Some real estate markets in Texas buck the downward price trend

The mortgage and housing crises damaging real estate markets in other parts of the country have left Texas relatively unscathed. For example, the average home price in the New Braunfels area is $267,000, up from around $245,000 a year ago. The average home price in 2001 was $140,000.

New Braunfels is located northeast of San Antonio on the busy IH-35 corridor between San Antonio and Austin on the edge of the Hill Country. It is situated on the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers east of Canyon Lake. It is a popular tourist destination as well as a retirement haven. Home values also have risen in neighboring San Marcos and San Antonio.

In addition, the number of foreclosures in the state has gone down over the last year, from 16 percent last July. This is due in large part to the state's refusal to allow full-price equity lending. Although Texas made home-equity loans legal in 1997, homeowners can only borrow up to 80 percent of their property's appraised value.

Adapted from the Texas Real Estate Research Center