Houston housing market feeling energy sector’s slump

In the most recent report from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, the slowing energy sector’s drag on the Houston housing market remains evident. And, the report said, homes sales in the state for 2015 remain positive, but the rate of growth has lagged behind the nation as a whole. While the Lone Star State’s economy continued to grow, the pace has moderated. With a drop in energy prices and the continued strength in the U.S. dollar, those things that boost Texas’ economy are causing it the most pain. Even though employment gained, it was not as vigorous an uptick as it could have been since oil and gas extraction employment is slumping. Houston is singled out as the epicenter of this effect. It’s not a one-for-one exchange of employees between sectors: homebuilders still are constrained by a shortage of skilled labor in construction workers of all types. Lots that are appropriate for quick building are also more difficult to come by. Still ...