Inventories of
Texas Hill Country real estate for sale in mid-2011 remain at levels similar to last year.
Fredericksburg TX real estate inventories will last over a year and
Texas Hill Country ranch land inventories on hand could last over five years.
At a recent meeting of the National Association of Real Estate Editors in San Antonio, economists examined the
Texas real estate market along with that of the nation. They cited high unemployment levels, high foreclosure inventories, and government props as reasons for delaying the return to a healthy real estate market after the 2008 dive.
The managing director of quantitative research for the National Association of Realtors told the summit, "The good news is that we're in a recovery." But it is very slow.
Nationally, slow job creation, tight lending policies, the stagnant economy, and distressed properties are all cited as causal. More than a third of the home sales nationally are distressed properties. With shadow inventories emerging, that will be the case for another 24 to 36 months.
Many believe that improvements in the real estate market should come after this wave of foreclosures move through the system. That is, barring government interventions such as higher mortgage down payment requirements, elimination of home mortgage interest tax deduction, or the elimination of Fannie and Freddie.
However, chief economist of the Texas A&M Real Estate Center Mark Dotzour doesn’t believe that the real estate market has bottomed out yet. Dotzour says that government programs such as loan modifications and first-time buyers' tax credit have distorted the natural laws of supply and demand.
No one dares to predict a better housing market before 2013 nationally. Texas, nonetheless, is full of surprises. Avoiding the real estate bubble experienced in Florida, Arizona, Nevada and other communities, Texas leveraged its natural resources, immigration, and successful high-tech sector to spur economic growth by 26.8 percent.
During the past decade, the Texas economy's gross domestic product increased to $1.207 Trillion, or 8.3 percent of the nation’s economy. The Bureau of Economic Analysis recently released its report, an analysis that began in the 1960s. In USA Today 6/21/2011, Dennis Cauchon reported, "Texas became the USA's second-largest economy during the past decade--displacing New York and perhaps heading one day toward challenging California--in one of the biggest economic shifts in the past half-century."
All elements combined, the market is faring pretty well for investment properties, income properties, and rental properties. Qualified buyers for full-time and second homes are enjoying the large selection of homes on the market. No one dares to predict much upward movement in the prices of homes on the market before 2012-2013.
For expert guidance in your personal search for the ultimate piece of the Hill Country, please
call Dale E. Cook, MBA and owner of SAGE - Premium Texas Real Estate at (830) 992-0056.
