When it comes to people searching for a place to live Plano, Texas tops the list.
Realtor.com recently released it’s ranking of most searched cities, and a Plano zip code sits at number one in Texas. According to Steve Brown, real estate editor for the Dallas Morning News, the boom is simply due to business relocation. However, the trouble is it’s more than just one business moving.
“Toyota is moving 4,000 people there; they’re moving their headquarters from California. Liberty Mutual Insurance is a big Boston insurance company; they’re moving 5,000 people there. FedEx is this year moving 1,400 jobs there,” he says. “And there’s a huge shortage of houses. There’s only about 600 houses for sale in all of Plano. So that’s what has caused the crazy market there… I’ve heard of there being like 12 offers on a house the first day it’s put up for sale.”
As the population of the area grows, it seems like the city isn’t able to keep up. Brown breaks down the numbers behind the shortage.
“Our population here is growing by over 100,000 a year, and we’re only only building about 60,000 homes and apartments. There’s a huge shortage of new construction, and that’s why the housing market here in North Texas hasn’t been this tight since after World War II… They just can’t catch up.”
However, Brown says he understands why the boom has to happen.
“I’ve been doing this for over 30 years; I’ve never [seen] a housing market like this all over Texas. It sounds like California. It sounds like Nevada. The difference is that this is fundamentals. It’s all these jobs. It’s not speculators; it’s not hype. So, yes it’s crazy, but it’s crazy for the right reason.”
