January 2015

Flippers, beware! If the IRS considers you a real estate dealer rather than an investor, expect to write a bigger check at tax time.

The residential market moves slow on South Padre Island, just as it has for the past 30 years. So until the deal closes, get yourself a margarita, sit out on the deck and watch the waves roll in.

Talk about sticky wickets. With water becoming more scarce and fracking more common, Texas courts are busy with cases involving oil, gas and groundwater production, as well as injection of wastewater created by the fracking process.

For most of us, mortgage interest rates determine how much house we can afford. Why do interest rates vary? Because they generally move in tandem with the ten-year Treasury bond rate.

While Texas land prices vary by region, type of land and size, generally speaking the smallest properties tend to draw the highest per-acre prices throughout the state.

A Center study looked at common housing market cycles and trends in Texas’ four largest metros — Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio — over the past nine years.

Center researchers have identified economic indicators that influence Texas’ residential construction sector. Their goal is to anticipate cycles — that is, ups and downs — in this key segment of the state’s economy.