The Texas Coast Welcomes Back Investors

• the federal financial stimulus programs,
• the federal and private credit-mortgage repair programs,
• the hurricane recovery improvements with billions of incoming cash,
• the new Fannie Mae loan rule changes which favor investment and second home markets,
• the advantage coastal real estate's enduring demand has as a hedge against inflation,
• the already strong and growing rental demand from our large-nearby prosperous metros.

• New Urbanism Community designs where you can walk to retail and entertainment facilities - providing a more convenient and more enjoyable lifestyle that also better supports retirement living and aging-in-place
  • examples: New Urbanism on the Texas Coast and Cinnamon Shore Port Aransas
• Sustainable community and construction designs that are more storm resistant and energy efficient - providing lower costs, fewer insurance issues, better safety and peace-of-mind.
  • examples: System Built Homes on Texas Coast
• A new class of modern high-rises and full featured resort developments that are on par with the best resort markets world-wide
  • examples: Emerald By the Sea Galveston and Sapphire South Padre

• 

  "Comparably affordable Texas coast property is in-line with the new current consumer mindset for spending less - and spending more wisely."
  
  "We are witnessing this new consumer mindset in the types of properties people are purchasing more-of in our region" - says Mike Stuart of TexasGulfCoastOnline.com

• "Texas coast real estate is also a good bet to stay ahead of the future inflation we are sure to see printing so much money world-wide." - says Stuart

Encouraging economic reports that have recently been released may mean the worst, panic-inducing stage of the economic downturn is over.

“I think there are signs of economic life,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, PA, said.

“The downturn is no longer intensifying, and the clearest evidence of this can be found in the retail sector as retail sales have turned since the beginning of the year,” Zandi said.

Upbeat economic indicators, including government reports showing gains in durable-goods orders and new-homes sales, may not mean the economy has struck bottom, however. Job losses will continue, and growth is not expected until late this year, economists said.

New-home sales in February jumped 4.7% to an annual pace of 337,000 from a record low in January. February marked the first increase in sales since the summer, and the report added to a string of “better-than-expected” housing data, according to Wachovia Bank economist Adam G. York.

New orders for computers, machinery, and other durable goods climbed an unexpectedly strong 3.4% in February as well. “This was a surprisingly strong bounce in view of the severe global recession,” said Brian Bethune, chief U.S. financial economist at IHS Global Insight Inc.

Zandi called the climb in durable-goods orders a hopeful sign and pointed to other reasons for optimism, including the rally in the stock market. “That’s important in terms of the collective psyche,” he said.
The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index has gained 20% since March 9 - when it closed at a level last seen more than a decade before and The Dow Jones industrial average has risen 18.4% in the same amount of time.

The tax portion of the federal-stimulus program is kicking in, as a decline in tax withholding is starting to boost take-home pay, Zandi said, which could bolster the positive trend in consumer spending seen earlier this year.

William C. Dunkelberg, an economics professor at Temple University, said pent-up demand in the economy was huge because consumers had reduced spending out of fear. “As confidence returns,” he said, “they’ll spend.”

Dunkelberg went out on a limb and said that the economy had bottomed, citing the gain in construction, the upturn in new-home sales, and the decline in inventories to record lows.

OFHEO Showing Home Prices Rising

The OFHEO (Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight) has just released their report for the period December 2008 to January 2009.

Looking just at the price movement for the nine census divisions, the overall national picture appears to be turning around.

http://www.fhfa.gov/webfiles/1853/MonthlyHPI32409.pdf

Stocks jumped on Financial Accounting Standards Board news, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average up more than 250 points and above 8000.

Accounting rule makers approved a plan to ease their controversial guidelines on "mark-to-market" accounting, allowing companies more leeway in valuing their investments.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board revised the rules to allow companies to use their judgment to a greater extent in determining the "fair value" of their assets.

Economic recovery is about making people feel more confident, says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com.

Zandi evidenced increasing home sales and gains in the stock market are some promising signs that the worst is over and people will start spending again.

“We’re starting to see some pent-up demand for goods,” he says.

But Zandi warns that the situation is still fragile. "Confidence is a very fickle thing. It can go from abject pessimism that pervades now to a more balanced view of the world rather quickly.”

Robert Brusca of FAO Economics is predicting strong growth in the last half of the year and a quick recovery for the labor market. "You've lost 5 million jobs. It shouldn't be hard to put 2.5 million jobs back on rather quickly after you hit bottom," he said.

Joseph Carson, chief economist at AllianceBernstein, calls improving home sales, a rising stock market, and better-than-expected retail sales in February and March good signs of a turnaround. By the time President Obama’s stimulus package takes effect, the economy will be ready, he says.

"The stimulus has a much better chance of working if trends are already turning up than if it needs to halt a decline," he said.

Economists in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey expect the recession to end in September, though most say it won't be until the second half of 2010 that the economy recovers enough to bring down unemployment.

TEXAS DOMINATES BEST CITIES FOR JOB GROWTH

Texas has nine of the top 20 best cities for job growth in the United States, according a new study. Texas dominated every category.

The study used job growth data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 333 U.S. regions.