Terri Covington, owner of Covington Real Estate in Belton, said 2007 “was a little slower than expected … some properties didn’t move as quickly as we’d hoped.”
Covington said the previous two years were so fruitful it was inevitable that business would slow down. Still, she’s optimistic about the new year.
Covington said she expected garden home sales to do well in 2008 because they are popular with more people than just retirees. Homeowners with busy lifestyles, who travel frequently and have no children often choose town homes, Covington said.
Regarding the big story of 2007 in which lenders quit funding loans to applicants without good credit - called sub-prime loans - she said they lost very few home sales because they “absolutely” recommend local lenders to their clients.
Covington also expects home sales in the Lake Belton area to do well.
Lloyd Thomas, president of the Aldrich-Thomas Group of Temple, which specializes in retail, commercial and industrial investment property, said he expects 2008 to be a good year for Temple growth.
“Temple has the rail service and central location which can easily service Texas and the Southwest and that’s what industries are looking for,” Thomas said. “The economy overall in Temple is going to remain strong and we’ll see additional industrial growth as well as retail.”
Danny Dunn, vice president with Rodney Dunn Company Inc., said the Temple area was doing well, especially in light of the national picture.
“In our market, we saw a little bit of a change … but we’re fairly well insulated compared to the rest of the country.”
According to Dunn, the West Adams Avenue corridor, West and South Temple should be good markets for home sales.
Dunn said long-term planning “by people in our community who were in charge for the past 50 years,” was responsible for Temple’s consistent growth, avoiding the volatility seen in other parts of the country.
“I’d much rather see steady growth than years that are off the charts. If things look too good to be true, they probably are,” Dunn said. “We’re very positive for 2008, but just like anything, we’ll see bumps along the way.”
Year to date 2007 average home sales price for Temple-Belton, compared to other Texas cities.
Temple-Belton $135,600
Austin $246,400
Bryan-College Station $160,700
Killeen-Fort Hood $125,500
Port Arthur $122,400
Tyler $160,000
Victoria $134,700
Waco $132,700
Wichita Falls $110,600
Texas state average $193,100
Source: The Real Estate Center at Texas A & M University
fafflerbach@temple-telegram.com
