Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Robust Expansion in Texas Manufacturing Continues; Uncertainty Picks Up via Dallas Fed

The robust expansion in Texas factory activity continued in July, according to business executives responding to the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey. The production index, a key measure of state manufacturing conditions, rose six points to 29.4, signaling an acceleration in output growth.

Other indexes of manufacturing activity also indicated continued solid expansion in July.

Read more... Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey

Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey 7/31/18 via Dallas Fed

Texas service sector activity accelerated in July, according to business executives responding to the Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey. The revenue index, a key measure of state service sector conditions, rose from 19.0 in June to a three-year high of 25.4 in July.

Read more... Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey

Thursday, July 26, 2018

ALN Monthly Market Stats July 2018 via ALN Apartment Data

ALN Data just released their Jun 2018 market stats on occupancy and rents for over 80 markets. In Texas, it includes DFW, Austin, Houston, San Antonio, Lubbock, Amarillo, Abilene, Corpus Christi and more. It is a must read from a great provider of apartment data. Check out their new website.

Read more...ALN Monthly Market Stats July 2018 via ALN Apartment Data

Wednesday, July 25, 2018

Dallas-Fort Worth Economic Indicators 7/24/18 via Dallas Fed

The Dallas–Fort Worth economy continues to expand. The June jobs report indicated employment growth moderated, with DFW adding jobs at the slowest pace so far this year. Overall, the DFW economy remains strong, with 3.2 percent annualized job growth year to date. The unemployment rate ticked up in Fort Worth but remained flat in Dallas. Business-cycle indexes for both metros pointed to continued expansion. Home sales growth has been essentially flat in the first half of 2018, and inventory has ticked up but remains tight.

Read more... Dallas-Fort Worth Economic Indicators

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Thousands of new renters are fueling demand for D-FW apartments via Dallas News

Some suburban Dallas communities are pushing back against apartment development, but with 40 percent of North Texas residents living in rental housing, more apartments are a must for the growing metropolitan area.

Between 2006 and 2016, the number of U.S. families with children living in rental housing grew by almost 2 million, according to a new report by Yardi Systems Inc. And the Dallas-Fort Worth area had the second highest increase in the country in renter families.

Read more...Thousands of new renters are fueling demand for D-FW apartments

Friday, July 20, 2018

Dallas: The Silicon Valley Of The South? via GlobeSt.com

Once associated almost exclusively with Cowboys and Rangers, Dallas, Texas, is increasingly becoming a town of Mavericks and Stars thanks to its ongoing transforming into one of the South’s premier tech hubs.

The population of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex grew by 2.02 percent from 2016 to 2017 (trailing only Orlando’s 2.30 percent growth rate among the nation’s 25 most populous metro areas), and the area has added nearly a million new residents since 2010. Much of this growth has been driven by a 9 percent expansion of the Metroplex’s Millennial cohort (defined as those age 20 to 34), an expansion CoStar expects to continue through at least 2022.

Read more...Dallas: The Silicon Valley Of The South?

Thursday, July 19, 2018

Eleventh District Beige Book 7/18/18 via Dallas Fed

Expansion in the Eleventh District economy continued at a solid pace. Manufacturing output increased, and loan demand and retail spending rose. Broad-based expansion in the energy and service sectors continued. Home sales rose modestly, while apartment markets softened slightly. The ongoing drought negatively affected crop and grazing conditions. Hiring remained strong, and widespread labor shortages continued putting pressure on wages. Price pressures stayed elevated largely due to increases in input costs, particularly steel and aluminum. Although outlooks remained fairly optimistic, tariffs and trade-related concerns were creating uncertainty.

Read more...Eleventh District Beige Book 7/18/18 via Dallas Fed

Dallas is still one of the top apartment building markets even though construction permits are down via Dallas News

Dallas area apartment-building activity is down a tad so far this year.

But the 1.5 percent decline in apartment-building permits wasn't enough to knock Dallas off its perch near the top of the list of the country's busiest apartment-building markets.

During the 12-month period ending in May, 20,191 multi-family homebuilding permits were recorded in the Dallas area, according to new data from RealPage.

Read more...Dallas is still one of the top apartment building markets even though construction permits are down

Friday, July 13, 2018

Some Key Apartment Markets See Essentially Flat Rents in Q2 via RealPage

U.S. apartment rent growth is moderating, and some of that slowdown is due to essentially flat rents in a handful of large metros.

Nationally, rents were up 2.5% annually as of mid-2018, the softest upturn since 2010. In five large markets, however, rent growth measured 1.0% or less, and 10 saw increases of 1.0% to 1.5%.

Read more...Some Key Apartment Markets See Essentially Flat Rents in Q2

Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Austin Economic Indicators 7/5/18 via Dallas Fed

Austin economic activity held steady in May. The Austin Business-Cycle Index continued to grow near trend. Job growth accelerated after softening in March and April, while the unemployment rate fell to its lowest rate since the beginning of the year. Recently released detailed job data for high-tech employment suggest that growth in both tech services and manufacturing was strong last year.

Read more...Austin Economic Indicators - Dallasfed.org

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Texas is CNBC's Top State for Business in America this year via CNBC

Riding the rising tide of energy prices — and the job growth that goes with it — Texas lands the top spot in CNBC's 2018 America’s Top States for Business rankings.

This is familiar territory for the Lone Star State, which becomes the first four-time winner in our annual study, now in its 12th year. But it has been a long time coming. This is the first time since 2012 that Texas has claimed top honors. Not coincidentally, West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil — the state’s most important export — peaked at just over $108 per barrel that year, a figure it has not seen since. But it has risen enough — around 60 percent in the last year, powering through the $70-per-barrel mark in June — to turbocharge the $1.6 trillion Texas economy.

Read more...Texas is CNBC's Top State for Business in America this year

Friday, July 6, 2018

Rental Mismatch: Where do renters struggle to find the amenities they want? via Apartment List

At Apartment List, our goal is to help renters find homes that they love by making the apartment hunting process as smooth and enjoyable as possible. To do so, we take the time to ask renters important questions about their preferences. The answers power the product's tailored search experience and provide us with unique insights into which amenities renters are seeking in their next home.

In some cities, however, the types of amenities that renters desire may not match what is available in the marketplace.

Read more...Rental Mismatch: Where do renters struggle to find the amenities they want?

Apartment rents are actually falling in some DFW neighborhoods via Dallas News

Dallas-Fort Worth's net apartment leasing totaled 5,465 units in the second quarter.

That sounds like a lot, but it's not enough.

Developers completed almost 7,000 apartments in the last three months. And on an annual basis, apartment demand is lagging new supply by almost 10,000 units, according to the latest data from Richardson-based RealPage.

Read more...Apartment rents are actually falling in some D-FW neighborhoods

Average Dallas apartment costs rising at one of the slowest rates in U.S. via Dallas News

Two booming Texas cities are seeing some of the smallest apartment rent gains in the country.

Austin apartment rents were unchanged from a year ago and Dallas rents rose by less than 1 percent in a new nationwide rental market update from Richardson-based RealPage.

"Some of the country's biggest markets register largely flat rents, with prices up less than 1 percent from a year ago," RealPage analysts said in the just-released report. "Seattle and Dallas are among the metros where rent growth has slowed most dramatically during 2018."

Read more...Good news for renters: Average Dallas apartment costs rising at one of the slowest rates in U.S.