Real Estate Wealth Really is Bigger in Texas

The old adage states that everything is bigger in Texas, and Austin lake houses and Austin mansions are testaments to that. The wealth in Texas is no exception, in large part thanks to the real estate market. In 2011, Texas wealth in real estate was valued at $1.6 trillion, or $65,432 worth of real estate for every Texan, regardless of age. That’s up 86.7% from $35,055 for every Texan in 1997.

Real estate is the state’s second largest industry, according to Dr. Ali Anari of the Real Estate Center (REC) at Texas A&M University. According to Anari, the 2011 Texas real estate industry accounted for 8.4% of the state’s gross domestic product (GDP), second only to manufacturing at 14.7% of the state’s GDP. “The bottom line here,” said Austin real estate investor and REALTOR Brian Talley, “is that real estate equals money, and in almost every case, money that’s been well invested.”

Real estate wealth is comprised of single-family residences, like popular Circle C homes with pools, multifamily residences, commercial properties, industrial properties, mineral real estate, utility company properties, rural acreage and vacant lots. More than half (56.3%) of the state’s real estate treasure is in single-family housing, and as home prices rebound and rise throughout the state, especially in Austin, the value of single-family housing is going to increase. Texas’ 2011 single-family residential wealth totaled $945.1 billion.

Also part of the Texas real estate wealth totals in 2011 were multifamily residential wealth, which equaled $85.1 billion, commercial real estate wealth that amounted to almost $279 billion, industrial real estate valued at $95 billion, mineral real estate totaling $106 billion, utility company properties coming in at $50 billion, rural acreage claiming $80.3 billion of the wealth pie, and vacant lots adding $39.5 billion of wealth not counting untapped potential for development.

Dr. Anari said that every $1 million of Texas real estate revenue generates more than $500,000 in revenue elsewhere in the state economy, 5.2 real estate jobs, and five jobs in other industries. “Real estate investment is a community affair,” Talley said. “It’s an investment in both personal wealth and the state of Texas.”

To learn more about Texas real estate, contact Talley today.

* Photo Z Custom Homes