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The Raub Blog


Housing Industry on Firmer Ground

by Stephen Raub on January 11, 2012

Home builders are expected to start at least 10 percent more homes in 2012 than they did last year — the first double-digit bump for the industry since the 2006 market peak and subsequent downturn. And the Eagle Ford Shale play in South Texas could provide more opportunity for the local real estate industry.

It’s welcome news for builders, who hit a high of more than 19,000 home starts in 2006, then faced a painful five-year contraction and bottoming.

The 2 percent improvement in building starts in 2011, when builders started 6,843 homes, should be trumped this year. And — barring some outside economic disaster — the good times should keep rolling from there.

Inselmann spoke at the Greater San Antonio Builders Association’s annual forecast breakfast at the Omni San Antonio Hotel, saying the recovery started in 2011, albeit at a glacial pace that “was almost invisible to the naked eye.”

“We’re going to go up more in 2013 and even more in 2014,” he said.

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Eagle Ford Could Boost SA New Home Starts

by Stephen Raub on January 11, 2012

SAN ANTONIO (San Antonio Express News Link) – It’s been a rough ride for the Alamo City’s housing market since 2006, when area home starts hit a high of more than 19,000. But that could be about to change, especially with a little help from the Eagle Ford Shale.

Speaking to more than 500 industry insiders last Friday, Adam Haynes with Chesapeake Energy Corp., encouraged local builders to build homes in South Texas counties.

He said drilling activity in the Eagle Ford Shale has stressed the housing market and led to $2,000-plus monthly rents, so homes are needed.

Still, San Antonio has the healthiest new-home inventory in the nation, Inselmann said, with just 1,300 finished and vacant homes on the ground ready for sale.

Framing crews start a home as KB Homes construction continues in the Bella Vista neighborhood off Potranco on the far west side of San Antonio on May 5, 2011. Tom Reel/Staff Photo: Treel@express-news.net, Tom Reel  Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/10-boost-in-S-A-home-building-predicted-for-2012-2446236.php#ixzz1jACy0mEP

Photo: Framing crews start a home as KB Homes construction continues in the Bella Vista neighborhood off Potranco on the far west side of San Antonio on May 5, 2011. Tom Reel/Staff
Photo: Treel@express-news.net, Tom Reel

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San Antonio is tops in Small Business Hiring Reports …

January 10, 2012

San Antonio’s reputation as an economic dynamo was polished this week by a report from a national payroll services company showing area small businesses increased hiring more than any other city in the U.S. last year.
The SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard showed that SurePayroll customers in San Antonio hired 8.3 percent more people in 2011, the [...]

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Texas No. 1 in U.S. for biggest 5-year job gains…

January 4, 2012

Texas added far more jobs than any other state in the country in the past five years.
Nationwide, only six of the 50 states have more retail jobs today than they did at the end of 2006. That’s according to an analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics by On Numbers, [...]

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Muli-Family Housing Offers Good Value For Investors

December 12, 2011

Bargains are thinning out, but that hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm of real estate investors who target multi-family properties in the Sunbelt.
In what many see as a sign of recovery in the small-scale apartment market, rents are moving higher and cash flow is improving. “Now is the best time [to own apartment properties] because the cash [...]

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Halliburton black gold rush hits SA

December 1, 2011

(11/29/2011)
SAN ANTONIO – Oil-field-services Halliburton Co. began work on a $50 million base of operations at I-37 and Loop 1604, for which it will need 1,500 workers to support its operations in the Eagle Ford shale.
The 400,000-sf structure will house employees earning annual salaries averaging $70,000. Officials say they hope to fill 75 percent, or [...]

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December 2011 – Raub Report …

December 1, 2011

As we approach the end of the year, I thought it time to do an overview of the market place. Some of the analysis comes from the recent CCIM Symposium. All in all, we are bumping along the bottom, awaiting a reason to turn optimistic but uncertain about the proverbial “Light at [...]

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San Antonio…

November 29, 2011

EAGLE FORD SHALE… continues to prove positive for San Antonio and surrounding areas!
The hottest spot for San Antonio-area job growth is a slice of South Bexar County where Loop 1604 runs in two narrow lanes and the nearest businesses on intersecting Interstate 37 are truckstops and fireworks stands.
Last week, oilfield services giant Halliburton Co. [...]

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