Texas Economy (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio: sales, foreclosures, new house)

[whitegiant]

How many of you think the Texas economy will stay strong through 2009. Do you think things will stay the way they are or start to slow down. Or the worst case scenario go bust. your opinions

[$DFW8$]

Originally Posted by whitegiant

How many of you think the Texas economy will stay strong through 2009. Do you think things will stay the way they are or start to slow down. Or the worst case scenario go bust. your opinions

I think(hope!) the Texas economy will stay stable and hopefully even get better in 2009! Here in the DFW area, we are seeing a ton of growth despite the economy, as the economy here is doing quite well compared to other areas.

[lonestar2007]

I don't think it will go bust, but I think it will definitely slow down. Well, it already has slowed down. The price of oil and natural gas dropping has already affected areas and that coupled with companies closing, job-lay-offs, sure it's slowed and will slow some more, but Texas is in good shape in comparison, so we should be thankful for that. I feel sorry for the people that this economy has affected and those that it is going to affect. Well, let me rephrase that, it is affecting us all, but some are sure getting hit hard.

[malfunction]

I'm amazed to learn how stable that place actually is right now economically. The stories I hear from relatives and friends are unbelievable, but that's great that you folks are still plugging away while the rest of the country is so uncertain. I also heard that many malls are closing because of poor sales. Not sure if that's happening in Texas, but it's happening elsewhere.

[blueskies49]

Well, it is definitely slowing down a bit. I work for a geotechnical/environmental/construction materials testing lab in Dallas and the construction jobs are slowing down. We have several drilling rigs that on most days are now sitting idle in the yard. My daughter and her husband bought a new house in south Arlington in 2003 and recently had it appraised and it is now worth less than when they bought it. Foreclosures are also going up here. I just read an article online this morning (don't have the link anymore) that said Texas will experience a slowdown and that the economy and consumer spending is heading down in Houston, Austin and San Antonio but it made no mention of DFW. Texas won't be in the worst shape but we will experience some of the downturn.

[High_Plains_Retired]

I have continued to believe that if oil prices stay down the Texas economy will begin to feel it more and more. I just read in the Lubbock Avalanche that area housing sales were down by 41% for the month of November. Some of this is obviously seasonal but certainly not all of it. In all honesty, I've been closely watching housing prices in the South Plains for several years now and I cannot discern any significant price decreases, at least not yet. Of course the billions of Federal dollars being poured into the economy have not yet worked their way into the system but on the other hand we still do not know if the government's actions will start money moving again. Without a crystal ball, and being the pessimist that I am, I'll vote for economic slowdown in Texas for 2009.

[killer2021]

slow down A LOT. TX economy heavily tied to agriculture and energy. Prices in both sectors have nearly collapsed. All those brilliant farmers who leveraged their ranches to the hilt - GOOD LUCK making your payments!!!!!

Thank god the government still has its act together with a balanced budget. Just hope you don't get some nut job in there who wants to spend, spend, spend.

[desertsun41]

Of course the Texas economy will slow some more. Not as bad as the rest of the country though. Just 4-5 months ago the Houston Sunday paper had 25 pages of job listings. During Nov and Dec there were 5 pages or less. Walking through the mall during Christmas shopping, I only saw one teenage shoe store with a help wanted sign. No one hired for Christmas.

I hope Im wrong but I dont see any improvement in our economic recession and the economic depression the rest of the country is experiencing.

[NeoPlanner]

Just like fashion and pop music, it will take a while for the dominoes to come falling south this way. Everything is uncertain.

I say Texas should secede from the United States. We're big enough and built tough. LOL (just joking, guys)

[edward713]

I think the recession will affect Texas, and it will get a bit worse. I also think the country will slide into a Depression by next year at this time, and Texas will escape the brunt of it. I'm in Chicago, and it's very bad up here.