Amarillo, TX

The Amarillo Botanical Gardens is holding a contest inviting residents to name the whimsical frog musician statue that welcomes visitors to the garden. Our frog is also the mascot for the summertime Music in the Gardens series. All of Amarillo is welcome to submit their suggestions by August 20th, with the winner to be announced at the Music in the Gardens' final performance on August 25th. The winner will receive an annual membership for a family of four to the gardens. So, put on your thinking caps and name our toe-tapping amphibian friend. All entries must be in writing and should be sent to the Amarillo Botanical Gardens, C/O Name the Mascot Contest. For rules and more information, please visit the Amarillo Botanical Gardens' website. What a fun way to show your civic pride!

Located in the center of the Texas panhandle, Amarillo earns its name as "the yellow rose of Texas". The millions of acres of agricultural land surrounding the city gives it a wide open "home on the range" feel. But, Amarillo remains the Texas panhandle's commercial center.

Besides Amarillo's great public elementary school system, there are several wonderful institutions of higher learning set here. These include everything from Amarillo Community College, a campus of Wayland Baptist University and the Texas Tech School of Pharmacy to the word famous West Texas A&M.

With over 50 city-maintained parks within its city limits, outdoor recreation plays a large part in the Amarillo lifestyle. It also plays host to several events throughout the year to honor the American cowby, such as the Tri-State Fair and Rodeo and the World Championship Ranch Rodeo. Native Americans are honored at the Kwahadi Kiva Indian Museum.

Not everything in Amarillo is about the Old West, though. The Amarillo Opera, Symphony and Lone Star Ballet call the Globe News Center for the Performing Arts their home. Visitors and residents alike can enjoy any one of the many museums and art galleries in Amarillo as well. For science buffs, the Don Harrington Discovery Center is an interactive museum that has over 60 hands-on exhibits for children of all ages to enjoy.

There are so many reasons Amarillo real estate should be put at the top of your list of places to live that I just can't name them all here. Give me a call or drop me a line and I'll show you for myself why I love Amarillo.

There are lots of great things going on in the Amarillo, TX area. The latest news involved the The Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport.

We were all pleased to find out that The Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport will receive about $2.3 million in federal grant funding for infrastructure and safety improvements. Funding will come to the city from the Federal Aviation Administration and will be dedicated to the construction of the airport's new terminal concourse.

To find out more information about the Amarillo, TX area check out http://www.amarillodreamhomes.com/

In the Summer of 2005, Mark Dotzour, Chief Economist at the Texas A&M Real Estate Center, gave a presentation to our local board based on his research, What Factors Determine the Volume of Home Sales in Texas.  The factors that determined Home sales volume in a local economy basically boiled down to Employment or Unemployment rate (when people are employed and don't feel threatened that they may lose their job, they are more likely to buy a home), Mortgage Interest Rates (more people qualify), and Home Appreciation (creates more capital for current home owners to move up).  Based on these factors, Dr. Dotzour described our local real estate economy as "The Perfect Storm".  At the time of the presentation, Amarillo had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country, mortgage interest rates were at historical lows, and annual house appreciation was a steady 5%. He nailed it. That fall our MLS inventory fell by 20%, we saw a record number of building permits, and a record number of sales. This past year (2007), sales slowed down and many of my colleagues have started proclaiming "The Sky Is Falling. Is the party really over? Let's take a look at the numbers.

Unemployment rates continue to trend downward. In fact, unemployment rates are so low, employers are having a difficult time filling their open positions. There may be other factors, however, that may be affecting the consumer's sense of well-being and stability. One is increased cost of energy and food. Dr. Dotzour research showed that a decrease in disposable income has had a negative impact on sales volume. Also negative national news has had an impact on the consumers sence of well-being.

Interest rates are up from their historical lows of 2005. However, they are STILL low - the second best in history in fact. While there are a number of factors that determine rates, the best direct correlation to mortgage rates is the 10 Year US Treasury Bonds yield. Bond yields have been trending downward since September '07. Mortgage rates should follow.

Annual house appreciation has been a steady 5.5%. Home owners who paid $100,000 for the homes 3 years ago have on average $16,000 of equity from appreciation. While this is not a lot when you compare it to the coastal regions, for Amarillo, it means homeowners can sell their homes without taking a loss. This equity plus moderate savings put these home owners in the real estate move-up market. The distribution of Amarillo's Housing inventory by price range shows a strong demand in lower priced homes and weak demand in upper priced homes.

A threat to the Amarillo real estate market will be foreclosures. While overall foreclosures have not changed, some Amarillo neighborhoods have more than their share. Where this has occurred, we have seen downward pressure on price.

In summary, after predicting a strong rally in the Amarillo real estate market, Amarillo enjoyed the best year (2006) in our MLS history. As mortgage rates have gone up, the market, as predicted, has slightly declined (2007 was the second best year in MLS history). If Dr. Dotzour model holds, the indictors predict another record year in 2008.