Houston #1

You read the title correctly, Houston is #1! Who says? Kiplinger.com has rated Houston #1 in its' 2008 Best Cities ratings. Thank you Kiplinger.com.
According to the article Houston created over 100,000 new jobs in 2007. That in itself is amazing. The income growth for the city is 13.1% since 2000. New jobs and more money! What a great combination. I will bet there are not a lot of cities in the US that can claim the same. Do you realize that according to the article our cost-of-living index is an 88.1? With the national average being a rating of 100 we are well below the national average. I will wager you right now that along with this great news we will even see the Astros win the World Series this year. Okay I may be dreaming a little there.
But let me ask you this after you have read what I wrote above and what I wrote earlier this month about rising home prices. Why are you waiting to buy? Our city and county are growing, home sales are down but average home sale prices are rising and interest rates are low. Yet some of you are sitting in the corner of the dugout waiting until the ninth inning to come to bat. Well guess what? It is the bottom of the ninth.
Why do I say it is the bottom of the ninth and that now is the time to take your swing at a home purchase or sale? The US dollar needs strengthening so I don’t think the Fed will cut interest rates any more. The Saudis just called for an oil summit to examine the current outrageous price of oil. They may turn on the tap. They have 2,000,000 more barrels a day that they can produce. Congress is looking at commodity speculators. It is an election year and our incumbents all want to keep their cushy political jobs and they know every vote counts. They will do something, be it right or wrong to get your vote. NAR just showed that pending home sales just took an unexpected jump. The FHA may start taking credit scores in the 580 area to help increase home sales. That in my opinion is a whole lot of stuff that is happening or is going to happen very shortly to spark the market. Please realize that I am not an economist or even a good prognosticator but I do read, study and know the market. Home prices in our market are not going to go down. They haven't yet and won't in the future. The best deals are now.
Okay grab your helmet and bat. Get out to the on-deck circle (in other words call your mortgage banker and get your prequal letter), warm-up and let’s go take our swings at buying that home you have been dreaming about. And please no steroids. That is what got us in trouble in the first place.
Have a great day! And please don't forget to call me so I can help you buy that new home!
Ron