Opening Doors: Help for Rural Homebuyers
(Pope) 2pp.
The USDA Rural Development Guaranteed Rural Housing Program enables eligible Texans with low or moderate incomes who live in rural areas to purchase homes without a down payment. More than $163 billion in financial assistance is available.
Good Times, Bad Times: Understanding Real Estate Cycles
(Anari) 3pp.
Business cycles are recurring wave-like fluctuations in economic activity. A study of Texas real estate business cycles confimrs that these cycles are characterized by long expansion periods followed by short contraction periods. However, no two cycles are the same in duration and amplitude
Anticipating Crisis: History's Hard Lessons
(Gilliland) 2pp.
Financial crises are usually preceded by booming economic activity. An optimistic atmosphere results in a rush-to-invest mentality that disregards the lessons of the past. After a financial "panic," safeguards are implemented, but those safeguards usually do not address the conditions that cause the next crisis.
The Fed Giveth, Taketh Away
(Dotzour) 2pp.
The Federal Reserve raises and lowers interest rates to banks as a means of staving off recession and inflation. In the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis, rate cuts are being used to help banks shore up their balance sheets. Once Fed officials feel the banking system has been salvaged, expect rates to turn upward.
Park With a Spark: Development Nurtures Clean Technology
(Hunt) 2pp.
Plans for the Texas Clean Energy Park include a 40-acre research campus and 100-acre industrial park for companies working on solar power, renewable energy materials and other energy-saving technologies. The southeast Austin development has the potential to make the area a regional clean-tech center.
Sizzling Land
(Pachchigar, Singh) 3pp.
Statewide per-acre prices for Texas land rose to $2,190 in 2007, topping the $2,000 mark for the first time. Prices for small- to medium-sized properties climbed the most. Large acreage prices rose but at a much slower rate than in previous years, reflecting reduced interest in development properties. The size of tract per transaction dropped from 98 acres in 2006 to 80 acres in 2007.
Still Standing: New Jobs Keep Texas Housing Going
(Gaines) 5pp.
Texas' housing market continues to be significantly stronger than the national market. Home sales will probably decline, but prices should be flat. New home construction will remain soft until the market finds balance.
Safe Harbor for Rent
(Stern) 1pp.
Thanks to a new IRS rule, limited personal use will not prevent a rental home from qualifying for tax-free like-kind exchange treatment.
After the Fallout
(Dotzour) 2pp.
The "no-risk" environment of the past few years spurred lenders to make risky loans and investors to buy those loans. Before the U.S. housing market can begin to bottom out, prices have to stop falling, and investor confidence in traditional mortgages must be restored.
POA Legislation Protects Buyers
(Fambrough) 3pp.
Two new property code statutes address issues relating to property owners' associations (POAs). One requires mandatory disclosure when a property owner is a member of a POA. The second requires POAs of subdivisions that have the pwoer to levy assessments to provide information, bylaws and a resale certificate to the owner, owner's agent or title company.
