Report: Most Home Sellers Still Overvaluing Properties
from The Dallas Morning News
Despite all the news about the housing downturn, most home sellers continue to overvalue their properties, according to a new report. Real estate agents said that 60 percent of their clients thought homes were worth more than the recommended sales prices, online real estate firm HomeGain said in study. More

Woman Wonders if Bill Absolves Builders of Warranty Responsibility
from The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Under normal circumstances, Janet Ahmad, president of HomeOwners for Better Building, says she would be celebrating a House bill now before the Senate that would require Texas home builders to get licensed by the state. But when she read a late amendment offered by state Rep. Allan Ritter, D-Nederland, to House Bill 2295, she called the Star-Telegram to sound the alarm. More

Job Seekers Head to Texas
from The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Across the nation, unemployment is sky-high, the housing market is sucking wind and recessionary fears have frozen Americans in place. Just don’t tell that to a stream of new residents who are "voting with their feet" that Texas is the safest place to ride out the storm and the place to be when the economy recovers. More

America’s Best Bargain Cities
from Forbes via Yahoo! Finance
Four Texas cities make the list of America's Best Bargain Cities, but none come close to Austin, whose 5.5 percent unemployment is the best in the country and about half the national average. More

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Housing Construction Drops 12.8 Percent in April
from The Associated Press via The Houston Chronicle
Housing construction plunged to a record low in April as a steep drop in apartment building offset a rebound in single-family construction. The Commerce Department says construction of new homes and apartments fell 12.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 458,000 units. More

No Chance Now to Override Perry on Stimulus Funds for the Unemployed
from The Dallas Morning News Politics Blog
The Legislature has blown past the deadline for it, not Gov. Rick Perry, to have the last word on whether to accept $556 million in federal stimulus money for unemployment insurance. The Senate passed bill is still before the House Calendars Committee. Calendars' chief, Rep. Brian McCall (R-Plano) says he still expects to get the bill to the House floor. More

Texas House Takes Moderate Direction
from The Austin American Statesman
The Texas House, tightly controlled by conservatives just a couple of years ago, has become downright moderate. The House demonstrated its newfound moderation under first-term Speaker Joe Straus by passing a series of bills last week that probably would have struggled to emerge from the chamber under former Speaker Tom Craddick. More

The Battle Over a Bull Creek Home
from The Austin American Statesman
Property owners have riled some residents in the Courtyard subdivision across Bull Creek from their land, who contend that plans to build a sports pavilion and two covered terraces into a bluff would mar an untouched expanse of the Bull Creek inlet treasured for its serenity and natural splendor. More

Representative Opposes Seizing City Land for Border Fence
from The Brownsville Herald
As the U.S. Department of Homeland Security moved to take possession of city property for a border fence between Brownsville and Matamoros, U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz (D-Corpus Christi) expressed his displeasure. "I am not pleased," Ortiz said of DHS' move amid negotiations with the city on a proposed levee-temporary fence alternative. Ortiz's spokesman Jose Borjon said Friday that the congressman had asked DHS not to begin proceedings to take possession of city land. More

Get the latest Texas Association of Builders news as well as information affecting the building industry by visiting www.TexasBuilders.org. For information about Education, Exhibits and Special Events happening at the 2009 Sunbelt Builders Show™, visit www.SunbeltBuildersShow.com.