NewsTalk Texas

TEXAS - Texas added 33,100 jobs in April — more than any other state — despite the federal payroll tax increase, U.S. spending cuts and a global slowdown.

The state also added the most jobs nationally — 326,100 — over the last 12 months, the Texas Workforce Commission reported.

“Texas was the No. 1 state again in job creation,” said Jason Frederick, a senior economist for BBVA Compass bank.

Construction has been Texas’ fastest-growing industry in the last year, adding 41,500 jobs. That made the state No. 2 for the most construction job gains in the last 12 months, after California’s 44,800 jobs, according to the Associated General Contractors of America.

Trade, transportation and utilities created the most jobs (16,000), followed by professional and business services (8,000). Government — state and local — also added 4,700 jobs in April and 19,300 jobs over the last year, bucking the national trend.

The Midland area had the lowest April unemployment rate at 3 percent.

Read more at The Dallas Morning News.

AUSTIN, DFW, HOUSTON, SAN ANTONIO - ALN Apartment Data has released the March review of occupancy, effective rent and more for Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Houston and San Antonio.

For reference, Atlanta, Ga., and Phoenix, Ariz., are shown. The general overview includes properties in initial lease-up.

Read more at ALN Apartment Data.

Want more multifamily news? See Austin's Market Data Sources or all 25 Texas MSAs.

TEXAS - The Office of Management and Budget has announced changes to the Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) around the nation. Several Texas MSAs were impacted due to the new definitions, which included MSA name changes and additions and omissions of counties in some of Texas' MSAs.

Below is a Texas chart depicting the new definitions and how they changed from the last definition.

*County names added.
**Bolded MSA names have changed since previous definition.

Read more at the United States Census Bureau.

Listen to Podcast 172 for this story...and more!

TEXAS - The Texas jobs juggernaut rolls on, according to Forbes’ The Best Cities For Jobs 2013 list. Growth has not only been steady, it has been widely spread across the state.

Texas boasts four major metros in the top ten, led by Fort Worth-Arlington at No. 4, Houston at No. 5, Dallas-Plano-Irving at No. 6, and Austin-Round Rock at No. 10. San Antonio comes in at No. 12.

The metro areas have more jobs than they did a decade ago — often a lot more. Since 2001, employment in Houston has expanded 20 percent; in Fort Worth, it’s up roughly 16 percent; Dallas, 11 percent; Austin, a remarkable 26.5 percent; and San Antonio, 18.4 percent.

The power of the energy sector can be seen in smaller metro areas. Oil-rich Midland, places first on Forbes’ list of smaller metro areas (those with less than 150,000 jobs) and also first overall among the country’s 398 metropolitan areas. Nipping at its heels in second place in both categories is Odessa. Corpus Christi came in at No. 4 on the medium-size cities list.

Source: Forbes.com

AUSTIN, DFW, HOUSTON, SAN ANTONIO - ALN Apartment Data has released the March review of occupancy, effective rent and more for Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Houston and San Antonio.

For reference, Atlanta, Ga., and Phoenix, Ariz., are shown. The general overview includes properties in initial lease-up.

Read more at ALN Apartment Data.

Want more ALN news in other Texas cities? See NewsTalk Texas.

TEXAS - U-Haul has released its annual national migration trend report, "The U-Haul 2012 Top 50 U.S. Destination Cities."

For the fourth year in a row, Houston took the No. 1 spot on the list. Other Texas cities on the list include San Antonio (No. 5), Austin (No. 6), Dallas (No. 17), Plano (No. 25), and Fort Worth (No. 26).

The ranking is based on the number of movers renting a truck one-way and was compiled from more than 1.6 million one-way U-Haul truck transactions over 12 months.

Along the same lines, Allied Van Lines’s latest annual report recently named Texas the top magnet state in the U.S., with a net relocation gain of 1,585 families last year.

Read more at PRNewswire and the Houston Business Journal.

TEXAS - Wind energy in the U.S. topped all energy resources last year with 42 percent of all of the nation’s new electric generating capacity and setting a new installation record, according to a report by the American Wind Energy Association.

Over 6,700 wind turbines were erected last year, which is expected to produce enough energy to power about 3.5 million homes. Wind energy as a whole grew 28 percent in 2012. The 45,100 wind turbines finished last year can power 15.2 million homes.

Texas leads the nation in installed wind capacity, which grew 18 percent last year, adding more than 1,800 megawatts for a total of 12.2 gigawatts across more than 40 projects. Wind supplies 9.2 percent of all electricity generated in the state.

So far, about 9,000 megawatts of wind generation capacity have come online in West Texas, according to Electric Reliability Council of Texas.

West Texas alone has more than 2,000 wind turbines, and the number continues to increase as development costs fall and wind turbine technology improves — more than $1 billion in new investment is pending for 2013 construction.

A $7 billion grid expansion is taking place across West Texas, particularly in the Sweetwater vicinity, according to Greg Wortham, executive director of Texas Wind Energy Clearinghouse.

Broadwind Energy announced it landed a $14 million order for towers from a U.S. wind turbine manufacturer. Broadwind will produce the towers at its Abilene facility with delivery scheduled for the second half of this year, according to John Segvich.

Read more at the Abilene Reporter-News.

TEXAS - The Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston metropolitan areas ranked among the top four places to gain the most construction jobs in March, according to information released by the Associated General Contractors of America.

The Houston area added the most jobs with 13,200, followed by the Dallas area with 10,700, Los Angeles with 8,500 and the Fort Worth area with 7,200.

Pascagoula, Miss., posted the highest percentage of job gains — 51 percent or 1,800 jobs.

Of 339 U.S. metro areas, construction jobs grew in 158 for the 12 months ended Feb. 28, declined in 132 and were unchanged in 49 areas, according to the Associated General Contractors of America.

Read more at the Dallas Morning News.

TEXAS - The Texas Veterans Commission has awarded $3,019,674 in grants from the Texas Veterans Commission Fund for Veterans' Assistance to 25 organizations throughout the state.

These new grantees are projected to serve an additional 3,755 Veterans, family members and surviving spouses between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2013, according to Kathy Wood, Director of the Fund for Veterans' Assistance.

To date, the Commission has provided over $26.9 million in 120 grants to 85 local government and non-profit organizations to help serve over 135,000 Veterans and their family members.

The grants are awarded to help Texas Veterans and their families through programs and organizations at the community level.

See the full list at KTAB TV.

TEXAS - Construction employment increased in 145 out of 339 metropolitan areas between January 2012 and January 2013, declined in 141 and was stagnant in 53, according to federal employment data released by the Associated General Contractors of America.

Association officials noted that after years of declining construction employment contractors in some metro areas are beginning to worry about the availability of skilled workers now that they have resumed hiring.

Read more at the Associated General Contractors of America.

TEXAS - In little more than four years, the oil and gas from the Eagle Ford Shale has rocked Texas and the rest of the country. Even at the height of an oil boom, people worry about what happens next.

In 2012, the Railroad Commission issued more than 4,100 drilling permits for the shale, up from just 26 in 2008. Oil production in 2012 jumped to about 352,127 barrels a day, up from 127,965 barrels a day in 2011.

Real estate prices are soaring in places like Beeville, Karnes City, and Kenedy.

Housing is so scarce that the Cotulla Independent School District even had to build a small RV park on its property to give new hires a place to live.

A new H-E-B opened in Gonzales last year, and a Walmart Supercenter is under construction; another H-E-B will open this month in Carrizo Springs.

Dimmit County, once home to two RV parks, now has more than 60, and dozens of “man camps” have sprung up that can accommodate hundreds of oil field workers each.

The Carrizo Springs Consolidated Independent School District is building a new high school, which will accommodate up to 200 more students, but demand for materials is so high that the cost for concrete alone is $3 million over budget. The district’s tax base has swelled to $2.5 billion from $441 million in two years, and total enrollment is up.

Out in West Texas, the old Permian Basin has found new life. In 2012, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis noted that per capita income in Midland topped $65,000 in 2011, making it the second-richest metro area in the nation.

ExxonMobil, Chevron Phillips Chemical, and Dow Chemical, among others, have recently announced plans to build or expand petrochemical plants along the Texas coast.

All of this is plumping up the state’s finances. Oil production and the related taxes reached a record $2.1 billion in fiscal 2012, and oil and natural gas taxes combined are expected to add $5.3 billion to the state’s Rainy Day Fund by 2015.

Read more in the April 2013 issue of Texas Monthly.

TEXAS - Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate latest national survey shows Millennial homebuyers (between the ages of 18 and 35) are rewriting the rules to homeownership and reinterpreting traditional norms to fit their values.

Results indicate that 77 percent of the next generation of homeowners seeks essential, purposeful homes equipped with the technological capabilities they have grown accustomed to, as opposed to stereotypical luxury homes preferred by many in their parents’ generation.

When it comes to the next generation of homeowners, 56 percent of Millennials believe home technology capabilities are more important than curb appeal.

If a home is not up-to-date with the latest tech capabilities, 64 percent of Millennials surveyed would simply not consider living there.

Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed would rather have extra space in their kitchen for a TV, as opposed to a second oven, and they seek to be entertained in every room of their home.

In addition, 84 percent of the younger Americans surveyed believe that technology is an absolute essential to have in their homes. The most sought-after tech being an energy efficient washer and dryer at 57 percent, security system at 48 percent and smart thermostat at 44 percent.

The findings also demonstrate that 82 percent of Millennials surveyed prefer to handle home improvements on their own. Nearly one in three Millennials surveyed would actually prefer a fixer-upper to a house with minimal repairs needed.

Read more at MarketWatch.

TEXAS - ZipRealty has released a list of the ten most affordable housing markets of 2013.

The evaluation compared median home sale prices in 30 metropolitan areas to median household income levels in those same cities. Those metropolitan areas with the lowest ratios of home price to household income were deemed to be the most affordable areas for purposes of the study.

*Three months ending February 1, 2012, year over year
**Three months ending February 1, 2013, year over year

Source: ZipRealty

AUSTIN, DFW, HOUSTON, SAN ANTONIO - ALN Apartment Data has released the February review of occupancy, effective rent and more for Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Houston and San Antonio.

For reference, Atlanta, Ga., and Phoenix, Ariz., are shown. The general overview includes properties in initial lease-up.

Read more at ALN Apartment Data.

Want more ALN news in other Texas cities? See NewsTalk Texas.

TEXAS - One day, you might take a break at the Kodak Rest Stop.  Or you might need to check your route at the Bobby's Big Burgers Travel Information Center.

That's the next step for raising money for state coffers: to commercialize and privatize by selling advertising sponsorships for the public roadways.

The Texas Transportation Commission has approved a rule change enabling the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to accept private donations to pay for roadside upkeep. Signs will acknowledge businesses and organizations along sponsored roadways.

TxDOT currently oversees 78 safety rest areas and 12 travel information centers in Texas that could benefit from the program.

The sponsorship program, expected to launch spring 2013, could provide up to $3.5 million annually in additional revenue.

With the approval of the sponsorship program, TxDOT can now accept and acknowledge private-sector donations for various highway-related services including litter pick-up, mowing services, vegetation management and maintenance at the state’s travel information centers and safety rest areas.

“Our roadsides and safety rest areas are some of the first sights for millions of out-of-state travelers, and as such, we must continue to maintain them and uphold the beauty of the Lone Star State,” said Chairman Ted Houghton of the Texas Transportation Commission.

Read more at TexasBusiness.com.

TEXAS - Texas cities hold half the spots on Forbes’ most recent “Best Cities For Good Jobs” list. Dallas took the top spot on the list, Austin came in at No. 3, Fort Worth was No. 4, and San Antonio was No. 6.

Houston takes the No. 2 spot, with a five-year expected annual job-growth rate of 2.6 percent, per capita income of $42,804 and 6 percent unemployment. Meanwhile, the national average for per capita income is $37,000, and the U.S. unemployment rate is still around 8 percent.

The metrics used are as follows, followed by the weight given to each metric.

Five-year estimated employment growth, 25 percent;
Current unemployment rate, 20 percent;
Estimated 2013 employment growth, 20 percent;
Current per-capita income, 15 percent;
Estimated five-year income growth, 15 percent; and
2011 unemployment rate, 5 percent.

Read more at Forbes.

TEXAS - Texas Tech System’s statewide economic impact during 2012 totaled $9.98 billion, and for every dollar Texas invests in the system, the state sees a $23 return.

The nearly $10 billion economic impact is an increase from 2011’s $7.37 impact with a $16 return for every dollar invested by Texas into the Tech System.

The combined impact of Tech, Angelo State and the Tech Health Sciences Center comprised the annual workforce contribution of alumni, output, employment and labor income.

The yearly contribution by alumni to the Texas labor force was $5.54 billion. The Texas economy saw more than $1.76 billion generated through labor income while the output, or total annual economic to the state’s economy, was $4.44 billion.

Employment increased to 40,775 jobs created from employees, research, students, operations and university-related visitors.

The study was commissioned by the Office of the Chancellor and conducted by Bradley Ewing, a professor in the Rawls College of Business Administration and principal with the Ph.D. Resources Group LLC.

Read more at The Daily Toreador.

TEXAS - Many Texas cities have shown significant growth in gross domestic product (GDP). Houston area’s real GDP in 2011 grew 3.7 percent — the most of the ten largest metropolitan areas in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

DFW followed with 3.1 percent growth, and the San Francisco area was No. 3 with 2.6 percent growth.

Among metropolitan areas with real GDP of more than $100 billion, the San Jose, Calif., area experienced the most growth with 7.7 percent.

Among those with real GDP of $10 billion to $100 billion, Midland, Texas, grew the most  at 9.5 percent.

And of those with real GDP of less than $10 billion, Odessa, Texas, topped the list, growing 15.2 percent.

Real GDP grew in 242 of the country’s 366 metropolitan areas, with overall combined growth of 1.6 percent in 2011. That’s down from 3.1 percent overall nationwide growth in 2010. Among all metropolitan areas in the study, Houston ranked No. 27 for GDP growth.

When ranked by total dollars in 2011, the Houston area’s $419.7 billion GDP ranked the area No. 5 among all metropolitan areas.

Read more at the Houston Business Journal.

TEXAS - Everyone loves the smell of freshly baked cookies, but don't expect that aroma to sell your home, new research suggests.

A study of 402 people in a home-décor store in Switzerland in 2010 found that shoppers spent 31.8 percent more, on average, when the store was scented with a simple orange scent over a complex blend of orange, basil and green tea.

Homeowners are often coached to create pleasing aromas when potential buyers pay a visit.

But complex smells, like baked goods and potpourri, are likely to damp enthusiasm for a fast sale for top dollar, says Eric Spangenberg, dean of the college of business at Washington State University, whose study on the effects of aromas is scheduled to appear in the Journal of Retailing.

Complex scents, even if they're pleasant, can be a distraction because some people subconsciously dedicate time and energy to figuring out what the aroma is.

Spangenberg recommends simple scents, such as lemon, basil and pine, since they are easier to process and less distracting and thus more conducive to spending.

Scents also need to be congruent with the home. A cedar smell might work with a mountain home, but it could seem out of place at a beach house.

Read more at the Wall Street Journal.

Listen to Podcast 161 for this story...and more!

TEXAS - University of Texas System regents ordered their campuses to offer students a four-year, fixed-rate tuition option by fall 2014 to encourage them to graduate on time. The University of Texas System has nine campuses with about 216,000 students.

The UT-Dallas campus has been using a mandatory fixed-rate tuition plan since 2008, and UT-El Paso has been offering an optional plan since 2006.

Under the regents' order, the other seven schools will be required to develop optional fixed-rate plans. Each campus would set their tuition rates.

The four-year graduation rate at UT-Dallas for students entering in the fall of 2006 was 45 percent. That number jumped to 51 percent for students who entered in fall 2008, once the school adopted its four-year tuition plan.

Source: Bloomberg Businessweek