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When economist Tyler Cowen looks at the American economy, he sees only one way to ensure long-term growth and stability. And it’s Texas.
After all, Texas weathered the Great Recession without taking a crippling hit – then recovered from it before many other states did. In his Time magazine cover story, “Why Texas Is Our Future,” Cowen points out:
- Texas is the fastest-growing large state in the U.S. Since 2000, 1 million more people have moved to Texas from other states than have left.
- Texas has a higher per capita income rate than California, adjusted for cost of living, and is nearly as high as New York.
- From 2002 to 2011, with 8 percent of the U.S. population, Texas created nearly one-third of the country’s highest-paying jobs.
Dallas-Fort Worth is at the epicenter of this growth and prosperity. Moody’s Analytics says seven of the top 10 cities in the U.S. for job growth through 2015 will be from Texas – and Dallas and Fort Worth are among them.
At the recent MetroTex Forecast 2014 meeting, organized by the Dallas-Fort Worth Realtors group, Dr. Jim Gaines of the Real Estate Center at Texas A & M University said projected job growth in Dallas-Fort Worth for 2013 is expected to hit 3.5 percent. He also noted that Dallas-Fort Worth would add 8 million people in the next 30 years, bringing the region’s population to 17 million. About 85 percent of that growth will focus on the I-35 corridor.
What does that mean for DFW? We’re already seeing it play out in the real estate market. A growing population means strong home sales across the board; prices have risen to (or beyond) pre-recession levels. And the builder market has returned – to offer new residents more options.
According to Gaines, you can break down the forecast into this equation:
- Growing Economy + Growing Population = Housing Market Growth
- This year alone, economists predict that Dallas will have about 64,000 homes sales, the same number as in 2007.
- It’s a great time to live here.
Click here to read the full article in Time.
Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty is Dallas’ luxury real estate leader, with more than 200 agents in five offices located throughout Dallas-Fort Worth and access to the global Sotheby’s network, including more than 11,000 agents in more than 650 offices worldwide. CEO Robbie Briggs independently owns and operates Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty. For more information on escapes and second homes, ranch and land, and luxury homes in the Dallas-Fort Worth region and beyond, go to briggsfreeman.com.
