The State of Texas has changed the rules to apply for your Homestead Exemption.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The era of near 4% mortgage rates has ended after a quick rate rise since early November. But some industry experts think that may be a good thing for the flagging housing market.

NEW YORK (Associated Press) -Americans' confidence in the economy improved slightly in August, but the mood is still gloomy amid job worries, according to a monthly survey.

The Conference Board said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index improved slightly to 53.5, up from a revised 51.0 in July. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters had expected 50.5. The improvement comes after two straight months of declines.

Read the full article at Associated Press.

"The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is giving homeowners and buyers until October 4 to lock in a low monthly insurance premium. After October 4, the monthly insurance premiums on FHA loans will increase by over 63%." - Gibran Nicholas, Chairman of the CMPS Institute.

Read the full press release at the CMPS web site.

COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) - When it comes to home price appreciation, Texas is standing strong, said Real Estate Center Chief Economist Dr. Mark Dotzour.
Dotzour was responding to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) second quarter 2010 home price index, which ranked Texas third in the nation in home price appreciation for the year ending June 30, 2010.
FHFA reported a 1.43 percent increase in Texas home prices during that period versus 1.6 percent nationally.
"The strong price trends in Texas are because we didn't have a price bubble in the previous decade," Dotzour said. "For several years, Texans were asking why their homes were increasing only 3 to 5 percent per year, when Arizona was going up 30 percent."
In addition, Dotzour said the credit crisis virtually ended new home construction lending all over the country, abruptly shutting off the pipeline of new supply in 2008 and reducing any chance of heavy overbuilding in the single-family market.
Research Economist Dr. Jim Gaines noted that Texas was one of only ten states that reported increases in home prices during the past year, and it was one of only five states where prices had more than a 15 percent increase over the past five years.
Prices in Texas increased by 15.88 percent since 2005, landing it fourth on FHFA's ranking of states based on five-year price appreciation.
"What that means is that Texas home values fared better than all of the high-appreciation states over the five-year period that included the recession," Gaines said.
Among Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs), Amarillo came out smelling like a yellow rose. It was the only Texas MSA to land on FHFA's list of 20 MSAs with the highest rates of home price appreciation.
Amarillo ranked 16th with a one-year price increase of 0.42 percent.
FHFA's latest home price index is available online.

Source: The Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University

Houston ranks No. 10 among major U.S. metros for high-salary jobs, according to employment Web site TheLadders.com.

Read more: Houston ranks No. 10 in high-salary jobs - Houston Business Journal

Houston's economy is showing signs of recovery, according to a recent report by Metrostudy, a national housing data and consulting firm that maintains the most extensive primary database on residential construction in the U.S. Housing market.

Read the full article at MetroStudy.

David Winans has just released his latest video cheering on Texas. "Houston's Texaplex Advantage" is a great look at "the next great world city". More information on the Texaplex is available at Texaplex.com.

Dim lights

Although the recession has hit the whole country, Texas is faring a lot better than the rest of the country. Derek Thompson at Atlantic.com has come up with 4 reasons why he thinks that this is the case.

1. A Late Start
2. Stable Real Estate
3. The Right Mix
4. Something About Texas

Read the article for more information on his reasons.

 

"Austin and the three other major Texas markets registered the nation's strongest employment gains during the past five years, according to figures released Wednesday morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Austin came in No. 3 with 56,100 new private-sector jobs created between June 2005 and June 2010. Houston topped the list with 129,800 new private-sector jobs followed by Dallas, with 71,300 jobs created. San Antonio ranked No. 4, with a gain of 32,600 positions during the same time period."

Read more: Texas cities hold top four job-growth spots - Austin Business Journal