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: About the Local Market, Assessing the Local Market, Real Estate Stats & Issues
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: About the Local Market, Assessing the Local Market, Real Estate Stats & Issues
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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Finally! Some Good News About The Local Economy – Boerne Star Article
January 16th, 2009 categories: About the Local Market, Assessing the Local Market, Real Estate Stats & Issues
Here’s an encouraging article from the Boerne Star about the local economy:
Despite economic woes, local sales tax collections show improvement
Despite concerns over a weakening national economy, sales tax collections in Boerne and Kendall County showed growth in November.
Sales tax collections for November were up 17 percent in Boerne and 14.7 percent in Kendall County. Tax revenue on November sales is collected by the state in December and then allocations were sent last week to local governments.
Boerne received $358,972 in tax revenue from November sales. Kendall County’s allocation was $167,528.
“State sales tax collections have grown 3.9 percent for the first four months of state fiscal year 2009,” said Comptroller Susan Combs. “Growth in overall collections has slowed compared to recent years, while remittances from key sectors such as construction and retail trade have declined.”
Combs sent cities, counties, transit systems and special purpose taxing districts their first sales tax allocations of 2009 �” $459.2 million, up 2.4 percent compared to January 2008.
Combs sent January sales tax allocations of $309.9 million to Texas cities, up 2.2 percent compared to January 2008. Texas counties received sales tax payments of $29 million, up 8.2 percent compared to last January.
In addition, $18.3 million went to 148 special purpose taxing districts around the state, up 23.5 percent compared to last January. Ten metropolitan transit systems received $101.9 million in sales tax allocations, down 1.4 percent compared to a year ago.
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