Joshua Roberson

Home sales typically cool off by October, but this year is a little different with sales in both September and October higher than they were during the summer. The rate of new listings is still on the rise resulting in rising inventory levels.

Like last quarter, border employment grew in 3Q2024but not enough to prevent an increase in the unemployment rate. Housing sales had a worse second quarter this year than last year, and home prices increased in two of the four border metros.

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 to 64.6 percent. Inflation remained resilient and failed to decrease toward the 2 percent target rate.

The city that flaunts its reputation for being “weird” has become a major destination city for technology and science-based companies. That, along with other factors, has taken its toll on area home prices.

Note: The Texas Employment Report will be discontinued effective October 2022. Employment data can be found on the Texas Real Estate Research Center’s website and in the Center’s monthly Outlook for the Texas Economy report.

Waves of newcomers are flooding the Lone Star State. Most of them are from California, and they’re all in search of homes. Talk about a gold rush.