And the Good News Is...

November 20, 2008

It's getting to be more and more difficult to find good news on TV. Reporters seem to be reveling in stirring up as much "doom and gloom" news as they can – after all it's been proven that bad news sells better than good. Our addiction to news tickers and 24 hour coverage was solidified during horrific news events of the last decade. But there IS positive news to be found if you dig hard enough.

28 Metropolitan areas showed increases in median existing single-family home prices from the same quarter in 2007. Areas such as Elmira NY, Tulsa OK, Wichita KS and Urbana IL.

But even in areas where average home sales have dropped drastically, there is good news. Buyers who have been shut out of the home ownership market, are now finding that they can afford to buy. And they ARE buying. Three states where the ‘housing bubble' has burst are seeing some of the highest increases in sales. The largest sales gain during the third quarter was in Arizona, up 28.3 percent from the second quarter, followed by California which rose 28.1 percent and Nevada, up 26.2 percent. These areas have seen some of the strongest sales gains with some reports of multiple bidding.

And there's also good news for sellers. The typical seller purchased their home six years ago and is still experiencing net equity gains, even in today's depressed markets. The national increase in value since the third quarter of 2002 is 18.3 percent, which is a median gain of $31,000. Even with the current downward price distortion, 90 percent of metro areas are showing six-year price gains.

So while we are definitely in turbulent economic times, there is GOOD NEWS to be found if you look for it. Hopefully, some home buying incentives will be passed soon to stimulate even more home ownership. Lawrence Yun, the chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, said that, "A pattern of sharply higher sales in areas with large price declines is well established," Yun said. "Affordability conditions have consistently been a major factor in driving sales. Historically during recessions, buyers have responded to incentives and it's important for government to keep that in the forefront of stimulus decisions."

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Local Information for Waco, TX

Latitude: 31.551516 -- Longitude: -97.15593

Other Area Cities: Waco Hewitt Woodway

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Prior to the founding of the town, a Wichita Native American group known as the "Waco" or "Hueco" lived on the land of contemporary downtown Waco west of the Brazos River. In 1824, on an expedition to the Waco village, Thomas M. Duke reported the following to Stephen F. Austin: "[T]his town is situated on the West Bank of the River about half a mile from the River[. T]hey have a spring almost as cold as Ice itself[. A]ll we want is some Brandy and Sugar to have Ice Toddy[. T]hey have about four hundred acres planted in corn beans pumpkins and melons and that tended in good order [sic.] I think they cannot raise more than One Hundred Warriors." After Austin aborted the first attempt to destroy their village in 1825, he made a treaty with them. The Wacos were soon forced to abandon their village due to a Cherokee invasion in 1830 and moved upstream to what is now Palo Pinto County (west of Fort Worth). -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Texas 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Waco	Texas	United States
Population	113,726	20,851,820	281,421,906
Median age	27.9	32.3	35.3
Median age for Male	26.4	31.3	34
Median age for Female	29.6	33.4	36.5
Households	42,279	7,393,354	105,480,101
Household population	105,283	20,290,711	273,643,273
Average household size	2.49	2.74	2.59
Families	24,794	5,247,794	71,787,347
Average family size	3.19	3.28	3.14
Housing units	45,819	8,157,575	115,904,641
Occupied units	42,279	7,393,354	105,480,101
Vacant units	3,540	764,221	10,424,540

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