Even though I think Houston has a great future ahead for it, I have to admit that I have been a bit nervous about what the future holds for us. But, every time I start becoming a doubting Thomas, I run into more positive economic news. I do not think that the Houston housing market is going to completely dodge the economic down turn, however, it is looking as though we may be somewhat insulated from the troubles others around the country will encounter. I just read a post from the Texas A&M center of real estate that tracks economic data and real estate transactions for all of Texas.
In that post, it discussed that the Houston Port Authority had recorded increases in shipments in both August and September of this year when compared to last year. This shows that yet another major employer’s outlook is healthy. This is good news for Houston area labor, and therefore, good news for the Houston housing market. Read on to find out about the Port Authority statistics.
According to Chris Monica of CEVA Logistics, Houston has managed to buck the National trend of slowing in the shipping markets. Compared to last year, tonnage at the port authority’s facilities increased by 8 percent in August, 6 percent in September, and for the first nine months of 2008, 6,028 ships have visited the channel, amounting to a 4 percent increase over last year. More good news are the plans of the expansion of the Panama Canal which is expected to be finished by 2014. Since the larger Panama Canal will be able to handle larger container ships, it will cement the Port of Houston Authority as a major player in the world’s shipping ports. This will likely lead to expansion of the current port terminals, allowing for added higher paying jobs to the Houston economy. Increases in higher paying jobs gives strength to the idea that the Houston housing market should see strong price appreciation.
