The Realtors Land Institute is composed of men and women who sell dirt, which is a good investment these days.  There are 3 investment categories of land:  agricultural, recreational and transitional.  Transitional land is land on the suburban outskirts of cities that will converted from ag use to new homes in the near future.  During the great collapse of 2008 to 2011, there were NO bidders, so prices plummeted.  Could not get loans to develop.  Americans are buying houses again, so DEMAND IS UP.  Lot prices could increase to meet this demand.  Recreational land are toys for both boys & girls & a pretty lake, stream or mountains adds value.  During the great collapse, bidders for these properties disappeared.  Prices didn’t fall hard, but few buyers.  Recreational land is awakening, as thousands of families started receiving massive payments for the minerals under their properties, the economy has recovered & business profits have improved so the recreation market is reawakening. Farmland is on fire?  Corn ground in Iowa that was $7,500 per acre a few years ago is now selling for $17,000 per acre.  Other states similiar & cropland prices in the Texas Panhandle have skyrocketed as well.  The land market in America is COMING BACK STRONG.  Where do you put your money, but into land?  This is why foreign investors are buying U. S. dirt, according to Dr. Mark Dotzour, Chief economist & Director of Research at TX A&M Real Estate Center.

The last 4 years have been full of dour news about the slow growth of employment in America.  The unemployment rate remains high & labor participation rate is low.  There are a lot of  “long-term unemployed” workers in the country, but true.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes their J.O.L.T.S. report each month.  It’s call the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey.  BLS reports job openings, hires, quits, layoffs, discharges & other separations each MONTH.  As of January 10, 2013 there are 3.7 MILLION JOBS open in America looking for a worker.  They are (1) construction – 93,000 openings, (2)  manufacturing – 276,000,  (3) trade, transportation, utilities – 720,000, (4)  professional & business services – 584,000, (5) health care – 643,000,  (6)  leisure & hosopitality – 479,000 and (7) government – 355,000.  Listening to the news would give you the idea that the future of our country is bleak, but according Dr. Mark Dotzour, Texas A&M Real Estate Center the economy is growing, inspite of the incompetent governance in Washington.  There  are JOBS FOR THOSE WILLING TO WORK!

LEVERAGING is when a household or a business borrow money to spend or invest and there has been an increase in household credit debt from the 1950s until 2008.  It means you are spending more than you bring in.  DELEVERAGING is the opposite.  It occurs when you pay off debt rather than take on more and that means you are spending less.   When the entire country deleverages, it means economic growth is going to be slow.   Economic growth will continue to be slow as long as the outstanding debt continues to shrink.  Deleveraging does not happen often and when it does it is painful for the national economy.  The good news is that the deleveraging cycle appears to be ending.  As Americans spend then the economic output comes from consumption.  Almost 65% comes from economic output.  All this from Dr. Mark Dotzour, Chief Economist and Director of Research at the TX A&M Research Center.

TTI (Texas Transportation Institute)  report includes a new measure of travel reliability called the PTI (Planning Time Index, which illustrates the extra time needed to arrive on time to priority appointments, such as airline departures and medical appointments.  A PTI of 3.00 means that a traveler would need to allow 60 minutes for a trip normally requiring 20 minutes.  Nationally, PTIs range from as low as 1.31 (about 26 minutes for a 20 trip) in Pensacola, Fl to 5.75 (nearly two hours for that same 20 minute trip) in Washington, D. C. In Texas, Austin faces the longest potential delays (its PTI is 4.26), followed by Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (4.00).  Houst0n ranked 6th-worst among the nation’s 498 urban areas for overall congestion.

Dr. Mark Dotzour, chief economist at TX A&M Real Estate Center in College Station.  Real estate construction is growing again finally, more people are at work and 5 years of pent-up demand for housing & commercial properties + Americans now have credit capacity again.  For years, people have been talking about how the housing market is aheadwind against economic recovery.  Now turning into a tailwind.  Dotzour said some of the starts will still be constrained by labor shortage, mortgage loan underwriting and a further increase in construction costs.

The U. S. Supreme Court is about to dive into a water rights dispute that could affect 1.7 million North Texas residents, according to the Wall Street Journal.  The dispute is between Texas’ Tarrant Regional Water District & Oklahoma.  Texas wants to capture water in Oklahoma that flows into the Red River, the border between the 2 states.  So far, lower courts have ruled for Oklahoma.  In addition, Texas has asked the Supreme Court to consider a separate lawsuit alleging that New Mexico isn’t giving Texas its allotted share of water from the Rio Grande.  No court has ruled on this.  Texas is one of the fastest-growing states and will need 8.3 million acre-feet of water by 2060 where population is expected to surpass  46 million, up from 25 million now.

Tyler, Longview, Midland and Texarkana were on the list of small metros on RCLCO list out of Santa Monica, CA. for economic growth.  Austin & area, Dallas & FW, Houston and area are the big cities.  Also 1/2 of the cities on the list of metros where employment is back to peak levels are in TX:  DFW, Houston, San Antonio, Austin, El Paso & Corpus Christi.  The managing director of RCLCO said diversified employment bases, including energy & technology sectors, are benefiting the TX economy as are the low cost of doing business, warm climate and proximity to trade routes.

(1)  mortgage cancellation relief is extended for another year.   Households who have  mortgage forgiveness by a lender in 2013 will not have to pay tax on the amount forgiven.  (2)  mortgage insurance premiums remain deductible.  Tax filers making less thatn $110,000 who pay mortgage insurance or PMI can deduct the cost of their premiums in their 2012 & 2013 returns.  (3)  15 year straight-line cost recovery on leasehold improvements is extended.  For qualified leasehold improvements on commercial properties thru 2013 & includes 2012.  (4)  energy efficiency tax credit, up to $500, for home owners who make energy efficiency improvements to an exisiting home for 2012 & 2013.                              CAPITAL GAINS RATE STAYS AT 15% FOR A TOP INDIVIDUAL RATE OF $400,000.  Also the 1st $5,000,000in individual estates & $10 million for family estates are now exempted from the estate tax.

Rural land markets reflect influences from its sizable and growing urban areas.  Demand for recreational use competes with timber production.  57% of the land is used for grazing with 33% to timber production.  The recession of 2009 caused a drop in prices and in 2011 land in this region sold for $2,979 per acre, which matches the average prices in 2005.  In 2009 a meager volume of 606 sales, but a present 3% DECLINE suggested that recessionary forces continue to dampen demand in our region of Northeast TX.  This according to a TX A&M Real Estate Center research economist, Dr  Gilliland and assistants.

in the “fiscal cliff” bill that extends this act.   This is an opportunity to list your home with a real estate agent and do a short sale through this program.  Appointments are being set in Smith County to sign up for this program and call Carolyn Bain, Bain Real Estate at 903-571-2191 to get further details.  This is one opportunity to try to relieve yourself of your mortgage that is choking your family.