| RECON for October 29, 2019 | RECON for October 29, 2019 | Bryan Pope | Pope
| 2019-10-29T05:00:00Z | 2019-10-29T05:00:00Z |
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| Which two Texas cities have landed on WalletHub's list of the best small cities in America to live in? Read today's RECON to find out. (Photo from Center files.) |
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AUSTIN (Texas Realtors) – Texas home sales and median price had steady increases in third quarter 2019, according to Texas Realtors' Texas Quarterly Housing Report.
Last quarter, 100,733 homes were sold statewide, an increase of 6.4 percent compared with 3Q2018. The median price increased 4.3 percent to $245,000.
Of all the homes sold within the third quarter, 33.4 percent were priced from $200,000 to $299,999, the highest share of sales among all price-class distributions. Homes priced from $100,000 to $199,999 represented the second-highest share of sales with 26.9 percent.
"The Texas housing market continued to spur strong demand during the third quarter," said Real Estate Center Chief Economist Dr. Jim Gaines. "Based on sales activity, we saw prices, months of inventory, and active listings experience significant growth in most of the markets across the state. During the remainder of the year, we expect attractive interest rates to incentivize homebuyers. In addition, new-home construction will continue to pick up in markets such as Houston and Dallas, leading to an increase in housing inventory availability."
There were 111,013 active listings in the third quarter, a 3.5 percent increase from 3Q2018. Texas homes spent an average of 54 days on the market, two days longer than the same period last year.
Statewide, housing inventory increased to 3.8 months of inventory, an increase of 0.1 months since last year. The Real Estate Center considers six- to 6.5-months of inventory a balanced market.
Read the Center's latest Texas Housing Insight report for more.
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WASHINGTON (WalletHub) – Two Texas cities have landed on WalletHub's list of the best small American cities in which to live.
Ranking tenth overall, Cedar Park was third in economic health, 49th in affordability, 284th in safety, 369th in education and health, and 393th in quality of life.
No. 14 Southlake was seventh in economic health, 11th in affordability, 229th in safety, 475th in education and health, and 554th in quality of life.
The North Texas city also had the lowest housing costs and the second highest percent of people with a high school diploma or higher. It was also fourth in both highest homeownership rate and lowest percent of population in poverty.
Fort Hood had the highest average weekly work hours and lowest homeownership rate. San Juan, Pharr, and Socorro were first, third, and fourth in lowest percent of insured population, respectively.
Leakwood, Kan. was the best small city to live in, according to the rankings. The rest of the top five were Brentwood, Tenn.; Sammamish, Wash.; Melrose, Mass.; and Carmel, Ind.
WalletHub compared over 1,260 small cities to compile the list.
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 Texas A&M University researchers want to hear from Texas row-crop farmers. They are interested in your soil management practices and how you value soil health when purchasing or leasing land. If you are a row-crop farmer in Texas, please consider taking this 20-minute survey. The results will aid policy makers in making informed decisions that benefit the soil and farmers of Texas.
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EDINBURG, BROWNSVILLE (RightQuest Real Estate Advisors) – Dallas-based RightQuest, in partnership with JTMR LLC and JJR Group Ltd., has sold a 416-unit luxury apartment portfolio in South Texas.
One of the properties was Royal Vista Apartments, 144-unit, 110,700-sf community built in 2018 at 5348 S. Sugar Rd. in Edinburg.
Bella Vista Apartments at 4305 E. Ruben Torres Blvd. in Brownsville was also sold. Phase one of the community was built in 2014 and totals 128 units and 103,216 sf. The 144-unit, 113,544-sf phase two was built in 2017.
IBC Bank provided construction financing. BBG Inc. provided the market feasibility and demand analyses.
Institutional Property Advisors represented the sellers. JLL represented the buyer.
Looking for information on Texas' border metros? Read the Center's latest Texas Border Economy.
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 The Real Estate Center's Texas Quarterly Commercial Report looks at past, present, and future commercial real estate activity in the state's four major metropolitan areas. It covers the office, retail, and warehouse sectors. Read and download the report for free, and subscribe to know when the next issue is published.
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DALLAS (REBusiness Online) – Granite Real Estate Investment Trust has acquired a 2.3 million-sf industrial facility on 101 acres at 1301 Chalk Hill Rd.
The property features 41-ft clear heights, 2,500 auto parking spaces, and 300 trailer parking spaces.
The facility is fully leased for an initial lease term of 20 years by Amazon, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Granite acquired the property as part of a $296 million acquisition package.
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 Hungry for more Texas real estate news? Then feast your eyes on NewsTalk Texas, our online news database. Here are a few of the stories you'll find there this week:
NewsTalk Texas is updated each weekday, throughout the day.
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Major tech companies bolster Austin office construction |
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AUSTIN (Colliers International) – Over 5.7 million sf of office space is under construction across the metro with 2.6 million sf of that preleased, according to Colliers International.
The report cites the continued construction is in part due to the movement of major tech companies into the city.
Last quarter, net absorption fell to negative 1.1 million sf. The average rental rate decreased less than one percent to $35.38 per sf.
Leasing activity also fell slightly to almost 1.1 million sf.
Vacancy increased from 9.3 percent to 11.5 percent. Inventory totaled 59.2 million sf at the close of the third quarter.
Read the Center's Texas Quarterly Commercial Report for more information like this.
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FORT WORTH (Dallas Business Journal) – Dickies Arena, a $540 million stadium built by city and multiple private partners, is opening in the Culture District.
In the works since 2014, the 560,000-sf arena can accommodate up to 14,000 people at full capacity.
Trail Drive Management Corp. will operate the stadium, which sits on city-owned land.
The building was designed by David M. Schwarz Architects with HKS as the architect of record.
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| Did you know you can get notified every time one of our new economic reports is released? Check out our email notification feature to get the latest economic data sent directly to your email inbox for free. |
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FORNEY (Hunt Properties) – Dallas-based Hunt Properties Inc. is developing a 118-unit, Class A 55+ active adult community at 1450 Whaley Dr.
The 10.5-acre property offers one- and two-bedroom floor plans averaging 911 sf.
Amenities include a swimming pool, fitness center, theater room, coffee/wine bar, commercial kitchen and dining room, hair/nail salon, pet-grooming station, and dog park.
Work started in June 2019 and will wrap up in third quarter 2020.
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AUSTIN (REBusiness Online) – West Anderson Plaza, a 117,000-sf retail property at 2438 W. Anderson Ln., has been sold.
Tenants include Bartlett's, Hopdoddy Burger Bar, Jason's Deli, Precision Camera, Sun & Ski, and Terra Toys.
CSA Realty represented the seller, and Carr Development Inc. represented the buyer.
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 The Real Estate Center's Texas Home Price Index measures price appreciation changes for residential single-family homes. It provides data for eight different Texas metros across three different price ranges.
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PLANO (REBusiness Online) – A partnership between Trez Capital and Hines has acquired a 1,603-unit self-storage facility at 525 N Ave.
The 235,400-sf facility near the intersection of President George Bush Tollway and US 75 has four buildings and 124 for-lease parking spaces.
The new owners will increase the leasable parking space by 30 to 40 percent.
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SAN ANTONIO (Connect Media) – Presidian Hotels & Resorts has purchased Hilton San Antonio Airport at 611 N.W. Loop 410 from Broadshore Capital Partners.
Built in 1981, the 385-room hotel includes a fitness center, pool, business center, and shuttle service.
Presidian acquired the DoubleTree by Hilton San Antonio Airport in June.
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| https://www.recenter.tamu.edu/news/recon/?Item=322 |
