As the state’s population grows, so does the need for more housing. Here are the data and tools you need to keep up with housing market trends in your area.
Whether you’re talking about DFW’s financial services industry, Austin’s tech sector, Houston’s energy corridor, or the medical hub that is San Antonio, commercial real estate is big business in Texas.
Mineral rights. Water issues. Wildlife management and conservation. Eminent domain. The number of factors driving Texas land markets is as big as the state itself. Here’s information that can help.
Center research is fueled by accurate, high-quality, up-to-date data acquired from such sources as Texas MLSs, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the U.S. Census Bureau. Data and reports included here are free.
Stay current on the latest happenings around the Center and the state with our news releases, NewsTalk Texas online searchable news database, and more.
We offer a number of educational opportunities throughout the year, including our popular Outlook for Texas Land Markets conference. Check here for updates.
Established in 1971, the Texas Real Estate Research Center is the nation’s largest publicly funded organization devoted to real estate research. Learn more about our history here and meet our team.
Border employment grew in 2Q2024 but not enough to prevent an increase in the unemployment rate. Housing sales had a better second quarter this year than last year, and home prices increased in three of the four border metros.
By
Joshua Roberson
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Texas Border Economy is a summary of important economic indicators that help discern trends in the housing markets along the Texas-Mexico border. Data current as of August 16, 2024.
Border employment grew in 2Q2024 but not enough to prevent an increase in the unemployment rate. Housing sales had a better second quarter this year than last year, and home prices increased in three of the four border metros. Inflation also continued to cool as the Federal Reserve’s interest rate increases showed more impact. However, the inflation rate was still above the Fed’s inflation target, showing continuing signs of decelerating.
Economy
Brownsville had the strongest economic growth over the past four quarters according to the Dallas Fed’s Business-Cycle Index, with year-over-year (YOY) index growth of 3.4 percent. El Paso’s economic growth over the same period trailed behind Brownsville with 2.6 percent YOY growth. Laredo dipped 1.2 percent while McAllen was the only border metro with stagnant growth and no change since last year.
Overall, border MSA nonfarm employment gained 6,200 positions for a 0.7 percent quarter-over-quarter (QOQ) gain (Figure 1). McAllen had the largest gain at 1.4 percent, adding 4,200 jobs. Laredo was the only border metro with a QOQ loss, although the loss was minor, resulting in 200 fewer jobs than the first quarter. Both Brownsville and El Paso gained approximately 0.5 percent, adding 600 and 1,600 jobs, respectively.
The border-wide unemployment rate was 5.1 percent in 2Q2024, which was ten basis points higher than the previous quarter. All four border metros increased this quarter with McAllen climbing above 6 percent to reach 6.1. Brownsville had the second highest unemployment rate at 5.4 followed by El Paso and Laredo at 4.4 and 4.2 percent, respectively.
Border MSA average hourly earnings decreased 12 cents reaching $21.34. The largest gains this quarter were from Brownsville and McAllen. Since 2Q2023, average Brownsville wages have grown from $17.45 to $19.90 in 2Q2024. In McAllen wages have grown from $18.85 in 4Q2022 to $21.73 in 2Q2024.
Pedestrian border crossings increased by 3.6 percent QOQ and 7.5 percent YOY. Pedestrian border crossings are still over a million counts shy of the pre-pandemic peak of 5.2 million in 4Q2019. Personal vehicle passengers were up 0.8 percent from last quarter and 2.2 percent from last year. Unlike pedestrian traffic, vehicle passenger traffic is ahead of 4Q2019.
On the southern side of the border, Mexican manufacturing and maquiladora employment1 continues to fall after peaking in 2Q2023. The drop in employment was led by a 4.2 percent QOQ decrease in Juárez (Table 1), which is by far the largest maquiladora employment base along the Texas border. The remaining four border cities recorded quarterly increases but, due to their smaller combined size, were not about to offset Juárez.
1Mexican manufacturing and maquiladora employment is generated by the Nacional de Estadística y Geografía.
In the currency market, the average peso per dollar exchange rate increased to $18.19 in the second quarter with the U.S. dollar gaining about $1.42 on the Mexican peso. This quarter was the biggest quarter-to-quarter movement in a year. Despite the upward bump, the current peso per dollar exchange rate is still below the ten-year average of $19.04.
Border trade was positive in 2Q2024 with both imports and exports increasing. Total border imports increased $4.1 billion (5.8 percent QOQ), while total exports increased $2.6 billion (5.7 percent QOQ). The larger rise in imports resulted in an expanded trade deficit of $26.7 billion from $25.4 billion in 1Q2024.
Real Estate
Border home sales were at 4,477, 2 percent higher than the 4,391 sales a year ago (Table 2). McAllen Edinburg-Mission and Laredo recorded the largest YOY increases at 3.9 and 3.2 percent, respectively. Brownsville-Harlingen was the only MSA that had a drop in home sales (2.4 percent). El Paso was in the middle with a 2.7 percent YOY gain.
Median home prices rose throughout most of the four border metros (Figure 2). All metros except Brownsville-Harlingen, which had no YOY change, grew in 2Q2024 compared with last year. El Paso had the largest YOY growth rate at 3.3 percent, followed by Laredo at 2.2 percent and McAllen at 0.4 percent.
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The state’s burgeoning food and beverage manufacturing industry has much more potential for the Texas economy, and we don’t just mean Blue Bell and Whataburger.
Over the past four decades, the state’s industrial markets have had more ups and down than the Texas Giant. But geographic patterns emerge when you take a closer look at individual markets.
Texas total nonfarm employment dipped in October after two months of growth. Despite the loss of jobs, the unemployment rate held steady at 4.1 percent and the labor force participation rate climbed 64.6 percent. Inflation remained resilient and failed to decrease toward the 2 percent target rate.
As the state’s population grows, so does the need for more housing. Here are the data and tools you need to keep up with housing market trends in your area.
Whether you’re talking about DFW’s financial services industry, Austin’s tech sector, Houston’s energy corridor, or the medical hub that is San Antonio, commercial real estate is big business in Texas.
Mineral rights. Water issues. Wildlife management and conservation. Eminent domain. The number of factors driving Texas land markets is as big as the state itself. Here’s information that can help.
Center research is fueled by accurate, high-quality, up-to-date data acquired from such sources as Texas MLSs, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the U.S. Census Bureau. Data and reports included here are free.
Stay current on the latest happenings around the Center and the state with our news releases, NewsTalk Texas online searchable news database, and more.
We offer a number of educational opportunities throughout the year, including our popular Outlook for Texas Land Markets conference. Check here for updates.
Established in 1971, the Texas Real Estate Research Center is the nation’s largest publicly funded organization devoted to real estate research. Learn more about our history here and meet our team.