe — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:15:00 GMT

TEXAS (Real Estate Center, Reuters, CNNMoney.com) – 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.

DOWNTOWN HOMELESS SHELTER WINS SILVER

Chris Thorpe — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:13:00 GMT

DALLAS (Dallas Business Journal) – The Bridge Homeless Assistance Center has received LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

The homeless shelter, in Dallas’ central business district, is one of only two in the nation with such recognition and one of only five considered green.

The 2008 building is designed to maximize daylight, reduce the use of artificial light and conserve 1.5 million gallons of water each year by using the graywater recycling system.

The Bridge Homeless Assistance Center was designed by San Antonio–based Overland Partners Architects and Dallas-based CamargoCopeland Architects.

STATE FARM RAISING HOME INSURANCE RATES

Chris Thorpe — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:13:00 GMT

SAN ANTONIO (San Antonio Express-News) – State Farm will raise its home insurance rates 4.5 percent statewide beginning in May.

New customers will pay the increased rates in May. The rates will be applied to renewed policies beginning June 1.

The increase comes after the insurance company raised its rates 8.8 percent in October.

With increased rates come increased discounts. State Farm will raise its discount for consumers who buy both home insurance and auto policies from 15 percent to 20 percent.

State Farm is Texas’ largest home insurer, holding nearly 30 percent of the homeowner insurance market statewide.

Travelers Insurance will also boost home insurance rates across Texas an average of 6.9 percent beginning Apr. 17.

TEXAS' EXISTING HOME SALES DOWN IN JANUARY

Chris Thorpe — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:42:00 GMT

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):

	Sales	Change from Last Year	Median Price	Change from Last Year	Months' Inventory
Amarillo	107	down 29%	$131,200	up 3%	5.7
Austin	1,008	up 10%	$174,800	down 1%	5.7
Dallas	2,126	down 9%	$141,000	up 2%	5.8
El Paso	253	down 17%	$130,700	up 3%	7.5
Fort Worth	444	down 4%	$102,700	down 1%	6.4
Houston	2,788	down 10%	$142,900	up 9%	6.3
Laredo	55	down 4%	$108,800	down 1%	9
Lubbock	139	up 4%	$108,100	no change	5.3
McAllen	137	up 5%	$93,800	up 3%	13.5
San Antonio	865	up 1%	$139,000	down 5%	7.5
Texas	10,217	down 5%	$137,100	up 4%	6.5

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.

DELINQUENCIES DOWN, OPTIMISM UP

Chris Thorpe — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:40:00 GMT

DALLAS (Dallas Business Journal) – By the end of 2009, 10.3 percent of Texas home loans were delinquent — up 0.5 percent from the third quarter — but the number of loans 30-60 days delinquent fell 11 basis points to 4.43 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

A loan is considered delinquent if one or more payments are past due.

Nationally, the delinquency rate declined 17 basis points to 9.47 percent, and the rate for loans 30-60 days delinquent fell 46 basis points to 3.36 percent.

“This shows a significantly improved housing market, even from 90 days ago,” said Scott Norman, vice president of the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association.

The year concluded with 2 percent of Texas home loans in foreclosure, compared with 4.58 percent nationwide.

MORTGAGE PROGRAM AIDS 12 PERCENT OF APPLICANTS

Chris Thorpe — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:37:00 GMT

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.

FACING FORECLOSURE? KNOW THE FACTS AND PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS

Chris Thorpe — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 03:19:00 GMT

COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Texas is experiencing its highest residential foreclosure rate since the late '80s. All residential foreclosures are governed by strict statutory rules, and Real Estate Center attorney Judon Fambrough says homeowners in jeopardy should know these rules to protect their rights.

"For example, how many days' notice must the homeowner be given to satisfy the amount in arrears before the entire amount of the unpaid loan may be declared due and owing?" Likewise, Fambrough said, "What are the qualifications, if any, of the person who conducts the foreclosure sale? How many times a year can a foreclosure sale occur, and on which day of the week, and during what hours?"

These and other questions are answered in “A Homeowner’s Rights under Foreclosure," available on the Center's website.

DALLAS FORECLOSURES RISE AFTER FEBRUARY FALL

Chris Thorpe — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 03:16:00 GMT

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.

2010 TEXAS CONSTRUCTION OUTLOOK UPBEAT

Chris Thorpe — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:39:00 GMT

NEW YORK (McGraw-Hill) – The value of Texas construction starts will advance 16 percent to $52.5 billion this year, according to the 2010 Texas Construction Outlook from McGraw-Hill Construction.

Growth is expected for each of Texas' major metropolitan areas: Austin is expected to climb 30 percent, Houston 17 percent, Dallas 16 percent, El Paso 8 percent, and San Antonio 6 percent.

Other highlights from the report:

Housing starts in Texas are expected to advance 31 percent to $21.8 billion in 2010, with single-family housing growing 31 percent and multifamily housing gaining 34 percent.
Nonresidential construction starts will slip 1 percent to $17.6 billion, suffering from declines in commercial and industrial starts.
Federal stimulus funding will assist public works and utilities construction as starts rebound 21 percent to $13.1 billion in 2010.

FEWER NEW-BUILDS FOR NORTH TEXAS IN 2009

Chris Thorpe — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:06:00 GMT

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.

TEXAS HOME FORECLOSURE RATES LESS THAN NATIONAL AVERAGE

Chris Thorpe — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:04:00 GMT

AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal) – RealtyTrac’s annual foreclosure report, released yesterday, revealed Texas metro rates to be under the national average of 2.21 percent.

Austin and Round Rock area foreclosure rates increased 39.5 percent between 2008 and 2009. About 1.25 percent of all housing units, or one in every 80 homes, foreclosed last year, and 8,002 homeowners filed. This was an increase of 54.6 percent from 2007. Of the 203 metros ranked nationwide for foreclosures, the area was ranked 117th.

Dallas–Fort Worth ranked 94th with a 1.5 percent foreclosure rate, and Houston was 111th with 1.3 percent of its area homes foreclosed upon. San Antonio ranked 109th in RealtyTrac’s report, with a 1.31 percent foreclosure rate.

TEXAS MULTIFAMILY OCCUPANCY, RENTS DOWN LAST MONTH

Chris Thorpe — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:03:00 GMT

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.

WATER PARK PLANNED FOR CEDAR PARK

Chris Thorpe — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:01:00 GMT

CEDAR PARK (Austin Business Journal) – Schlitterbahn Waterparks plans to build a $360 million resort development and convention center in this city north of Austin.

The city will provide $6 million for the 95-acre project’s infrastructure costs.

The Lower Colorado River Authority has not yet determined how the water park may affect local conservation efforts.

The Cedar Park location is a partnership between Rick Redmond, Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Cedar Park city hall.

TEXAS EMPLOYMENT STILL FALLING

Chris Thorpe — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:57:00 GMT

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.

MORE STRUGGLING HOMEOWNERS ELECT BANKRUPTCY

Chris Thorpe — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:55:00 GMT

FORT WORTH (Fort Worth Star-Telegram) – A growing number of Texas homeowners are filing for bankruptcy to avoid losing their homes, according to a recent study by Foreclosure Listing Service. Unfortunately, bankruptcy may not offer the protection they're hoping for.

The Addison-based firm analyzed post-bankruptcy cases of homeowners in 60 Texas counties and found that $2.28 billion worth of real estate was affected by a bankruptcy filing last year. That's an increase of 26 percent over 2008’s volume of $1.92 billion.

In 2009, 12,170 properties were affected — about 1,000 more than the previous year. In those cases, the homeowner did not comply with a mortgage payment schedule set up by a court trustee, said George Roddy Sr., president of Foreclosure Listing Service. As a result, the property loses bankruptcy protection.

"Generally, when these properties lose the protection of the bankruptcy court, they enter the foreclosure pipeline," Roddy said.