College Station-Bryan economic outlook 2014

COLLEGE STATION-BRYAN – The region’s growth dominated discussion by university, city and county officials at Wednesday’s Economic Outlook Conference.

The state demographer’s estimates that College Station-Bryan’s population is expected to be about 400,000 in 2050, according to James Gaines, research economist the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M.

Gaines said those estimates look to be conservative, though. "It could well be that the growth could be closer to 500,000 by 2050," he said. In the last 40 years, Texas gained 14 million, but is projected to add another 30 million in the next 40 years.

Bryan-College Station had record-high median home prices in 2013, with the average home selling for $160,000. The market is also more concentrated in higher costs, with 70 percent of homes sold priced between $100,000 and $250,000, an increase from 47 percent of home sales in 2000, Gaines said.

At the highest end of home prices, homes valued at more than $250,000 made up nearly 20 percent of sales in 2013, up from just 5 percent in 2000.

The impact of Texas A&M entering the SEC was relevant throughout the conference’s presentations. Shannon Overby, president and CEO of the Bryan-College Station Convention and Visitors Bureau, said total direct travel spending amounted to $422 million in 2012 and generated $7.6 million in local taxes.

With the growth comes the addition of seven new hotels to the area, all of which are under construction currently or soon to break ground. That’s a 27 percent increase in hotel rooms in the community over the next 18 to 24 months.