Houston Community News >> Texas Home Value Trends
6/26/2007-- Unless you've been
living in a cave somewhere, you've probably heard many gloomy predictions about
the state of realty and home values in the past year or so. According to the
media and industry experts, the housing bubble is bursting, home value prices
are dropping and the real estate market in general sucks.
Rest assured, this is NOT true. Perhaps when looked at on a national scale, the
market could be better - but it's not as bad as many make it out to seem.
Besides, knowing the national median home value (in 2006 it was $221,900) isn't
going to help you when you move. Real estate is an investment, so you want to
invest where your home value is bound to appreciate. So how do you know where to
move to? By examining past home value and sales trends as well as the
population, economy, job opportunities and attractions a specific area has to
offer.
Texas (capital city: Austin) is the largest mainland state with a population of
over 23.5 million in 2006. With so much space and such a huge population, it's a
good thing Texas's economy has really grown lately, especially in the past few
months. Their main agricultural products are cattle, cotton, dairy, nursery
stock, poultry, sorghum, corn and wheat and its industrial services include
chemical production, natural gas and petroleum, food processing, electric
equipment, machinery, mining and tourism. In the past few months several
industries have grown, including: trade, transportation and utilities;
financial, professional and business services; education and health services and
even the governmental sectors. Since new job opportunities equals more new
residents, and new residents equals more demand for housing, it isn't much of a
surprise that on average, Texas home value prices have continued to rise.
The various things to do in Texas also keeps attracting new residents as well,
which again keeps home value averages steady and rising. Texas has something for
everyone: nightlife from it's major cities (and there are many of them: Austin,
Dallas, Fort Worth, El Paso, San Antonio and Houston), historical and cultural
monuments (plenty of battles took place in Texas - does the Alamo ring a bell?),
outdoor activities (camping, birding, water sports, etc), beautiful beaches on
the Gulf coast, and of course ranches and cowboys and horses (oh my!). All year
round you can find festivals, fiestas and fishing tournaments throughout Texas,
and amusement parks as well as state parks pepper the state. These attractions
are continuously attracting more and more people to the estate, keeping the
market stable.
Of course, the fact that Texas has had more job growth and the lowest
unemployment rate in its history the past few months doesn't hurt home value
prices either. With an unemployment rate of only 4.1% in May, more jobs than
ever are available in Texas. On the flip side, according to American Community
Survey, the state's median household income actually dropped nearly $1000 to
$42,139 in 2005 (when inflation is calculated). Since Texas has some of the
richest and poorest areas in the nation, that is not too surprising. The median
assessed home value for the past month was about $131,824, while the median
sales price was about $116,900.
Major cities in the state seem to be holding steady real estate markets.
Affordable Austin has a median home value sales price of about $174,000 with
homes spending less days on the market than in past months (an average of 63
now). Houston has cooled off somewhat overall, according to agents in the area,
with slight drops in sales and home value in the past couple months. The average
home value of a single family home is at about $214,540, which is still an
increase over last year. San Antonio's inventory is at a historical high and the
average list price is lowering somewhat as sellers get used to a slower than
normal market. The average home value in May was about $184,721. The Dallas and
Forth Worth area has also been growing, and home value averages reflect that at
about $350,343 in the Dallas area.
All in all, Texas has areas that are doing very well and other areas that are
slowing down somewhat and even dropping slightly in home value averages.
However, with so much job growth and opportunity, it is likely that Texas'
market will perk up again and home value prices will continue to appreciate.
(Contributed by Ashley Lichty is a webmaster and the resident SEO of Web Xtreme, Inc. She has a background in real estate and marketing with an emphasis in writing)