My Bellaire Blog

Texas has nine of the top 20 best cities for job growth in the United States, according a new study. Texas dominated every category, led by number one-ranked Odessa.

Others on the list are Longview (3), Killeen–Temple–Fort Hood (5), Austin–Round Rock (6), McAllen-Edinburg-Mission (7), Laredo (8) and Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown (10). Next come College Station–Bryan (16) and San Antonio (20).

The study used job growth data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for 333 U.S. regions.

This information is very interesting, so here it is:

HOUSTON (Houston Chronicle) – Sales of luxury homes in the Bayou City haven’t been immune to the slow housing market, but neighborhood values have seen an uptick.

Last year, 3,178 Houston-area homes sold for $500,000 or more, down about 10 percent from 2007, according to a study from Crawford Realty Advisors in conjunction with the University of Houston’s Institute for Regional Forecasting.

Sales of homes that went for $1 million or more were down 8 percent according to the data, which is based on sales in a five-county area.

The decline intensified during the first two months of 2009, with sales of at least $500,000 down more than 40 percent in January and February compared with the same months last year.

However, while sales were slumping in some of Houston’s most exclusive neighborhoods, values in those areas increased.

The median price per sf in River Oaks last year, for example, was $360.96, up 5 percent from 2007, according to the Crawford data. Tanglewood values were flat, and West University Place posted a 12 percent increase.