Here at Texas Lending, we all agree — Dallas is simply a fantastic place to live. The people. The food. The spirit. And (especially) the cheap land and houses.
Apparently, people across the nation agree. According to MSNBC, North Texas is the fastest growing region in the nation, headlined in the top two spots by Frisco and McKinney:
No wonder city officials recently gave this city 25 miles north of Dallas the slogan “Progress in Motion” — it was the fastest-growing city with more than 100,000 people in the entire country in the 2000s.
But why are so many Dallas-area newcomers settling here? Frisco has some of the best schools in the state. Collin College, Dallas Baptist University, the University of Dallas and Amberton University all have campuses in Frisco. The city is also home to minor-league basketball, hockey and baseball teams and has quality arenas and ballparks. [...]
North Texas has a lot of fast-growing communities, and there’s a lot of competition for where people can live and businesses can relocate. But people have been voting with their feet and trooping to McKinney.
They like that they’re within striking distance of downtown Dallas, 30 miles to the south, yet at the same time can live in a place that has elements of small-town charm. McKinney’s downtown of 19th-century brick buildings has more than 100 shops and restaurants, most of them locally owned.
Round Rock and Denton also both grabbed spots in the top 15.
It’s good news for the long-term outlook for the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex, and a sign that continued population growth will help offset the deep losses inflicted by the Great Recession.
The study also pointed out an illuminating trend—nearly all the fastest growing areas were suburbs of larger, nearby cities. Dallas-area ‘burbs like Frisco fit this bill.
Unfortunately, while high-growth suburban areas are most primed for extraordinary booms, they’re also the most vulnerable to busts. So the study gives us two important takeaways:
1) The Dallas area will rebound.
It’s a great place to live, and people around the country are noticing—especially in places in much worse financial shape, like the Midwest and parts of California. Growing too fast, which creates a popping-prone bubble, is a better problem to have than not growing at all (or than bleeding population like dying cities in the Midwest). And most of the fundamentals that made Dallas such a desirable place to live in the first place are still here.
2) But, for now, great deals are everywhere.
A bubble pop is a still a bubble pop, and a lot of folks in Dallas suburbs and smaller North Texas towns are feeling the worst of it. While this makes it tough for people who need to sell their houses sell their houses—and while it depresses the economy in general, making it tough for many folks to make ends meet and avoid foreclosure—it creates enormous opportunities for buyers.
Interest rates are still relatively low. Prices are still relatively low. And this historic buyer’s market will last just a little bit longer.
For the sake of all our friends and neighbors, we’re eagerly awaiting a return to a normal, healthy economy in Dallas. But, in the meantime, we’re also eager to help folks who can make the best of it. Contact our Dallas home loan specialists if you’re ready to buy.
Tags: Home Loans, home purchase, homebuying advice, housing crisis, housing market, mortgages