30Sep
The big talk in the financial world is that home prices are beginning to rise. This is based on the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Survey, and has implications not only for economic recovery, but also for the inflation/deflation debate that will guide a lot investment.
So, I was pretty damn surprised when I saw an article run by the ST saying that home prices were down in July. The S&P/Shiller follows the 20 largest markets, and surely we are in that. Turns out that the Startlegram was being a little creative with their headline. Home prices are down in July from a year ago, but they are up in July over June.
I think the article title was a little negative. At least the market is starting to correct. Maybe “Home Prices Correcting” would have been a better title for them.
29Sep
Kevin has a great rendering of the Stayton that will be built by So7 Townhome/Midrise development.
I would think that this market would be hurting. On one hand you have an incredible portion of the population heading into retirement, but on the other you would think that cost cutting would keep grandma at home. Apparently not, as 75% of the units have already been sold. Pre-development, that’s not bad. In fact, it looks like the most economic development in town.
29Sep
The Startlegram has a great article about the exodus in the downtown market. This year only 21 units have moved, and that is about half of last years sales figures. I am really surprised that T&P lofts was able to wring out almost 100% percent sales, but I suppose they got a little bit of a head start on most projects.
The one thing that just continues to boggle my mind are all of these extremely high end units. Le Bijou, De Leon, Omni, etc. Where are all of the muli-million dollar tenants supposed to come from? I just can’t help but think that most people around Fort Worth that can afford $1MM plus homes, wouldn’t opt for a single family residence. I suppose we’ll see; but my money would be on the $200-$400k units making the most progress
28Sep
Last week I saw a Honda driving down the road with a decal on the side identifying it as a Natural Gas Vehicle. I thought that was pretty cool, and wouldn’t mind looking into myself, but I would have no idea where to fill up such a car. I was to quickly learn that a new group called the Metroplex Natural Gas Vehicle Consortium had been spearheaded by the TCU Energy Institute. The goal of the group is to promote not only the vehicles, but also the infrastructure and refueling stations to support them.
I think that this is a perfect idea. It would be great local publicity if the private sector were to take the reigns in making Fort Worth an example of putting natural gas to use. Our local busses already do, and we certainly have the resources to make this happen. It would be cheaper than gasoline, and perfect for driving around the metroplex. It is also a much cleaner fuel, with could really help an area of the country that is known violating the TCEQ Air Quality Standards. Seems like an all around winner to me.
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