February 11, 2006

Realty Times Editor: Is Texas The Next Gold Rush For Homebuyers, Investors?


1) the Texas real estate market has been bad for 20 years
2) It's funny to see a realtor call it a "gold rush". We know how those end
3) Why does this feel like chasing after AMZN or YHOO after your pets.com and theglobe.com stocks flamed out?

A favorite information source, Texas A & M's Real Estate Center, has some intriguing information that, read as a whole, suggests that Texas has been depressed long enough that it just might be the next state to host the housing boom.
The Center gathers information for reports and data for its newsletter, available by subscription. According to fourth-quarter news, Texas house prices were "increasing faster than inflation but at a rate substantially slower than the national rate." According to the Center, Texas home prices increased 6.3 percent from third quarter 2004 through third quarter 2005, approximately 2 percentage points greater than the state's long-term annual rate of increase.
The good news? Texas isn't in a housing bubble. The bad news? Texas isn't in a housing bubble

7 comments:

Metroplexual said...

Most of Texas is downright cheap. But look at the foreclosure rates in the various cities (Dallas especially). The economy in spite of good oil prices is probably going south.

Anonymous said...

Texas has investor-friendly landlord and foreclosure laws... And no income tax. There are good reasons to invest there, but "the next bubble" it won't be. There is buildable, unforested land as far as the eye can see.

Anonymous said...

Texas has the highest property taxes in the nation, that average between 2-3%. My dad pays 2.5% for his property outside Dallas. In some areas of Austin, I've seen as high as 3.6% (this I know from personal experience, when the agent in Austin told me the annual tax for a $200k house I was looking at was $7,200/year, a $600/month tax payment!)

Yeah there may be no income tax, but for investors that don't work in Texas, the triple than normal property tax may not be worth the risk. In a way, it has "bubble proofed" the real estate market.

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