Posted on 04/06/2010 8:26:22 PM PDT by Lorianne
Why did Texas—Texas, of all places!—escape the real estate bust? Only a dozen states have lower mortgage foreclosure and default rates, and all of them are rural places like Montana and South Dakota, where they couldn’t have a real estate boom if they tried.
No, Texas’ 3.1 million mortgage borrowers are a breed of their own among big states with big cities. Just less than 6 percent of them are in or near foreclosure, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association; the national average is nearly 10 percent. Texas might look to outsiders an awful lot like Sunbelt sisters Arizona (13 percent) or Nevada (19)—flat and generous in letting real estate developers sprawl where they will. Texas was even the home base of two of the nation’s biggest bubble-era homebuilders, Centex and DR Horton (DHI).
Texas subprime borrowers do especially well compared with counterparts elsewhere. The foreclosure rate among subprime borrowers there, at less than 19 percent, is the lowest of any state except Alaska. Part of the state’s performance is due to the fact that Texas saw nothing like the stratospheric home-price run-ups other states experienced. On average, the 20 metro areas in the Case-Shiller Home Price Index saw their home-resale prices peak in 2006 after more than doubling since 2000. In Dallas, one of the 20, they went up just 25 percent, gradually, and have barely declined.
But there is a broader secret to Texas’s success, and Washington reformers ought to be paying very close attention. If there’s one single thing that Congress can do now to help protect borrowers from the worst lending excesses that fueled the mortgage and financial crises, it’s to follow the Lone Star State’s lead and put the brakes on “cash-out” refinancing and home-equity lending.
(Excerpt) Read more at thebigmoney.com ...
And on top of that, people are moving to Texas. (GTT “Gone to Texas” still happening) Away from the mess created by the Leftie Scum. (excuse us for Austin)
I see more and more out of state plates every day around here.
Imagine that - legislators encouraging self responsibility and discouraging recklessness!
Yep, and as long as they want to carry their own weight that is good.
Texas is not where you were born, but a State of Mind, Heart and Attitude.
Something like this: “Leave us alone to live our lives in peace and we will get along fine, if that is not satisfactory, we will deal with it.”
May it ever be so.
“Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may.” ~ Sam Houston
Texas is not where you were born
Yes it is, Austin 1957
How refreshing to see common sense prevailing. Now if the other 56 (by Obama’s count) could do the same...
Our real estate prices don’t “balloon” like other parts of the country. We have moderate increases in value, consequently, any devaluation tends to be moderate as well.
As a native Texan, I get what you’re sayin’. Being born here means you hold in your heart a Texas state of mind, heart and attitude.
Texas sucks like the rest of the country. Texans tout the low taxes, but they forget to mention the fees for services are VERY high. Cost of living is high. Wages are low due to the illegal immigration problem. I love my home state, but it ani’t some conservative heaven like many people keep posting on this site.
This is at the heart of the realestate debacle. Underwriting standards and cash out refinance. Couple loose standards on both, low interest rates and a compliant Fannie and Freddie raising loan limits the sky..and wow. A big big bubble. Congress, Fannie and Freddie have still not learned their lesson and nothing on this is in the finance reform bill. They know if they lowered loan limits, restricted cash our refinance and tightened underwriting the housing market would deflate even further.
Some of my ancestors were born here during the “Republic” but birth does not make you a Texan.
It is something like this:
“Born American, but in the wrong place”
http://www.claremont.org/publications/pubid.5/pub_detail.asp
The worst of it? The worst is yet to come.
My ancestors did not come here because life here was easy, they came here for enough land to live and be left alone.
Some of them were literally “burned out” of Alabama during Reconstruction, for opposing the rule of Carpet Baggers. Those were very evil times.
My family farms here, some of the land has been owned and operated by my family for over 110 years. We have good neighbors and are good neighbors. Outsiders are welcome, but they have to understand what Texas is.
It is not political, it is about freedom. Freedom to succeed, fail or just be left alone. Not complicated.
Yes, I am afraid you are correct. We will not be untouched by what is ahead. We will be tried and this assault on our freedoms will be repelled. Whatever it takes!
Yes, the government is spending. And a very possible or even likely sovereign debt crisis is on the way. The interest rate hikes (after bonds) will flood into the real estate market and other markets. The government will be competing with consumers for credit.
Thanks you sir.
I did not comment on that. You are correct, cost of living is lower, home prices are lower, property taxes are higher (but values much lower) but no State income tax, and wages are generally lower (but more stable).
What must ultimately happen is for government to be reined-in. It is TIME to Drain the Swamp! It is TIME to DownSize DC!
Eliminate entire departments (Education, EPA, etc)
Force Congress & Senate to Telecommute most of the year and live in their home districts under the thumb of the electorate. Away from lobbyists. Change the Center-of-Gravity of Government. It is the only way out of this mess. And it will not be painless.
You don't know what you are talking about. What services? Cost of living? Give me a break. Texas has one of the lowest costs of living in the nation.
Texas does have high property taxes and our politicians have pillaged the taxes meant for road construction. But both of these issues primarily exhibit themselves around big cities.
If you are moving to an area, drive around and look at the schools. If they are massive structures with fancy architectural elements, you can bet the property taxes are astronomical.
Stay out of the cesspools of Dallas, Houston, and Austin and you will do ok.
Shrink government is the only path out of this mess.
I would rather scratch a living out of the soil than be a subject to a dictatorial state.
Texas will not be a State of surfs. Will not happen.
Before it comes to that, we will deal with it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.