Economic Outlook from Susan Combs, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

Jobs

• The U.S. added 227,000 nonfarm jobs in February 2012. The U.S. unemployment rate remained at 8.3 percent for February 2012.  Between February 2011 and February 2012, U.S. total nonfarm employment increased 1.5 percent.
• Texas total nonfarm employment increased by 67,200 jobs during January 2012. Between January 2011 and January 2012, Texas total nonfarm employment increased 2.5 percent.
• The Texas unemployment rate dropped to 7.3 percent for January 2012, down from 7.4 percent in December 2011.
• The Texas unemployment rate has been at or below the national rate for 61 consecutive months.

Consumer Confidence Index

• The U.S. consumer confidence…

Up Front Mortgage Insurance Premium Increases for FHA Loans

by Randy Watson

There are changes coming to FHA's mortgage insurance premiums and I have been getting lots of question on this. I asked Jeff Cruz, Legacy Mutual senior loan officer in San Antonio for some insight on the new program. So, let's review what he explained to me.

HUD has announced that mortgage insurance for FHA loans will increase April 1, 2012. Mortgage insurance, similar to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guaranty fees, protect one party from the risks of the borrower becoming delinquent of going into foreclosure.

FHA loans have two tiers of mortgage insurance.

Today an FHA mortgage requires an up-front mortgage insurance premium (MIP) equal to of 1 percent of the loan's…

San Antonio Board of REALTORS  January 2012 Sales Statistics

A five percent increase in sales shows the steadiness of the San Antonio market,” said Angela Shields, President and Chief Executive Officer of SABOR.

January 2012’s average sales price for single-family residential homes registered at $174,789 while the month’s median price was $141,200.

“This month, we saw a slight decrease in both the average and median sales price, but nothing to be alarmed about,” said Liza Reyes, SABOR’s 2012 Chairman of the Board. “Slight fluctuations are very common to the San Antonio market. San Antonio is known for being a healthy market and any healthy market will reflect little ups and downs, it is very natural.”

According to recent…

 Best of Texas - Newsweek Says Texas Cities Can-Do

Five Texas cities “have it going on” even in the face of economic worries, according to a 2011 Newsweek comparison of the 200 largest U.S. cities.

El Paso leads the pack with strong scores for business development; transportation and infrastructure; sustainability; and livability. Assigning each of those categories a point value, Newsweek ranked its list of “Can-Do Capitals” while considering emissions, education levels and unemployment.

Texas Best Can-Do US Cities

Source: Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

San Antonio Airport International Passenger Numbers Soar

by Randy Watson

The San Antonio International Airport;s (SAT) International boarding passenger count had a major increase in 2011, reaching 182,031, or a 33.1 percent increase over 2010.

Domestic passengers continued to rise in 2011, totaling 7,898,793, up 1.2 percent over the previous calendar year. Total enplaned and deplaned passengers reached 8,171,824 in 2011, a 1.7 percent increase over 2010.

The large international passenger increase was primarily due to added seats in the market.

Source: San Antonio Airport System

TEXAS' EXISTING HOME SALES UP 4 PERCENT

 COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Sales of existing single-family Texas homes in December were up 4 percent from a year ago, according to the most recent Multiple Listing Services (MLS) data compiled by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.

More than 16,500 homes were sold, data showed. The median home price was $150,700, about the same as a year ago, and the state's overall inventory was at six months.

December 2011 MLS data for many Texas cities are available on the Center's website. Here is a sampling (data current as of Jan. 30, 2012):

OIL INDUSTRY BOOSTS TEXAS JOB GROWTH

 COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Texas’ mining and logging industry ranked first in job creation in the past year, followed by the professional and business services industry, and the leisure and hospitality industry, according to the latest Monthly Review of the Texas Economy.

Overall, the state’s economy gained 205,100 nonagricultural jobs from December 2010 to December 2011, an annual growth rate of 2 percent compared with 1.3 percent for the United States. The state’s nongovernment sector added 261,200 jobs, an annual growth rate of 3 percent compared with 1.8 percent for the nation’s private sector.

Texas’ seasonally adjusted unemployment rate fell from 8.3 percent to 7.8 percent while…

Written by Randy Watson

November 2011Off-Season Buying Trends Affect Housing Sales and Prices

The San Antonio Board of Realtors (SABOR) released their monthly housing report for the month. 1239 Single family residential homes closed, a 2% decrease from November 2010. The average price declined 8% for a single family home compared to November 2010. 

"This month, we saw a sales decrease for homes priced between $200,000 and $500,000, as well as homes priced above the halfmillion dollar mark," said Scott Caballero, SABOR's 2011 Chairman of the Board.

• 1,239 single-family residential homes sold in November 2011.
• $174,861 is the average price of a single-family home, a 8% decrease from November 2010.
• $145,500 is the Median price of a…

 Sales Tax Revenues Continue Recent Trend

by Randy Watson

Texas Comptroller Susan Combs reports total sales tax collections for November jumped 12.2 percent compared with November 2010, marking the 20th consecutive month of year-over-year gains. The gains are attributed to improvement in all major economic sectors including oil and natural gas production, retail trade and restaurants. 

Local Sales Tax Allocations

• Cities - $315.8 million — up 8.6 percent from December 2010.
• Counties    - $31.3 million — up 13.7 percent from December 2010.
• Transit Systems - $108.7 million — up 10.2 percent from December 2010.
• Special Purpose Taxing Districts - $22.2 million — up 19.5 percent from December 2010.

Read…

 7 Factors to Consider Before Investing In Real Estate

by Daniela Baker

There are several criteria to consider when investing in real estate, in addition to cash flow and long-term growth.

1. Employment and Job Growth. While monthly cash flow is important, it is also important to look for markets with corporate friendly cultures, strong employment centers and robust employment growth in the foreseeable future. Each factor is a useful indicator that the population will continue to increase creating an increased demand for real estate with steadily rising prices.

2. Consider the price to rent ratio. This is commonly referred to s the "Gross Rent Multiplier" (GRM) which is essentially a figure derived by taking the price of the property and…