Feel free to share your thoughts and comments, as we join together with the Houston area communities and citizens in building an interactive relationship!
Posted on Jul 23, 2010 | Tagged in: home buying , economy
With everyone scrambling to re-establish their financial security amidst the recent recession, many of the conventional wisdoms our parents have followed are changing, according to the experts. Here’s a look at the 2010 version of a few previously followed assumptions regarding our financial safety nets.
Remember when your father told you to keep three months’ worth of living expenses in an easily accessible emergency savings account? Well, here’s the expert take on the new rule: stash at least six months’ worth! With the increased chance of job loss, extended average lengths of unemployment, and the disappearing availability of credit, it is becoming essential that you keep more cash in a separate FDIC-insured savings account.
The days of calling your credit-card company and negotiating a lower interest rate to help lower payments is over. In fact, avoid picking up the phone to call them for any reason! The big reason here is that credit card companies are taking this “customer initiated call” to review your credit worthiness and in many cases will actually raise your interest rate or reduce your credit limit. "So if you still want to make that call, review your credit report [www.freecreditreport.com] thoroughly to catch anything they might find," says Maureen P. Kelly, a certified financial planner. “If there are potential issues, like late or missed payments, or if your credit score is lower than the last time you checked it, ask yourself if a lower rate is worth the possibility of a lower credit line.”
Just because your current mortgage balance is greater than the value of your property, don’t rule out refinancing. Then new rule of thumb is to go ahead with a refinance if the amount owed doesn’t exceed 5% of the home’s market value. Since the government recently put into place the Making Home Affordable program, aimed at helping Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac homeowners with declining property values.
The moral of this story? Financial stability has a new meaning for many Americans, but with little tweaking of the old rules and the invention of a few new ones, homeowners can regain their footing and financial security in no time!
Posted on Jun 16, 2010 | Tagged in: home buying , economy
Lenders are finally starting to extend credit again, and sensible families capable of producing reasonable down payments are, for the most part, finally getting the green-light to purchase a new home. With interest rates at an all-time low, the time is once again right to buy! With so many buyers still in a state of shell shock, here are a few things we should all learn from the recent housing bubble as we wade back into the purchasing process:
Make a long term housing commitment.
This is not the time for a real estate “flip”. There's still plenty of shell shock in the housing market and no one knows for sure when prices will spring back, so if you're planning to buy a home this year, plan on living there for the long haul (or at least 10 years).
Put aside a real down payment.
Many people had opted to make small down payments in previous years to avoid tying up all their equity in a mortgage. But as the market begins to show signs of stabilizing, the return will be evident in the form of higher equity, lower interest and payments, and a higher probability of a future refinance to reduce interest.
Posted on Jun 8, 2010 | Tagged in: Houston , economy
According to a new top performing major markets report from Truckee, California-based Clear Capital Inc., “the Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land metropolitan area's housing market has had some tough competition in May, but managed to only drop a few slots.”
With a minute quarterly price drop, the Houston area falls from the No. 2 slot. But, the real estate valuation firm reported in its Home Data Index that the Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land metropolitan area ranked No.5 in May, with their quarterly price improvement of 2.7 percent. And, year-over-year the Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land metropolitan area price gains for May totaled 7.6 percent.
In March, Clear Capital reported that housing prices in Houston rose 1.8 percent in the first quarter of 2010 compared with the 2009 fourth quarter.
Houston was not the only Texas market to shine, as the Dallas area earned No. 1 status with a quarterly price gain of 3.4 percent. Other areas to make the list included San Diego, Pittsburgh and San Francisco.
Clear Capital provides real estate data to financial services companies.
Posted on Jun 4, 2010 | Tagged in: housing , economy
In response to the current uncertainty over European Debt, U.S. borrowers can now find the lowest mortgage rates year-to-date.
According to Freddie Mac, “mortgage rates fell to their lowest level of the year last week as yields on U.S. government securities fell, since fixed mortgage rates tend to follow the yield of 10-year Treasury notes.”
With the average 30-year fixed rate falling 4.84 percent from 4.93 percent a week earlier, Freddie Mac goes on to say it was the lowest rate since mid-December, when the average rate was about 4.81 percent.
Economists are predicting that these lower rates may help offset the fallout from the expired new homebuyer tax credit that is expected to hit at the end of June.
Posted on Mar 9, 2010 | Tagged in: HAR , economy
Houston Business Journal reported in late February on the Houston Association of Realtors’ comments on the first month of 2010. Apparently sales of homes priced at $500,000 and higher displayed dramatic gains in January. In addition, the median price rose 11.9 percent, marking nine consecutive months of median price increases in the Houston area.
According to Margie Dorrance, HAR chair and principal at Keller Williams Realty Metropolitan, “Several overlapping factors influenced the Houston housing market as the new year began. These include both the first-time homebuyer tax credit and the expanded credit for existing homeowners, which may have prompted more listing activity. Strong sales activity in the higher-end single-family home segment also contributed to an overall higher average sales price for the Houston market.” Dorrance also noted HAR anticipates Houston pricing to reflect a robust real estate market as the tax credit deadline on April 30th approaches and the busy spring hom-buying season approaches.
Posted on Feb 17, 2010 | Tagged in: Houston , economy
Keeping with the trend of a stabilizing and recovering economy, Texas is in the lead with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, having an additional 50,000 new jobs added in the last quarter.
According to a study by SigmaBleyzer, Texas is one of the 10 largest states that can boast having the lowest unemployment rate. Despite losing 24,000 jobs in construction, trade, transportation and hospitality, Texas actually added 50,000 new jobs during the last quarter.
It is not only a decrease in unemployment that makes many hopeful; there are also continuing signs of recovery in the housing market, as well as the fact that Texas has one of the fastest growing populations in the country. This steady population growth will continue to keep the housing demand stable and long-term. It is no surprise then that approximately 27% of all new privately owned housing properties throughout the 20 largest cities in the U.S. are located in the Houston and Dallas areas, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Posted on Feb 17, 2010 | Tagged in: Houston , economy
Governor Rick Perry was encouraging and hopeful as he gave a speech at the North Houston Economic Outlook Annual Symposium on Wednesday, as he called Houston “a city that gets more attractive every year.” His speech recognized Houston’s strong economic environment and he urged Houstonians to continue in their hard work and commitment.
“Texas leads the nation in so many positive categories, from Fortune 500 companies to job creation,” Perry said, “we owe it to our citizens to continue our economic success by adhering to our proven fiscal disciplines.”
Texas is a leader. This was a point that Perry emphasized as he spoke about the Lone Star State and it’s strong economy. By that leadership Texas remains the top exporting state in the nation for the eighth straight year with more than $163 billion in exports for 2009. The exporting industries shipped mostly to Mexico, Canada, China, the Netherlands and Korea with goods mostly in the areas of computers and electronics, chemicals, machinery, petroleum and coal, and transportation equipment.
Posted on Jan 22, 2010 | Tagged in: Houston , economy
Chronicle analyst and writer Schuyler Dixon asserted that Texas "will be 'last in, first out' among states battling the recession," in an article published on January 17th at Chron.com.
Ray Perryman, economist and head of Perryman Group, cited the reasons for Texas' already rapidly developing recovery included advantages such as weather, stable home prices, and a political climate friendly for companies seeking new business frontiers.
Texas' job losses represented only 4 percent of national numbers, despite Texas' rank at 8 percent when impacting the U.S. economy. These numbers infer that Texas suffered only about half of the job loss that might be expected. For the past two months, we have even been enjoying a moderate job gain, which is something Perryman expects to continue.
Posted on Dec 10, 2009 | Tagged in: Houston , economy
The recession swept over us and left many states feeling the financial blow, but the Best in Texas know where they can rest in peace – in their own Lone Star State. If you’re looking for a great place to live, with stability, abundant resources and excellent education, look no further than the Houston area in Texas.
Houston was ranked No. 8 in a recent issue of Forbes Magazine which determined and listed America’s fastest recovering cities from the recession. These cities, the 100 largest Metropolitan Statistical areas according to the U.S. office of Management and Budget, were ranked based on their unemployment rate, the size of their economy, foreclosures, home prices and home sales rates.
That Houston ranked towards the top of the list should come as no surprise to area residents who have seen the stability of the area’s housing market – a major indicator of the economy for cities across the U.S. In fact, the Houston area was ranked #1 for home price in the Forbes study. Housing prices didn’t rise to a level that couldn’t be sustained; therefore the housing market didn’t crash as hard as other cities around the nation.
Posted on Dec 5, 2009 | Tagged in: green , economy
Clean-tech and "green collar" jobs, or occupations that promote the wellness of the environment through the use of energy efficient and "clean" technology, are a topic growing in popularity and awareness in not only the U.S., but the global world. This global concern is one that greatly affects those involved in the energy industry, and inherently Houston.
Houston-based companies like Exxon Mobil, Shell, and Kinder Morgan are all taking these concerns seriously as they compete to be the most innovative and efficient in providing what today's concerned consumers expect: clean, green technology & renewable energy.
The Clean Edge, a green-industry research firm composed a list of the best metropolitan areas for clean-tech job activity, and Texas made the list twice, with the Houston/Galveston/Brazoria area at number 15.
Right now, the U.S. economy is creating approximately 1.3 million new "green collar" jobs a year (Challenger Gray & Christmas http://www.challengergray.com/), and by 2030, the number of U.S. jobs related to energy efficiency and conservation will hit 40 million (American Solar Energy Society http://www.ases.org). This progress will inherently create more opportunities for Houstonians to get involved through their work and contribute to the greater good.
Source: http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/26/news/economy/green.jobs.fortune/index.htm
