Economy

Economic Issues Affecting Texas Housing Markets

QE Or Bust – US Yield Curve Continues To Flatten

Behold the flattening U.S. yield curve! Reading through the latest Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, you might get the impression that things are still humming along just fine. After all total household debt just hit a new high in the latest survey posting at $12.96 trillion. Mortgage debt is still below the previous bubble peak, so home buyers would appear to be doing doing just fine. If you peak below the headline metrics, however, you begin to see some cracks in the "everything is awesome" narrative. One of the first things that stands [...]

More Denton County Homes For Sale As QE Unwind Begins

As the Federal Reserve begins their QE unwind, one interesting metric to watch will be the number of Denton County homes for sale. The number of Denton TX homes for sale was up 34 percent year-over-year in October. In Denton County inventory was roughly 18 percent higher through October. In Collin County the number of homes for sale was up a surprising 38 percent compared to last year. Reading between the lines, it appears the Goldilocks economy that the DFW area has enjoyed for the past 5 years is due for some consolidation. The inventory [...]

DFW Home Prices Pushing Limits Of Affordability

DFW home prices have been on a tear during the last 5 years. That begs the question of whether the recent price gains are sustainable. The answer to that inquiry generally boils down to who is selling what. In our hyper-financialized housing market it is not surprising when real estate practitioners or lenders suggest that we are not in a housing bubble. Whether you call it a housing bubble or not, there is no denying that the past decade has seen some dramatic shifts in the real estate market. Dallas/Fort Worth is certainly part of [...]

Dallas TX Employment Grows In September

Dallas TX employment continues to march higher. September brought an increase of 15,600 jobs compared to revised August figures. The Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA region added 93,600 jobs during the past year according to numbers from the Texas Workforce Commission. The official (goal-seeked) unemployment rate for the Dallas area stood at 3.4 percent in September, below the state average of 4 percent. The Dallas employment sector continues to be tight according to many local economists. Pia Orrenius, a senior economist with the Dallas Fed was "encouraged by the data". Even though Hurricane Harvey caused a drop [...]

Student Loan Debt Delaying Home Purchases

First-time home buyers and millennials are having a pretty difficult time keeping pace in the current housing market, and student loan debt is a significant part of the problem. The National Association of Realtors and American Student Assistance study, Student Loan Debt and Housing Report for 2017, provides a number of interesting examples of how debt is keeping home purchase activity subdued. The study The amount of student loans in the United States now exceeds $1.45 trillion, and the growth shows no signs of slowing. One of the more interesting findings of the study is [...]

Dallas Tx Home Prices Distorted By Fed Liquidity

Dallas Tx home prices continued to pusher higher this summer, but there is more to the story that you are not being told. Global central banks continue to levitate markets higher in a frenzied attempt to delay price discovery and push inflation higher.  A recent report shows $1.96 trillion in asset purchases by central banks in 2017. Since the collapse of Lehman Brothers nearly a decade ago, central bank balance sheets have swelled to over $15 trillion. Fed chair Janet Yellen continues to bark about a 2 percent inflation target that remains elusive, even while the [...]

Dallas Employment Declines In Typical Summer Turnover

The Dallas employment fell by 12,800 jobs compared to the previous month in the typical summer employment turnover. Many educations jobs roll off the books each summer only to be added back in as school begins in August. The trend of healthy job gains for the DFW metropolitan statistical area continues to be intact with no signs of slowing. The Texas economy added 19,600 jobs throughout the state in July, expanding for the 13th consecutive month. According to numbers from the Texas Workforce Commission Texas has added 293,400 jobs over the past year. For the [...]

New Home Sales Rise 9.1 Percent In June

The Census Bureau estimated new home sales for June at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 610,000. This was close to expectations, but the previous three months were revised lower. Median price of a new home contracted in June was estimated at $310,800, roughly $10,800 lower than June of last year. The average price of a new home in June was $379,500. This was $15,200 higher than a year ago. With prices now at or above the previous cycle peak, new home builders will have to be creative to maintain sales volume growth. A favorable [...]

New Home Sales Rebound In May

The Census Bureau reported a rebound for new home sales in May. New residential home sales posted at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 610,000. This was 2.9 percent higher than the revised April numbers and 8.9 percent higher than a year ago. The median price of a new home contracted in May was $345,800 while the average new home price in May came in at $406,400. Just like we saw with existing home sales this week, median home prices hit a new all-time high. New home sales volume, while up from last month, is [...]

New Home Sales Rise In March, Back To 1971 Levels

The Census Bureau reported that March new home sales posted at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 621,000 units. This was up 5.8 percent from revised February numbers and the third consecutive month of sales gains for new homes. Combined with the March rise in existing home sales it would appear the first quarter of 2017 has been net positive for home sales despite the backdrop of higher mortgage rates. Preliminary new home sales for March were up 15.6% year-over-year. The average price of a new home contracted in March was $388,200, while the median [...]

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