Texas Real Estate Daily

Dallas real estate agent Betty Mayes knows all too well about the sluggish Texas economy.

But wait, do the math.  Betty sells homes.  She has clients to buy those homes.  So what’s the problem?  “The requirements for them to prove certain things to the lender are just unbelievable,” Mayes explains. “It’s one hoop, then another hoop and another.  That wasn’t happening before.”

In simple terms, getting a loan today is harder than ever.  “We’re finding that even buyers with good credit and a good job history are finding it a little more difficult to get a loan,” says Mayes.

In fact, even people with good credit are being told, “no”.

Gone are the days of the 100% loan.  Buyers are being asked to put down more of their own cash, which is money many of them simply don’t have.

Those looking to buy a million dollar home are being told to forget it unless they can put down a third in cash. Jumbo loans are also a thing of the past.

But Mary Beth Harrison, with Keller Williams, says it’s not all ‘doom and gloom’.  “We never saw that meteoric rise in price that you saw in California, New York and Florida where things were going up 20, 30, even 50-percent in appreciation, which is crazy.”

While that type of appreciation was happening in other states, North Texans saw their homes appreciate only four to six-percent.  Experts say, that turned out to be a blessing since home values in those other states are now plummeting; making it harder to get a loan there than here.

North Texas mortgage banker Reid Mitchell puts the chances of getting a loan in perspective.  Mitchell says he’s turning down nearly half of those who apply for home loans; even before they start looking at houses.

Both Mayes and Harrison agree that the weak economy is likely to eliminate more than a quarter of the real estate agents currently working in North Texas.

Credits: CBS11TV

Texas real estate continues to be a lot more stable than the rest of the country.

There’s a less than 1 percent chance that home prices will fall in San Antonio, Austin, Houston, Dallas or Fort Worth during the next two years, according to the new Fall 2008 U.S. Market Risk Index.

The index is released by PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. and looks at measures including price appreciation, affordability, unemployment, mortgage origination trends, foreclosures and unsold inventory to predict volatility in home prices in the largest 50 cities.

Nationally, increases in foreclosures and unemployment have made price declines more likely, according to PMI.

The nation’s riskiest real estate markets are in California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona.

There’s more than a 99 percent chance of home prices falling in the next two years in Tampa, Miami, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and in Riverside, Calif., according to the risk index.

In addition to Texas cities, other low-risk markets include Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Charlotte, N.C., St. Louis and Memphis, Tenn.

All of the low-risk cities on the index had relatively affordable home prices and low unemployment rates. The riskiest cities for real estate had more unaffordable home prices, according to the index.

Credits: My San Antonio

The real estate business runs on jobs.

Oh sure, you need low interest rates and a ready supply of debt to do property market deals.

But for the industry to do really well, there has to be a sound economy and job growth.

Fortunately for Dallas-Fort Worth real estate developers and investors, this area leads the country in job creation. And so does Texas among the states.

But I always wonder just where all these new jobs are. Are they hiring rocket scientists or burger flippers?

A look at state employment numbers shows a bit of both.

For the 12 months ending in July, some of the biggest gains in Texas jobs have come in areas including administration and support services (38,000), accommodation and food services (34,000), construction (29,400), health care and social assistance (33,300) and retail trade (28,300).

The job-losing sectors include nondurable goods manufacturing (minus 12,220), information (minus 3,000) and even the U.S. Postal Service (minus 2,900).

The big surprise is that through July at least, the real estate and financial sectors in Texas were still net job gainers.

That can’t last.

Residential mortgage and title companies are already making steep cuts in employment. And homebuilders are still whacking away at their job base.

The shakeout in the banking and financial sector will also mean job cuts.

Cutbacks in the financial business will cause fits for the owners of North Texas office buildings who rely on these tenants.

Business economist D’Ann Petersen of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas is keeping a close eye on the situation.

“I would expect employment in this sector in D-FW to remain flat or weaken,” Ms. Petersen said. “Of course, financial services job growth is one of the sectors that drives demand for office space.”

So office owners and builders had better watch out for bank and mortgage company layoff notices, too.

When developers built the Uptown Plaza shopping center at McKinney Avenue and Pearl Street, everyone wondered how you could put a single-story retail strip on such a prime corner.

Maybe they were right.

AmREIT, the Houston-based investor that now owns Uptown Plaza, is asking the city of Dallas to increase the allowed building height for the entire site.

That includes a vacant tract behind the center on Routh Street that once was planned for luxury condos.

Duke Realty Corp. has teamed up with Dallas’ Peloton Real Estate Partners, which will lease its office portfolio. The deal includes more than 640,000 square feet in three locations.

“Duke is the second-most-active developer in the Dallas market, so it’s quite an honor to be affiliated with them,” said Joel Pustmueller of Peloton. “Their portfolio of properties is extremely high quality and located in areas where businesses want to be located.”

Buildings that Peloton will be leasing include One Allen Center in Allen, Point West I in Coppell and Duke Bridges III in Frisco.

A month after closing the deal, real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle is rolling out a marketing campaign that highlights its merger with Dallas’ Staubach Co.

Look for advertisements that pair Roger Staubach and Jones Lang LaSalle chief executive Collin Dyer.

In the print ads, they are sporting identical JLL lapel pins, but Mr. Staubach has the snazzier tie.

Credits: Dallas News

With the constant speculation of the failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac creating mortgage market crisis across the country, it would seem appropriate for home buyers to steer clear of any real estate ventures in the near future.

However, according to the Temple Belton Board of Realtors (TBBOR), this could not be further from the truth.

During a committee meeting Thursday, August 7 TBBOR President Terry Covington stressed the “importance of reporting the local news” and getting the facts out to Central Texas homeowners. She emphasized the fact that the Texas real estate market has managed, for the most part, to avoid these mortgage market problems due to continued growth and said that now is a great time to buy in Texas.

Covington strongly desires to get the word out about the Belton and Temple real estate markets’ success amidst chaos and believes that doing so will ensure a continuation of local prosperity.

Those considering buying or selling a home should not be scared off by the threats of market failure but should take advantage of the recent changes stemming from the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 that was passed on July 30 by President Bush.

Caren Hildinger, CMPS of Castle & Cooke Mortgage detailed a few of these changes on Thursday.

Those in danger of losing their home, who meet eligibility requirements, may be able to refinance into government-insured mortgages that are much more affordable.

First time buyers may be capable of receiving a refundable tax credit of up to $7500.

Lending guidelines will also be significantly tightened. This may seem counter- productive in an effort to stimulate a struggling market, but with stricter qualifying parameters comes a higher faith of repayment and a greater trust between buyer and lender.

This combined with the new buyer incentives and aid to those nearing foreclosure, will provide those selling a home with a more reliable pool of buyers, those buying a home the security of an honest and trusted lender and possibly government assistance, and those in fear of losing their home with hope.

According to Hildinger these new guidelines were necessary and long overdue, and will bring us back to a “new normalcy.” She feels that this is a very exciting time in the mortgage market and knows these changes will benefit an already thriving Central Texas real estate market.

Credits: Belton Journal