Recount in Texas House Race Would Be High Stakes
from The Fort Worth Star-Telegram
After losing by just 20 votes, Democrat Bob Romano has requested a manual recount in his bid to unseat Republican state Rep. Linda Harper-Brown of Irving. If Harper-Brown maintains her lead, the House will have 76 Republicans and 74 Democrats. If Romano pulls ahead, the House will be split evenly. More

Report: Dallas Area Home Prices Rising
from The Dallas Morning News
A new housing report shows that the Dallas area is one of the few large metropolitan areas in the country where home prices haven’t fallen this year. Four of Texas’ biggest metro areas had slight increases in prices at the end of October compared to a year ago, according to the study released Monday by First American CoreLogic. More

Existing Home Sales Dive 40 Percent in November
from The Austin American-Statesman
Sales of existing homes in Central Texas plunged 40 percent last month, the largest decline on record, as the recession and credit crunch arrived full force in Austin. The 990 sales were the lowest number for November since 1997, according to the Austin Board of Realtors. And the median price fell 3 percent, the first drop in four years. Real estate experts don't expect next year to be any better. Consumer confidence has deteriorated, and while mortgage rates are falling fast, lenders have raised standards for mortgages. That has closed out some buyers who would have qualified under looser standards a year or two ago. More

Developers Seek Bailout Bucks
from CNBC
Some of the biggest U.S. property developers are asking for government money in the face of $160 billion in maturing commercial mortgages next year, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. About $530 billion in commercial mortgages are due for refinancing over the next three years, with $160 billion due for payment next year, according to Foresight Analytics. More

Collin County Income Growth Leads Nation’s Largest Counties
from The Dallas Morning News
Collin County had the fastest rate of total income growth last year among the largest 164 counties in the United States, according to a U.S. Department of Commerce report released Monday. Total income in Collin County grew by 12.4 percent in 2007, according to the county compensation report by the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis. The national average was 5.2 percent in a year when inflation rose 4.1 percent, as measured by the U.S. Department of Labor. More

Rick Perry Keeps Strong Hold on Texas Through Appointees
from The Dallas Morning News
Rick Perry became Texas' longest-serving governor last week, but it was months ago that he arguably became the most powerful executive in state history. Longevity has its rewards: Mr. Perry has made 1,700 annual appointments to dozens of agencies and commissions that set policy for everything from birth certificates to funeral homes, from borders to highways, from universities to dog tracks. More

Dems Shun Race for Governor
from The Houston Chronicle
The rapidly growing field of candidates for a U.S. Senate special election that may never occur has left the Texas Democratic Party with no clear candidate for governor in 2010. For the past year, the presumption has been that Houston Mayor Bill White was the leading contender for the Democratic nomination to take on either Gov. Rick Perry or U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, depending on who emerged victorious from the Republican gubernatorial primary. But the political calculus changed last week when White announced he will seek Hutchison's Senate seat instead. More

Pete Sessions to Kay Hutchison: Don't Leave Early
from The Dallas Morning News
Rep. Pete Sessions told this reporter Friday that Kay Bailey Hutchison shouldn't leave the Senate to run for governor. Instead, Mr. Sessions said Ms. Hutchison should run for governor from her Senate seat. If she beats Rick Perry, she could then pick her replacement. Mr. Sessions fears that a special election to fill Ms. Hutchison's unexpired term would create an opportunity for a Democrat to win the seat. Candidates from both parties have already expressed intentions to run for Ms. Hutchison's seat, if it becomes available. More