Rio Grande Valley home sales see modest growth

RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The Brownsville and McAllen area saw an increase in home sales of 2 percent and 7 percent, respectively, in 2012 after a down year in 2011.

Much of the Rio Grande Valley is seeing flat growth because of the large number of foreclosed homes, according to Steven Lovell, a business professor at the University of Texas-Pan American.

The area, meanwhile, has not added enough new jobs to fuel significant new home sales. Much of the increase in sales is being driven by standard population growth.

Harlingen stood out last year as the fifth-highest growth area of the state. Lovell attributed the success in the local market to both the city’s geography at the juncture of Expressways 77 and 83 and to new retail such as the 145,000-sf Bass Pro Shop.