Entries for the 'Assessing the Local Market' Category
REAL ESTATE SALES IN KERR COUNTY: $5.7 MILLION FOR MONTH OF MAY, $33 MILLION FOR YEAR SO FAR
June 2nd, 2009 categories: Assessing the Local Market
Given the recessionary climate that we have been in this last year, every one is watching and waiting for the real estate market to turn around. Will it happen this month? Will it be next?
There have been some statistics showing encouragement of late … particularly, the stock market that has been leveling out, consumer confidence is rising, and interest rates are continuing to be very low.
Most people in real estate will tell you that there has been a significant increase in traffic this last month. Real Estate sales normally begin to increase in the month of May as Summer is traditionally the high season for moving.
In Kerr County, there were 35 sales totaling $5,676,350 during the month of May as compared with 59 sales totaling $11,879,775 during the same period last year. Still significantly down; however, encouraging from the previous months.
For the year so far, here’s the data for Kerr County:
170 units sold totaling just over $33 million as compared with $273 units totaling $53.8 million. That’s 103 Units down for a total of just over $20 million! WOW! That’s quite an impact on the overall economy and particularly those in real estate.
We remain encouraged though. Things are looking up! As of June 2, There are currently 70 Listings totaling $15.7 Million in Kerr County listed as pending or active with a contingency.
People are learning to accept our new market conditions. Prices are being lowered! People are getting creative! We’re all working harder! Real Estate always comes back around!!!
With every obstacle is an opportunity for a change for the better! We’re doing our best to work smarter for our clients! And, as you can see, we are actively watching the real estate market so that we can provide YOU with the best information. Give us a call 830-995-2511 for more information and to find out how we can help you with your purchase or sale in the Hill Country. We are members of the San Antonio, Kerrville & Gillespie MLS services and so can help you anywhere in that market area!
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Numbers Aren’t Yet Reflecting Increased Market Activity in Comfort, Texas
June 2nd, 2009 categories: Assessing the Local Market
I was surprised to discover that the increased market activity that we have been seeing in the area has not yet turned into actual sales (at least for Comfort). For the months of April and May, there were NO sales (as compared to 2 the preceding year totalling $962,264). Here’s where we are for the year:
I guess the surprise is due to the increased number of properties under contract (5 currently). It is likely that next month’s figures will be much better. Also, there are several Comfort properties listed only in the Kerrville MLS. None have sold to my knowledge; however, at least one is under contract.
The other interesting piece of data that I found for Comfort:
There are 202 Units of Real Estate currently on the market with a total market value (e.g., list price) of $73 Million.
Pretty significant for a little community of just over 5,000, huh?
If you’d like to add to or substract from that number, we’d love to help you! We’re your source for real estate & community information for Comfort and the surrounding area! Give us a call 830-995-2511.
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MARKET DATA FOR COMFORT TEXAS: February was a good month!
March 6th, 2009 categories: Assessing the Local Market
Real estate sales in Comfort, Texas during February were stronger than last year’s figures. There were 3 sales totaling just under $1.4 million which compares with 6 sales totaling just under $1.2 million during February 2008.
Two of the 3 sales were properties greater than 25 acres. In a rural area such as Comfort, properties with large acreages generally make up a large portion of the overall sales figures. Hopefully last month’s results indicates a change in the trend as sales of large acreages were off during most of 2008.
We are generally optimistic about Comfort for 2009. Several new “tourist destinations” are expected to make their home in the Comfort area … which should help the overall economy and the appeal of the area. Also, we believe the trend toward “small town” living will continue. Many people believe that Comfort is the first “true” small town in the Hill Country outside of San Antonio … so it has great appeal to those looking for that quaint, “All American”, small town feel.
The Hill Country is a great place to live … So, if Comfort is what you’re looking for, give us a call. We’d love to help you find your “Hill Country Dream Home.”
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PRICEY HOME SALES IN BOERNE CONTRIBUTED TO STELLAR SALES FIGURES FOR JANUARY & FEBRUARY
March 5th, 2009 categories: Assessing the Local Market
Four home sales totaling $7.1 Million contributed to better than average sales figures for the Boerne area during the months of January and February. One might actually use the word, “STELLAR” if comparing these statistics with the national market .
All in all, there were a total of 40 sales that amounted to $17 Million during the months of January and February as compared with 59 sales totalling $18.7 Million during the same time period the previous year.
Based on these figures, it appears that the Boerne market may be on the road to recovery. Good news for anyone that has been sitting on the fence waiting for the market to recover before placing their home on the market. If that’s you, give us a call and we’d be happy to give you a free market analysis for your home.
And, if you are interested in buying in the Boerne area, we’d love to represent you. Our number is 830-995-2511.
Our encouragement to you in this market: Get good advice! Move in peace! Live in Freedom!
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The Kerrville Real Estate Market Faring Much Like Wall Street
March 4th, 2009 categories: Assessing the Local Market
On Monday, the Dow Jones industrial average fell to 6,763 — the lowest close for the Dow since April, 1997. The 300-point drop Monday leaves the index more than 52 percent below its record high of 14,164.53 set in October 2007.
The Texas Hill Country real estate market, while still doing better than the national market, is experiencing a similar decline as that of Wall Street. Kerrville, Texas Real Estate Sales in January & February 2009 totaled just $7.67 million, equivalent to just 46.7% of last year’s sales.
It is commonly understood that in an unstable environment, “Big Ticket Items” get hit the worste. People delay purchases … especially big ones until they feel more certain about the future. Real Estate certainly is one of the “Big Ticket Items” that is suffering in the current economic environment.
What will it take to create a more certain future? I imagine just time. In our opinion, the real estate market, like the stock market, was due a “correction.” People get caught up in the frenzy and make unwise decisions … not based on fundamentals. The good side to a correction is people start making sensible decisions about how they spend their money. And, the ones that don’t OVERREACT can seize opportunities. When the market is down, deals can be found more easily!
The good news is that, historically, real estate has been one of the best places to invest money in uncertain times. Real estate is a “real” asset … meaning it is a tangible, real asset … It can’t be taken away … It’s not just on paper!
We believe that it is time for many who have lost money in the stock market to consider investing in real estate.
The Texas Hill Country is still one of the best places in the country to invest. Tourism and retail sales are still strong.
Our encouragement to you is: Live fully and yet wisely! And keep the long term perspective!
We’d love to help you find your Hill Country dream home! Give us a call at 830-995-2511.
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REAL ESTATE SALES – ARE WE PAYING TOO CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE WAY SALES “BOB UP AND DOWN”? FREDERICKSBURG TEXAS JANUARY & FEBRUARY 2009 RESULTS
March 4th, 2009 categories: Assessing the Local Market
President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that paying too close attention to how Wall Street “bobs up and down” could lead to bad long-term policy. “What I’m looking at is not the day-to-day gyrations of the stock market, but the long-term ability of the United States … to regain its footing.”
The same may be true when looking at real estate sales in Fredericksburg, Texas which were WAY down in January and February … just 33% of the previous year’s figures*. Sounds horrible? Should you run from this market?
It would seem to be a paradox … but Fredericksburg actually is thriving this year!
Pass through the town any day of the week, especially on weekends and you’ll see a city that is booming. Tourists galore!
Doesn’t quite fit with the real estate numbers? Well, go figure!
What we are hearing from the retailers in Fredericksburg is that sales are up! More people! And they’re still spending!
What’s happening is that, instead of taking trips to Europe, the Carribean, and other exotic places, people in Texas are taking small trips within the state … and Fredericksburg, still characterized by its German heritage, is a huge draw to the local tourists. Close to Austin, within driving distance of Dallas and Houston, and “smack dab in the middle of the Texas Hill Country,” people are taking weekend and extended visits to the Fredericksburg area.
Our feeling is that many of those tourists will take note of this quaint Texas town and, once optimism returns, will resume real estate purchases there.
Given that outlook, right now would be a prime opportunity to get into this market. Buyers are getting better deals than they have been in a long time! Give us a call if this interests you. We’d love to help you find your Hill Country dream home or ranch.
Our encouragement to you: Live life fully and yet wisely! And keep a long term perspective!
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*Also, keep in mind that a large portion of Fredericksburg real estate sales are large acreages and ranches. Just a few ranch sales can make up a large portion of the overall sales figures and a decrease in the number of ranch sales can make the picture look worse than it actually is.
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“Texas is somewhat insulated from the nation’s economic problems” – Per Texas Comptroller
February 27th, 2009 categories: Assessing the Local Market
Here’s an interesting article posted by the West Kerr Current:
Texas Economy in Better Shape Than Most States’, says State Comptroller
By Clint SchroederWest Kerr Current
Texas Comptroller Susan Combs told a group of Kerr County residents Friday that Texas is in far better economic shape than most states, but won’t come through the current crisis completely unscathed.
Combs, speaking at the YO Ranch Resort Hotel and Conference Center in Kerrville, made her case.
“Texas is honestly, truly different, and I’m not being a Pollyanna,” she said.
Combs said the state diversified its economy after the crisis in the oil and gas industry here in the early to mid-1980s.
“We lost a couple of hundred thousand jobs and we had had overpriced housing, we had a housing bubble,” she said. “We went through all of that, and I think basically everybody said, ‘Never again!’
“Our state now is the second most diverse by economic measures in the country, second to California, and we are more diverse as an economy than Canada or Mexico,” she said.
As a result, Texas is somewhat insulated from the nation’s economic problems.
“I kind of like to say if the country is having pneumonia, we may have a case of the sniffles but we are not going to be in deep trouble,” Combs said.
She pointed out that Texas never got the overheated housing prices and didn’t get into subprime mortgages.
“We did not get crazy, and our community banks by and large have been absolute stalwarts,” she said. “They have done well, obeyed the rules.”
About one of 1,200 homes in Texas face foreclosure, she said, compared to one in 76 in Nevada or one in 200 in Florida.
“It’s all absolutely attributable to their nutty, insane housing prices. We have not done that,” she said.
Combs also said sales taxes have been a “rocket ship,” with 12 percent increases in recent years, sliding to 10.9 percent and last year to 6 percent. She is projecting 2.9 percent for the next biennium.
“You’re going to see sales tax increases decline,” she said. “People just aren’t going to be shopping as much. If you are in a somewhat struggling small sales business, it may be tough for you.”
High-end food enterprises will have a tougher time, she said, and people will move to general merchandise instead of specialty stores.
She also noted the state has lost jobs, about 27,000 in December, an abrupt change from creating 10,000 jobs a month — and that after generally creating 20,000 new jobs a month.
“I expect us to see a tough job time in Texas through the first two quarters of the year, which will take us through June, leveling out July-August, then picking back up again,” she said.
Combs said job losses could come in construction, which has slowed down both in residential and commercial sectors. Dallas could be hit in the financial sector, and Austin in high tech.
“I think it’s going to be relatively shallow in scope and relatively short-lived duration,” Combs said. “I know some people have already experienced some trouble starting two or three months ago, but the state of our economy is nonetheless so robust.”
She added that Texas is doing better than other places because, “We’re smarter. Unlike other states, we don’t think you can get something for nothing. We are really well grounded in standard economics.”
Combs credited legislators with the state government being in good financial shape.
“Your state government did not get nuts,” she said. “Your state government did not go on a spending spree. Your state government did not encumber all of your future assets, so that’s been very, very important to the state.”
She said the state has about $2 billion in surplus funds available, $3 billion in the property tax relief fund and $6.7 billion in “rainy day funds” from the oil and gas severance tax established in the 1980s.
“I don’t know what they’ll (legislators) do, but they’re not going to be a California where they can’t pay their bills,” she said, adding the state doesn’t allow deficit spending.
“I want to commend them for their consistently conservative view,” she said.
Combs also called attention to new information available on the comptroller’s office website. One called “Where the Money Goes” details where every state dollar is spent and which is refreshed every 24 hours.
There also is TxSmartBuy.com, a site where local and state governments can make purchases using the state’s buying power to obtain the best value.
“We want to make it easy for all the engines of taxpayer money to be the most efficiently spent,” she said.
Kerr County Judge Pat Tinley introduced Combs, who is from a West Texas ranching family. She was educated at Vassar, spent time on Wall Street, and earned a law degree from the University of Texas.
She served in the Texas House for two terms, working on property rights legislation, was an assistant district attorney in Dallas County, took office in 1998 as Texas agriculture commissioner and was elected Texas comptroller in 2006.
If you are looking to relocate and wanted to know where to move, there you have it! We’d love to help you find your Hill Country home! Give us a call 830-995-2511.
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Kendall County December Jobless Rate Down – Hooray for Good News!
January 30th, 2009 categories: Assessing the Local Market
According to a Boerne Star article, Kendall County’s unemployment rate decreased in December according to labor market statistics released by Workforce Solutions Alamo. The county’s jobless rate for the month was 4.3 percent, down from 4.5 percent reported in November.
For full article, Click Here
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Wonder Where the Stimulus Funds Will Go? Kerr County Seeks Funds – Article, MySA.com
January 27th, 2009 categories: Assessing the Local Market
Will the Government Stimulus Plan help the Texas Hill Country economy? Kerr County is seeking to get its hand in the government’s bag. Here’s an article from MySa.com on the subject:
Kerr Seeks Stimulus Funds
KERRVILLE — Kerr County Commissioners on Monday proposed about $25 million in capital improvement projects to be considered for funding in the federal economic stimulus package that’s taking shape.
A $6 million expansion and upgrade of the Hill Country Youth Exhibit Center topped the prioritized list prepared at the request of U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio.
About $600,000 is needed to install high-pressure water pipes to the city-county airport on Texas 27 to cure firefighting readiness problems that have stymied new development there.
Next is $13 million to install sewer pipes in Center Point to be connected to a treatment plant in Comfort or Kerrville.
“We’re talking about pumping poo-poo here and it being part of a federal stimulus program,” mused Commissioner Buster Baldwin. “It fits.”
Commissioners also want $300,000 to repair dams at Ingram Lake and Flatrock Lake, and $5 million to replace bridges, through the Texas Department of Transportation
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Slow Down in Kendall County Development – Boerne Star Article
January 27th, 2009 categories: Assessing the Local Market
Our goal is to keep you up-to-date with the latest information about the Hill Country economy.
The Boerne Star reported that development activity in the county in 2008 was down about 40 percent from 2007. Kendall County Development Manager Rick Tobolka told Kendall County Commissioners on Monday, ‘We are continuing to grow, but things have slowed down from last year’ . For the full article:
Development Down 40 percent in County, James Kiehl River Bend Park on Schedule for Spring Opening
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