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Bizjournals recently analyzed private-sector employment patterns in America’s major metropolitan areas using data from the past five years. Using a nine-part formula, with data compiled since 2003 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, they analyzed employment trends in the nation’s 100 largest labor markets.

According to the report, these are the top 10 labor markets in the country:

1. Houston, TX
2. Austin, TX
3. Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
4. Raleigh, N.C.
5. Seattle, WA
6. San Antonio, TX
7. Charlotte, NC
8. Oklahoma City, OK
9. Durham, N.C.
10. Salt Lake City, UT

It’s interesting to note that Texas has four of the hottest jobs markets in the country.

And once again, last place belongs to Detroit which has ranked as the coldest job market in America for the past two years. The biggest problem remains Detroit’s heavy reliance on domestic automakers, resulting in a loss of 30,800 jobs since mid-2007.

People.

The U.S. Census indicates that our population is increasing by approximately three million people each year. All those people will need a place to live, work and shop. So there will continue to be demand for housing and that growth will continue to provide opportunities for real estate investors.

The primary factor driving real estate appreciation is migration. When you have more people moving into an area than those moving out (or passing away), you drive up demand which will ultimately increase home values.

But what drives migration?

Jobs! The largest determinant of migration is job growth. People go where the jobs are, and retailers go where the people are.
Demand for housing will continue, the question is where?

Even though U.S. job growth has been down recently, Norada’s goal is to find where job growth is up. So we begin by identifying markets with solid job growth and narrow our focus to neighborhoods that provide solid real estate investment opportunities.

Hurricane Katrina was our nation’s worst natural disaster – referred to as the “100 Year Storm”.  It destroyed 64,000 homes and 47,000 rental units.  But it also may have provided us with one of the greatest investment opportunity of our lifetime.

Prior to hurricane Katrina, the Mississippi Gulf Coast real estate market was showing significant strength due to the expanding casino market, expanding defense industry and baby-boomers looking for more affordable Gulf Coast living.  In many respects it offered people a similar but more affordable lifestyle than Florida, at a substantially lower cost.

Following the devastation of Katrina, many construction firms concentrated on the areas needing immediate clean up and repair work.  The Governor of Mississippi then announced that there was an urgent need for 100,000 new affordable homes to be built within the following 12 months.  But the true rebuilding of single family homes in the area has only recently commenced.  There were over 100,000 people living in FEMA trailers.  Today 30,000 of those people still live in trailers, and another 40,000 families are living with friends and family due to the severe housing shortage.

Other factors contributing to the demand for housing include the job growth from larger employers such as the Kessler Air Force Base, the Stennis Space Center expansion, the growing aerospace corridor, shipbuilding, growing international trade zones, and the overall Mississippi business climate.

Additionally, Mississippi changed its gaming laws to allow casinos to build 800 feet onshore.  Many of the local builders were given lucrative construction contracts to repair and rebuild casinos.  Contractors were hired to work around the clock to meet tight deadlines on getting the casinos up and running.  Today the Mississippi gulf coast is the second largest gaming destination in the USA next to Las Vegas.

Recent economic studies show that the Gulf Coast area is recovering.  Statewide, gross state product and employment have surpassed pre-Katrina levels and a reconstruction boom is anticipated for the next five years.  Post Katrina employment growth in the state more than offset jobs that were lost due to Katrina.  Retail sales in the twelve months after Katrina are 19% above pre-storm levels, indicating further strengthening in the economy.

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The 2007 annual ranking of the nation’s leading tourism destinations compares domestic and international tourism spending, tourism job creation, and the degree to which each city’s economic vitality is dependent upon visitors. The results show that a significant gain in international visitors propelled New York City to the top spot in 2007.

The U.S. City Tourism Impact, recently released by Global Insight, combines domestic and international travel volumes and spending data from D.K. Shifflet & Associates, as well as the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Office of Travel and Tourism Industries with metropolitan area economic data and models from Global Insight to rank the most popular tourist destinations in the U.S.

As the housing market continues to decline in areas around the country, especially Florida and California, and with the threat of a recession looming like a dark cloud overhead, Texas’ economy and housing market remains strong.

According to numbers released by the U.S. Census Bureau, eight out of the 10 fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the U.S. are in the South, and the South also accounted for more than half of the 50 fastest growing regions.

Dr. James Gaines, a research economist at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University said, “From 2000 to 2007, 3 million people moved to Texas, a 14.6 percent jump in the population, making Texas the fastest growing state in the country.”

“In the next 25 years we’ll add another 13.6 million people, that’s the equivalent of another Metroplex, metropolitan Houston and metropolitan San Antonio with enough left over to add another Corpus Christi.”, he said.

Dallas/Fort Worth drew in more people than any other metropolitan area in 2007.  The population there increased by 162,250 between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2007, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau report.  Houston, Atlanta, and Phoenix also witnessed a swell by more than 100,000 people each.

With its affordable housing, low cost of living and cost of doing business, rising employment opportunities and attractive lifestyle, more people than ever before are being drawn to Dallas.  Continue reading »