The Houston Mortgage Bankers Association featured real estate market analyst Matt Farris at the group’s February meeting held at Maggiano’s restaurant. Farris, an associate with John Burns Real Estate Consulting, holds a B.B.A. in Economics from Sam Houston State University and received an M.A. in Applied Economics from the University of Houston. He supports consulting services by compiling and analyzing market data, conducting field research, and creating reports for market and project feasibility studies.
In his remarks to the assembled mortgage lending and real estate professionals, Farris gave a state-of-the-market assessment of Houston’s job and housing market and offered a projection on the market’s performance in the near future.
Farris said that he sees a bright, long-term future for Houston jobs and homes. “Both national and international businesses are realizing that they need to do business here –and that will significantly increase with the completion of the expansion of the Panama Canal later this year. Urging caution in the short term, however, Farris noted that one-third of all U.S. energy-sector jobs are based in Houston. “With the downturn in the price of oil, home builders need to be cautious with how much they are building.”
“This is the time of year when we all are very interested in what the economists feel like what will happen in the short-term and near-term here in Houston, the state of Texas and at the national level,” said Bill Dawley, HMBA president. “Matt did a very good job of showing statistics and where we are today, what the trends are that we are experiencing, and how this compares to our previous down-turns in oil prices.”