The Tyler area saw a 17.27 percent increase in home sales in September compared to the same time a year ago.

Last month, 258 homes were sold in the area, compared to 220 sold in September 2010, according to figures released Tuesday from the Greater Tyler Association of Realtors.

read more: http://www.texasrealestate.com/web/3/31/News/102711.cfm

Real estate agents in Lubbock had a strong September, racking up home sales nearly 40 percent better than a year ago, according to figures released by the Lubbock Association of Realtors.

And preliminary indications suggest October is on track for another good showing.

read more: http://lubbockonline.com/business/2011-10-12/hub-city-realtors-post-strong-september-sales-numbers%23.tphedbl17gc

Seem crowded in Houston these days? New data in a study by Rice University backs up that feeling.

Houston has added more people during the last decade than any of the nation’s other 366 metropolitan areas, according to the analysis of the 2000 and 2010 U.S. Census released Tuesday by Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research

Read More: http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2011/07/12/report-houston-growing-faster-than.html?ed=2011-07-12%26s=article_du%26ana=e_du_pub

Due to a slow housing market and delays in the foreclosure process, Mortgage delinquencies are at their lowest level in several years.

"The problem with that, even though it sounds better, is that all of those foreclosure auctions we should have seen this year roll into next year, and that means it's going to take that much longer for the housing market to recover," said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac.

read more: http://www.npr.org/2011/06/16/137218628/mortgage-delinquencies-at-lowest-level-since-2006

While Washington DC is the number 1 city that has stable home prices, Houston was the only Texas city to make the top 10 list, coming in at number 9.

read more: http://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/10-cities-with-rising-housing-market-2011/10.html#top

Using Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data, Dallas Fed economists looked at state-by-state employment changes since June 2009, when the recession ended. Texas added 265,300 net jobs, out of the 722,200 nationwide, and by far outpaced every other state. New York was second with 98,200, Pennsylvania added 93,000, and it falls off from there. Nine states created fewer than 10,000 jobs, while Maine, Hawaii, Delaware and Wyoming created fewer than 1,000. Eighteen states have lost jobs since the recovery began.

read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304259304576375480710070472.html

PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Partnership for New York City just published a report ranking 26 global capitals of finance, commerce and culture.

Houston dominated this list, beating the 25 other cities by a Texas-sized margin. Although it did not score highest in any single cost category, a strong combination of factors make Houston appealing for business. Some examples: low real estate costs, high purchasing power and inexpensive business travel expenses.

read more: http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/smallbusiness/1106/gallery.affordable_cities_business/index.html

by G. Scott Thomas | Business Journals | May 11, 2011

Salaries are higher in Durham, N.C., than anywhere else in the South.

The typical worker in the Durham area earned $50,480 in 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The presence of two major colleges (Duke University and the University of North Carolina) and a sizable research sector have made Durham the wage leader throughout the South.

Neck and neck as runners-up are the Huntsville, Ala., metropolitan area and the Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas, metro division. (A division is a subset of a major metro area.) Their respective annual averages are $46,220 and $46,110 per worker.

On Numbers broke down U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data to isolate the pay levels for 772 occupations in 140 Southern metros.

Our previous reports this week have listed pay levels for 801 occupations across the country and 772 in the East. (Stories on the Midwest and West will follow on Thursday and Friday.)

The following are the 10 Southern metros with the highest annual average pay for all occupations:

1. Durham, N.C., $50,480
2. Huntsville, Ala., $46,220
3. Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas, $46,110...

Read more: http://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/on-numbers/scott-thomas/2011/05/durham-is-southern-wage-leader.html

J P Donlon | Chief Executive Magazine | May 3 2011

More than 500 CEOs considered a wide range of criteria, from taxation and regulation to workforce quality and living environment, in our annual ranking of the best states for business. The charts and articles in this special report show how each state fares on the factors most essential for a business-friendly environment—as well as what states are doing to attract and retain companies in the increasingly competitive battle to win site selection.

While the Lone Star State may not be perfect—many leaders would like to see improvements in its education system—it is Periclean Athens compared to California in the eyes of the 550 CEOs surveyed for Chief Executive‘s seventh annual report on the best and worst states in which to do business. It’s the seventh time in seven years running that Texas has led the states, and the seventh year California—to no one’s great surprise—ranked as worst state.

But there has been some jockeying within the ranks...  Read More: http://chiefexecutive.net/best-worst-states-for-business