BRIAN and MARIE SPRAY - Frisco TX Realtors

I remember several months ago there were many posts dealing with the housing market asking "are we

there yet?" meaning have we hit bottom and are we about to start seeing a turnaround and improvement

in our lively-hood? Recalling many posts there seemed to be optimism that the bottom was upon us and

better times were right around the corner. Well, I think for most of us we were wrong and the down turn

has lasted much longer than we expected. For me it has thats for sure! I thought by spring things would

start looking up - noticeably. It hasn't happened. There are many reasons why. In fact there have been

hotly debated posts about the "why" that many of us have enjoyed participating in. I'm not here to open

that can of worms now, but I am here to ask - are you noticing anything different yet? Personally I am

noticing some changes. I'm seeing homes selling in 30 days that are the nicest choices in a particular

price point. We have placed offers on fresh listings and end up in multiple offer situations - several times

in the last month! I hear today that housing starts went up in June, 11% up from May - the largest

increase since December of 2000!!! Metrotex assoc of Realtors says the average # of days on the

market in the Dallas area is 77 days! This could be indicating an under supply situation!!! This

could/should affect buyers optimism and bring more out to buy. We are busier right now than we have

been since 2006! I guess my big question for everyone is - how long will this last? Is this 'surge' simply

a result of the $8000 tax credit and will evaporate when the credit does? Most of our buyers are first

timers - looking to cash in on the credit but we do have a couple of other 'investor' type buyers looking for

great deals. I'd like to think things are looking up but I'm not so sure yet.

What are you seeing?

To all Frisco shoppers who currently travel down to hwy 121 and Ohio to shop at Wal-Mart - you might not

have to travel as far if Wal-Mart gets their way. There is a vacant tract of land on Preston rd at Hickory

that currently is zoned commercial, but not for the large size of building that Wal-Mart needs. Wal-Mart

is asking the city to change the zoning to allow for the store to be located there. This has gotten many

people upset and they have organized and are trying to persuade the city not to allow the change. This

organization - Frisco First, states that they are not in opposition to development of the vacant land, nor

are they opposed to Wal-Mart, but they are opposed to the sizeof the proposed Wal-Mart (185,000 sq ft -

more than double what the zoning allows). There are some fears that the addition of the Super Center

this close to downtown will hurt the businesses located there. The group is planning on holding a meeting

on June 24 at 7:00 pm at the First United Methodist Church on Preston rd - right next to the proposed location.

Personally I don't know which way this would go if Wal-Mart is allowed here - one thing is that it seems

like this location is pretty close to the existing one at 121 and Ohio - maybe about 5 miles?? Won't this

hurt the existing location? Another point is that these places are people magnets - much like malls -

there seems to be an increasein activity around these types of places. Want proof of this just drive a little

further south on Preston and you see the results of having a mall in the area! If you travel down Main

street in Frisco, the shops there are very unique and have a very well defined market they are going after

- will Wal-Mart really hurt them or could the increase in traffic/exposure actually help?? To know for sure

one would have to look at examples from other areas to get a good gage of the net effect on the local

economy after the addition of one of these "Super Centers" because I don't know for sure, but I think the

net result would be good for Frisco. Will everyone be happy? No. Will everyone get hurt? No. Will most

be either helped or unharmed? I think this may be the case. What do you think?

Making news today is the fact that the Dallas Mavericks president Donnie Nelson has purchased a majority

interest in a development league team (D - League) that will be moving to the newly renovated Dr

Pepper arena in Frisco Texas! This is the same arena that is used by the hockey team the Tornados.

This team will function basically as a farm team for the Dallas Mavericks, allowing inexperienced players

a place to gain confidence and veteran players with no connection to the NBA can be on the team as well.

Currently Frisco is home to several sports teams - the Frisco Roughriders baseball team, and Tornados

hockey and the Frisco Thunder arena football team!

As of now the team hasn't gotten a name other than "Texas" A news article in the Dallas Morning news

states there will be a contest to choose a nickname later.

When will we see our first game? Probably not until the 2010-2011 season but that will be here before

we know it!

I just wish they had another term for the league - D League? Not very appealing!

A recently released report by the Brookings Institution ranks the housing market in the Dallas/Fort Worth

area as the 3rd best in the nation! #1 is Houston (another Texas city) and #2 is Buffalo! Local home

prices have stayed relatively level so far during this recession, and in fact according to home valuations by

the Federal Housing finance agency's quarterly price index which tracks loans mortgaged by

Fannie/Freddie prices are up in the DFW area slightly from the first quarter of 2008. If we include other

housing price factors, home prices have declined in the DFW area by about 4% from a year ago. These

are outstanding numbers and is just another reason why the DFW area is a great place to live!

Which places made the worst list?

1. Stockton California

2. Las Vegas

3. Modesto California

4. Riverside California

5. Cape Coral Florida

Red light cameras that is. A few days ago I had a post that Frisco was stopping on red light cameras - well, the Texas legislature did not pass the bill that would have made the red light cameras outlaw'd. Frisco did not renew its monitoring contract because they wanted to wait and see if the bill was going to pass. Well, since it didn't Frisco is now going to be looking at proposals to monitor the lights again and soon they will be back up and running. At the moment there are only 2 intersections with the monitors - Gaylord Pkwy at the Tollway, and Main at the Tollway so remember - someones watching you!