Barbara J. Birinyi

Breaking news on the Texas foreclosure front.

I just received an email from the legal department at the Texas State Association.

It outlines the details of the foreclosure "HALT."

It states that suspension notices were sent to 30 mortgage-loan servicers doing business in Texas.

And that Texas REALTORS® currently involved in a short sale or that have concerns related to this issue can call the Texas Association of REALTORS® Legal Hotline.

If you missed seeing this email, you need to check it out ASAP.

Here's an uplifting bit of statistical analysis.

A recent article in Monthly Review of the Texas Economy - September 2010 by Dr. Ali Anari and Dr. Mark G. Dotzour at http://recenter.tamu.edu/pdf/1862.pdf reports that:

"Texas' economy gained 133,100 jobs from August 2009 to August 2010, an annual growth rate of 1.3 percent.

During the same period, the U.S. economy added 278,000 jobs, an annual growth rate of 0.2 percent. The state's private sector posted an annual employment growth rate of 1.4 compared with 0.3 percent for the United States."

The article goes on to outline statistics for overall unemployment rates and shows which cities/areas in Texas are reporting job growth.

Another God Blessed Texas cheer on this glorious FALL day!

That's the title of a recent article by the research team at Tierra Grande magazine, the flagship periodical of the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. I read it cover to cover...it's a great source of Texas related real estate information.

The complete title of the article is:

A Horse is a Horse, of Course, of Course. . . Unless it Predicts Land Prices

It's an interesting anaylsis of Texas land prices compared to thoroughbred yearling sale prices.

Maybe a stretch, but here in Texas we take both our land and our horses very seriously!

Read the full article at http://recenter.tamu.edu/pdf/1940.pdf

Happy Trails to you and yours (that's my horse Sky in the photo..isn't he handsome).

A recent article from the College Station Texas, Real Estate Center reports that "One word describes the future of Texas real estate - population."

"More people are moving to Texas than are moving out. These new adult Texans need housing the day they arrive. That is more good news for a real estate industry that has already fared better most states during the latest economic downturn."

For more information, read "The Changing Face of Texas" in the July issue of Tierra Grande magazine, the flagship periodical of the Real Estate Center. It is online at http://recenter.tamu.edu/pdf/1938.pdf.

The winter of 2010 produced some unusual weather in North East Texas.

There were a few days of below freezing temperatures and a couple days of snow.

While other parts of the US have snow every winter, in this neck of the woods it's unusual.

Average winter temperatures are usually around 50 degrees.

This bright red Cardinal didn't seem to mind the chill.

He's sitting in a fig tree that will be in full bloom soon. Spring is almost here!