Texas Home Prices

Reckoning Awaits For Inflated North Texas Real Estate Market

The reckoning awaits for the hyper-financialized north Texas real estate market.  It may take a few months for reality to sink in, but the writing is on the wall regardless of the efforts of housing industry pundits and professional economists to downplay the damage. The hopes of a v-shaped recovery are vanishing faster than the toilet paper on the shelves of your local grocery store. Many of the supposed experts, like the PhD economists employed at the Texas Real Estate Center at A&M, have turned a blind eye to the artificial inflation in Texas real [...]

RECenter A&M Economists Still Wasting Texas Realtors’ Money

RECenter at A&M economists and data junkies are still wasting the dues of Texas Realtors that pay a good chunk of their salaries. It seems the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M economists are phase-locked in a myopic pursuit to somehow rationalize or justify the status quo situation with Texas housing. "Intellectual Phase-Locking is a condition that results when dogmatic 'scientific' assumptions inhibit further inquiry." Rupert Sheldrake Last year I wrote about some of the interesting details on the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M and their funding. I have also clued readers in on the [...]

DFW Adds 10,000 Jobs In June, CPI Still Running Hot

The DFW area tacked on another 10,000 jobs during the month of June according to numbers released by the Texas Workforce Commission. That was more than a third of the 27,200 positions gained in Texas during the month. The unemployment rate for the Dallas-Fort Worth- Arlington MSA posted a 3.8 percent, just slightly below the 3.9 percent figure at this time last year. Midland Texas still held the lowest unemployment rate in Texas at only 2.4 percent. While the Dallas area still posted solid job gains during the month of June, the unadjusted numbers show [...]

Markets Wobbling As Fed Normalization Hits $30 Billion Per Month In Q2

The markets were wobbling again this week, but regardless, the Fed normalization will hit $30 billion per month in April. I must confess that I get a good laugh when I hear market apologists and real estate pundits talk up the magnificent economy and housing market we are blessed with in Texas. Yes, things are pretty good here in the Lone Star State, and the DFW housing market still seems to have legs. Unfortunately the real economy is not nearly as robust as many talking heads and sell-side practitioners would have you believe. The March employment [...]

U.S. New Home Sales Flat In February

The Census Bureau reported new home sales for February at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 618,000. This was slightly below expectations, but January was revised significantly higher so month over month the change was negligible. Compared to last year new home sales in February were up less than one percent. The median price for a new home contracted (signing of contract, not actually closing) was $326,800 while the average price of a new home last month posted at $376,700. The supply of new homes stood at 5.9 months in February, near the top of [...]

New Home Sales Softer In January At 593,000 (SAAR)

New home sales came in softer than expected for January, posting at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 593,000. The Census Bureau numbers were 7.8 percent lower than Decembers revised numbers and 1 percent below January 2017. The median price of a new home contracted in January was $323,000, while the average price of a new home stood at $382,700. There was 6.1 months of supply for new homes in January, a gain of almost a full month compared to this time a year ago. As interest rates have spike during the past two months, [...]

Dallas TX Employment Growth Sputters In December But Finishes Year Higher

Dallas TX employment growth sputtered in December with the non-adjusted numbers from the Texas Workforce Commission showing a gain of 2000 jobs for DFW in December. That's a far cry from the strong numbers seen in November, but the yearly gains were still respectable. Over the 12 month period the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA added 91,700 jobs. Dallas Fort Worth is still running hotter than the Houston region, with CPI numbers that are almost twice as strong (3.2% vs 1.7%). The official (massaged) unemployment rate in Dallas stood at 3.6% in December. Houston posted an unemployment [...]

Balance Sheet Unwind Hits Reverse As Interest Paid To Banks Soars

True to form, the Federal Reserve is taking a rather cautious approach to their balance sheet unwind with this week's System Open Market Account (SOMA) report showing an INCREASE of a $million in the Fed's bloated account holdings. So much for unwinding!  If you were wondering how equity markets could be marching to new highs every week in the face of tepid organic economic growth, you have your answer. Today's inflation numbers show that the Federal Reserve still can't seem to generate any inflation in the economy, with core inflation rising only 1.8% year-over-year. Home [...]

Another Fed “Senior Economist” Demonstrates Willful Ignorance

The Federal Reserve and its army of economists continue to demonstrate willful ignorance of their failed policies. This week it was the Kansas City Fed's Jordan Rappaport who penned another dose of misdirection on the housing market. Rappaport's piece, "Pent-Up Demand and Continuing Price Increases: The Outlook for Housing in 2018" is yet another example of how the Federal Reserve touts itself as a champion of real economy while they continue toe the line for Wall Street and wealthy investors. In the usual captured culture of Fed Mr. Rappaport lays out the theme of continued [...]

New Home Sales Jump In October, Average Prices Hit New High

New home sales continued to enjoy a hurricane-related boost in October. The Census Bureau reported new single-family home sales at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000, up 6.2 percent from revised September numbers and 18.7 percent higher than a year ago. The median price of a new home in October was $312,800 while the average price of a new home was $400,200. The talking heads will no doubt see this as a boon for the housing industry, and the numbers are certainly encouraging. That being said, I wouldn't read too much into the volatile [...]

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