El Paso County Growing
By John Rogers
El Paso Tx Real Estate
I first came to El Paso after being stationed here in 2002. I got out and decided to sell homes because it is what I’ve always wanted to do. I love this city and want you to know what going on in this part of Texas. El Paso 3rd safest city in the US with a population over 500,000. It is located at the western tip of Texas. Over 600 miles from my hometown of Dallas, Texas. You don’t know how big Texas really is until you’ve driven through it. Juarez, Mexico (with a population of 1.3 million) is to the south and New Mexico is to the west and north. Five bridges, in different parts of El Paso, connect the United States with Mexico. There are over 11,500,000 Pedestrian Crossings and 11,000,000 Vehicle Crossings per year.
The southern most tip of the Rocky Mountains, our Franklin Mountains Run right through the center of the city. This pretty much divides the city into the West Side and East Side. In the central area is the El Paso International Airport where a new Tom Fazio golf course is being built, and Ft. Bliss, which run into New Mexico. Our current population is around 700,000. The cities in El Paso County are Anthony, Canutillo, Clint, El Paso, Fabens, Horizon City, San Elizario, Socorro, and Tornillo.
There are a few hot topics going on in El Paso. The main ones at this time are the states politicians poor efforts to fund the new 4 year Texas Tech Medical School causing it to expand late (2009 instead of 2008). There is also debate about the revitalization of down town El Paso (which I support if done right). The main holdup is the use of eminent domain. El Paso also had flooding in July (unheard of), 455 homes sustained major damage and 295 homes were destroyed. Since it doesn’t rain much normally a lot of folks didn’t have flood insurance.
Ft. Bliss came up the biggest winner in decisions by the BRACC (Base Realignment and Closure Commission). The post will lose the air defense school but will gain the 1st Armored Division and a few other battalions over the next 5 years. This will increase Ft. Bliss by 20,000 troops, and about 30,000 dependants. It will be the biggest post in the continental United States. This will help out the local housing and rental market significantly. Ft. Bliss has an economic impact of over a billion dollars a year and that is sure to increase. Bliss dollars already account for $1 out of every $6 spent in the El Paso's economy. The Texas Veterans Land Board recently increased their home loan program to $325,000. This should help out local veterans who may retire in the area.
There are three local colleges within driving distance to El Paso Community College (EPCC) is one of the largest and fastest growing community colleges in the country with over 25,000 students. There are campuses located all over El Paso including on Ft. Bliss. University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is located on the West Side of town with about 20,000 students (Go Miners!). New Mexico State University is located in Las Cruces, New Mexico about 30 miles north. El Paso is working hard to improve their education system. In the past year test scores have risen at local high schools.
The housing market is what you really want to hear about so let’s get to it. There is no bubble in the El Paso housing market I repeat no bubble. It might have slowed just a little but not much because of rising interest rates and speculation brought out by the media. Most of Texas did not appreciate at ridiculous rates like other states. In fact El Paso is said to be undervalued. El Paso's average home value is $127,500. There is a lot of development going on. In the northeast there is a project to build a master-planned community of 10,000 homes around Painted Dunes Golf Course in a decade. On the eastside developer Woody Hunt of Hunt Communities is creating a massive master-planned community of 20,000 new homes. Land may have to be annexed from Horizon City, which is also seeing rapid growth. The company is also developing about 2,000 acres on El Paso's West Side.
For more information visit The City of El Paso , El Paso Chamber of Commerce, or my Web site.
John Rogers
www.johnrogershomes.com
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