Economy Archives

Economic Issues Affecting Texas Housing Markets

Census: New Home Sales Rise With Decline In Median Price

The Census Bureau reported new home sales for February that were 12.8 percent higher than a year ago. New home sales posted at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 592,000, with the bulk of the sales increase coming from the Midwest region.. The median price of a new home contracted in February was $296,200, down from $311,300 last year. The average price of a new home contracted in February posted a surprisingly large increase to $390,400. The big decline in median prices (down over $15,000) from last year likely helped to boost February sales. Mortgage [...]

By Aaron Layman|2022-08-06T13:29:35+00:00March 23rd, 2017|Economy, Existing Home Sales, Housing Market, New Home Sales, Real Estate, Texas Home Prices|0 Comments

NAR: Existing Home Sales Cool In February

The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales cooled to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.48 million in February. Sales of existing homes fell 3.7 from January levels but were 5.4 percent higher year-over-year. NAR continues to fret about an inventory shortage when the real culprit is elevated home prices in general. Existing home sales are still treading at levels well below the previous cycle peak. As I have said repeatedly, there is no shortage of homes for sale. There is a shortage of affordable homes for sale, homes that real working [...]

By Aaron Layman|2017-12-22T01:45:05+00:00March 22nd, 2017|Economy, Existing Home Sales, Housing Policy, Mortgage Rates, Real Estate, Relocation|0 Comments

Financialization Of Housing And The Disturbing Gap In New Home Sales

The financialization of the U.S. housing market has led to a rather disturbing gap in new home sales relative to existing home sales. This is a subject I was referencing this week when I mentioned the problem builders are facing with the lack of affordable land to build new homes on. Today the Census Bureau reported new home sales for January came in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 555,000. Previous months were also revised lower, with November taking a significant haircut. On a year-over-year basis January new home sales were up 5.5 percent. [...]

By Aaron Layman|2022-08-06T13:30:06+00:00February 24th, 2017|Economy, Housing Policy, In the Press, Markets, New Home Sales, Politics, Real Estate, Regulation, Spin Cycle, Video|0 Comments

NAR Finally Gets Real About Home Affordability Issues

The National Association of Realtors is out with a new method of gauging home affordability. As part of NAR's look at the the growing rift between housing availability and home affordability, NAR has developed a new affordability distribution curve and a home affordability score. The new monthly research is designed to look at home affordability conditions among different income percentiles, gauging how many homes on the market are actually affordable to various buyer income groups. The new affordability distribution curve and score show that many U.S. homes are no longer affordable to typical prospective buyers. [...]

By Aaron Layman|2022-08-06T13:30:36+00:00February 20th, 2017|Economy, Housing Policy, In the Press, Markets, Mortgage Rates, New Home Sales, Politics, Real Estate, Spin Cycle, Texas Employment|0 Comments

Monkey Business – Expert Says Affordable Homes Are Going Away
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Monkey Business – Expert Says Affordable Homes Are Going Away

Economy, Housing Policy, Humor, In the Press, Markets, Mortgage Rates, Real Estate, Spin Cycle, Texas Employment

Monkey Business – Expert Says Affordable Homes Are Going Away

Affordable homes are going away. With the prospect of rising rates, now is the time to buy a home. That is apparently the opinion of Dr. Luis Torres, a research economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M. Torres, in a rather interesting piece in the Houston Business Journal seems to be confident that Houston's real estate market is on the road to recovery: “I can say this with some certainty that the worst of the downturn is behind us.” I'm not surprised that HBJ would print a piece like this (after all it is [...]

By Aaron Layman|2017-12-22T01:16:40+00:00February 5th, 2017|Economy, Housing Policy, Humor, In the Press, Markets, Mortgage Rates, Real Estate, Spin Cycle, Texas Employment|1 Comment

New Home Sales Crash Back To Reality Of Higher Rates

The Census Bureau reported December new home sales of 536,000 (seasonally adjusted annual rate). This was a 10 percent drop from the revised November numbers and well shy of expectations. Unadjusted new home sales (38,000) were flat year-over year. The average price of a new home contracted in December 2016 was $384,000 while the median price posted at $322,000, near the highs for 2016. So what happened to the lofty expectations of higher new home sales? In a word it it was an AFFORDABILITY problem. The real estate pundits who were expecting higher mortgage interest [...]

By Aaron Layman|2018-09-08T15:51:13+00:00January 26th, 2017|Development, Economy, Housing Market, Mortgage Rates, New Home Sales, Real Estate|0 Comments

Texas Housing Market Meets The Fed’s ‘Game of Thrones’ Economy

The latest issue of Tierra Grande is out, and it contains more examples of the Federal Reserve's fingerprints on the Texas housing market. This new batch of evidence is contained in an article titled 'Game of Homes - The Supply-Demand Struggle'. What is thoroughly entertaining is that the two Dallas Fed employees (both recent college graduates apparently) working on this latest missive appear to completely ignore their employer's responsibility for the distortions in the Texas housing market while making a complete mockery of the economics profession. Collaborating with a PhD from TAMU, they lay out [...]

By Aaron Layman|2016-11-20T13:26:48+00:00October 23rd, 2016|Economy, In the Press, Politics, Real Estate, Spin Cycle|0 Comments

Debt, Deficits & Housing – The Smoke & Mirrors “Recovery”
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Debt, Deficits & Housing – The Smoke & Mirrors “Recovery”

Economy, Housing Policy, In the Press, International Real Estate, Politics, Real Estate, Spin Cycle

Debt, Deficits & Housing – The Smoke & Mirrors “Recovery”

Many among the status quo have defended the last 8 years as a productive "recovery" from the abyss of financial armageddon unleashed by our criminal banking sector. The efficacy of the recovery depends on the person responding to the question. For the vast majority of the U.S. population, there has been no recovery, but instead a steady decline. If you have been paying attention to the early release of season 5 of 'House of Cards', speaking of the email data dump exposing our corrupt political machine for all to see, the reasons behind the phony [...]

By Aaron Layman|2018-05-11T22:53:12+00:00October 18th, 2016|Economy, Housing Policy, In the Press, International Real Estate, Politics, Real Estate, Spin Cycle|2 Comments

Fed Looks At Texas’ Affordable Housing Problem, Fails To Look In The Mirror
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Fed Looks At Texas’ Affordable Housing Problem, Fails To Look In The Mirror

Economy, Housing Policy, In the Press, Politics, Real Estate, Spin Cycle, Texas Home Prices, Texas Property Taxes, Video

Fed Looks At Texas’ Affordable Housing Problem, Fails To Look In The Mirror

The Federal Reserve can be commended on one thing. They never cease to provide entertainment in terms of their complete ineptitude and functional obsolescence. The Fed continues to show no remorse for the damage they have inflicted on the general population and their destruction of what was formerly known as the U.S. housing market. The latest comedy from the Fed comes courtesy of the inaugural report from the Dallas Federal Reserve Community Outlook Series titled 'The Scarcity of Texas Affordable Housing' In this fun-filled trip down the rabbit hole, the Fed examines the problem of the lack [...]

By Aaron Layman|2022-08-06T13:33:39+00:00October 1st, 2016|Economy, Housing Policy, In the Press, Politics, Real Estate, Spin Cycle, Texas Home Prices, Texas Property Taxes, Video|0 Comments

New Home Sales Decline From Summer Peak, Median Price Lowest Of 2016
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New Home Sales Decline From Summer Peak, Median Price Lowest Of 2016

Denton County New Homes, Development, DFW New Homes, Economy, Mortgage Rates, New Home Sales, Real Estate, Spin Cycle

New Home Sales Decline From Summer Peak, Median Price Lowest Of 2016

The Census Bureau reported a 7.6 percent decline for new home sales compared the election-year surprise we saw for July. Compared to August of last year, new home sales were still 20.6 percent higher than last year. It appears super low mortgage rates continued to provide some lift to the new home market. What did not rise in the latest Census report is the median price of a new home contracted in August. The median price of a new home fell to $284,000, down from $300,200 last year. The average price of a new home [...]

By Aaron Layman|2018-09-08T15:54:23+00:00September 26th, 2016|Denton County New Homes, Development, DFW New Homes, Economy, Mortgage Rates, New Home Sales, Real Estate, Spin Cycle|0 Comments

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"Could not have been more pleased with the entire process of selling my Katy house. Aaron was very professional and went out of his way to help kennel my dog before showings while I was at work. He had an outstanding knowledge of the entire real estate transaction process and was always very responsive to my questions. Would definitely recommend Mr. Layman to anyone I know!!"

Matt B., Home Seller

"Aaron helped us narrow down our choices and navigate the market. He is very knowledgeable about making a wise decision. He will help you find a house that you love and is a good financial decision."

Kristina R., Home Buyer

"Aaron was our realtor when we bought our house 13 years ago and he was our realtor when we sold our house in 2014. He is honest about the market and very helpful with all aspects of buying/selling a home. We would recommend him to anyone in need of realty services."

Paula O., Home Buyer & Seller

"We had several agents to choose from as we'd been in the area for several years. Aaron was an easy choice as he's knowledgeable and wasn't afraid to go after what's best for us, his clients! He kept us well informed throughout the process and was always prompt in answering questions from start to finish. We definitely recommend Aaron!"

Shanna K., Home Buyer

"Working with Aaron was the best decision we made when looking for a new home and selling our previous home. He is one of the most knowledgeable realtors in the area. He knows the numbers, the trends, and always has data to back up his recommendations and decisions. Likewise, he made the process simple and understandable at the same time. Aaron was always in our corner and always did his best to get the best outcome for us. I have recommended Aaron to many friends and family and would recommend him to anyone looking to buy or sell their home."

Angelo G., Home Buyer & Seller

Denton County Realtor Aaron Layman

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Economy

Monkey Business – Expert Says Affordable Homes Are Going Away

Debt, Deficits & Housing – The Smoke & Mirrors “Recovery”

Fed Looks At Texas’ Affordable Housing Problem, Fails To Look In The Mirror

New Home Sales Decline From Summer Peak, Median Price Lowest Of 2016