The Good
Posted by Janet Owens on Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011 at 6:22pm.
The Good
In July, according to the Texas Comptroller's Economic Outlook, it appears that the Texas economy has emerged from the recent recession. Citing economic indicators such as job growth, consumer spending, sales tax collection, and automobile sales.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau report, Texas saw an increase in population of 4.3 million people from 2000 to 2010. That's more than any other state and a strong indicator of Texas' healthy economy.
82% of the jobs cut by employers during Texas' recession have been recovered by the summer of 2011, compared to 20% nationally ending in 2010. Texas' unemployment rate remains stable at 8%.
The Greater Houston Area Housing Market
In June, the local Houston housing market saw single family home sales rise for a second time this year, up 0.6% over June 2010. The average price of a single family home rose 3.7% compared to June 2010, to a record high average of $228,650. Median price for single family homes also increased over June of 2010 - up 2.2% to $161,000. That's the highest median price since July 2009.
Foreclosure property sales in the greater Houston area decreased 3.2% compared to June of 2010. Foreclosures have actually been trending downward recently. 18.7% of all property sales in June were foreclosures, down from 19.8% in May, 22% in April, and 23.5% in March. The Texas foreclosure rate in June 2011 for Texas was 1 out of every 1,041 mortgages.
Demand for single family home rentals rose significantly in June to 19.2% compared to last year. The year over year townhouse/condo rentals saw an increase of 19.5%. The demand is largely due to Houston's steady employment growth, bringing people from all over the county.
The Bad and The Ugly to Follow....
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