Posted on Aug 12, 2009 | Tagged in: Rosenberg , Fort Bend County , economy
Those looking for a new job in the Greater Fort Bend and Rosenberg area have some good news. Biotics Research Corp. has a $2 million project that is expanding its facilities with an additional 35,000 square feet being built, creating 25 new jobs upon completion. The new area will expand the warehouse and manufacturing end of the company.
Denis DeLuca, president of Biotics Research Corp., had this to say, "Biotics has been a leading manufacturer of vitamins and dietary supplements with a global market for its products for over thirty years. Going forward with this expansion, with the help of the incentives from the city and county, we are very confident our market share will continue to increase”.
Barkley Peschel, Vice President Development & Operations of the Greater Fort Bend Economic Development Council states that “Rosenberg represents a fresh new wave of business expansion and relocation potential for Fort Bend County,” and that “although Rosenberg is a well established commercial center in Fort Bend, the continued growth of the area and of Greater Houston is creating many new business opportunities on the forward edge of that growth, and Rosenberg is that forward edge in the southwestern sector of the region.”
Posted on Jun 30, 2009 | Tagged in: economy
According to the real estate forecaster Local Market Monitor, the latest Home Price Forecast has officially listed the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown metropolitan area as expected to hold some of the strongest home prices in the nation over the next 12 months.
“These are markets that did not have a large boost in home prices over the last few years and therefore, even though the economy is doing poorly, no adjustment in prices has been necessary,” said Ingo Winzer, president of Local Market Monitor. “Steady economic growth and price appreciation have helped these markets remain stable.”
Because of Houston’s past stability in this area of the economy, turmoil is expected to be less profound than in other areas across the nation. This will create numerous opportunities for city- and state-wide growth in both the housing and employment sectors.
Posted on Jun 22, 2009 | Tagged in: economy
According to a new study from the Brookings Institution, out of the 100 largest metropolitan areas of the Unites States, Texas boasts four of the top five cities to have performed the strongest during the recession through the first quarter of 2009.
The Washington D.C.-based think-tank’s MetroMonitor reports that San Antonio has taken the lead in this study, followed closely by Austin, Houston and Dallas. Oklahoma City came in second, the only out of state city to ranked in the top five. Austin was also one of only two cities, along with McAllen, Texas that actually experienced an increase in economic output over the past year.
“The rankings were based on four indicators: Percent employment change from peak quarter to first quarter 2009; percent change in unemployment rate from March 2008 to March 2009; percent gross metropolitan product change from peak quarter to first quarter 2009; and percent change in housing prices from first quarter 2008 to first quarter 2009.”
Posted on Jun 2, 2009 | Tagged in: Realtors , NAR , economy
According to the National Association of Realtors, the pending sales for homes have risen 6.7 percent in April, which equals a full 3.2 percent higher than last year. These types of sales are specifically pending sales on existing homes, or mortgage contracts that are signed but not closed.
NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun states that this index can actually be difficult to measure absolutely, as the processing time varies from sale to sale. "The relationship between contracts on pending home sales and closings on existing home sales is taking longer than in the past for several reasons: mortgage processing time has increased, it is taking many months to close on those homes requiring short sales with lender approval, and some sales are falling through at the last moment," he said.
As many experts have gathered, the housing market has reached so low recently that it can only rise back up again now, as seen by the increase in pending homes sales, NAR’s housing affordability index at its second-highest level on record in April, and also the 2.9 percent increase of reported closed home sales.
Posted on May 26, 2009 | Tagged in: economy
A number of positive changes have been sweeping across the greater Houston area. First off, according to new research from Pitney Bowes Business Insight, Houston is one of the top metropolitan areas expected to see quarterly retail sales growth from now and into 2010.
The top contenders are all Texas cities, with the exception of Seattle. Houston ranks fifth on the list for notable scores of strong comparative sales growth, specifically in the drug store and high-end retail. The city was able to earn this rank due to its sales history and ability to remain stable for the past six quarters, despite rough economic conditions elsewhere.
Houston’s strength in the retail sector can be seen to continue as the unemployment rate for the city falls. New figures from the Texas Workforce Commission state that joblessness decreased from 6.6% in March to 6.3% in April, the first major decrease in more than six months. The rate is expected to continue to decline for May, as sales growth comparatively increases. For Texas as a whole, the unemployment rate has held steady at 6.7%, well below the national average of 8.9%.
Posted on May 19, 2009 | Tagged in: NAHB , economy
Newfound hope is now in sight for the Houston housing market, helping it get back on track after its economic slump.
The National Association of Home Builders has recently issued an index reporting an increase in the confidence levels measured among U.S. homebuilders, which rose from 12 points in April to 14 in May. The numbers have been increasing slowly and steadily since February, and have reached their highest in the past eight months, marking a shift in a positive direction.
NAHB’s index reads 50 points as a stable midway point, indicating that the majority of builders still view conditions as poor, but that will soon be changing, step by step.
Posted on May 13, 2009 | Tagged in: economy
After the record-high levels in April of foreclosures throughout the nation, May is looking to be the month of changes, with Texas in the lead.
The U.S. Foreclosure Market Report by RealtyTrac has estimated that one in every 347 housing units received a foreclosure notice last month, about 342,000 properties, the highest record in the last four years. In the same report, Texas showed 11,314 properties in the foreclosure process, a high amount due to the large size of the state, and therefore its corresponding population and number of homes.
As of May 13th, the percentage of foreclosures throughout the state has declined by 9%, indicating that Texas is performing better in the housing market than many other areas of the country.
