Corporate moves drive city housing prices
Population, home values rose in recent months
Kevin Cummings
Staff writer, Plano Star Courier
As the population of the Metroplex continues to grow, a trend which many municipal planners expect to continue, some of the newest corporate neighbors moving to the city may be having a large effect on the residents who call the city of Plano “home.”
According to some residents and real estate agents, recent corporate moves such as the announcement that Toyota will be moving its North American headquarters to the Legacy Town Center in west Plano, bringing along with it thousands of employees from California, are driving residential real estate prices upward and potentially attracting more small businesses to the area.
“I do see the value in Plano very strong and continue to be very strong,” said Brad Kennerly of Plano-based Kennerly Properties Inc. “You’re buying the location, that's what you’re doing, and Plano is in the middle of everything.”
According to statistics from the North Texas Real Estate Information Systems Inc. (NTREIS), while the number of new real estate listings in the region has declined by about 5.5 percent from the previous year, the median sales price has increased by about 11.1 percent in that same time, with the average price in the region at $180,000. NTREIS numbers also show that the average amount for days a property is on the market, in February, has dropped by about 13 percent from Feb. 2014. Kennerly said he expects more houses will be on the market in spring, as that is the season when many residents choose to move.
The residential market is not the only market seeing an increase. Last year, the Plano Chamber of Commerce reported a 9 percent growth from the previous year. Previously, Jamee Jolly, chamber president and CEO, said the organizations increase in membership can be partly attributed to large corporations moving to the city, such as Toyota and FedEx, which attract other, smaller business that provide services to the companies and the employees that they bring with them. The increase in business can also be seen by the number of small business loans in Collin County made by the U.S. Small Business Administration, which reported 226 loans, totaling about $120 million in 2014.
Kennerly also attributed Plano’s attractiveness to new residents to the quality of local school districts.
“When families are looking to come to an area [the first thing they look at] is safety; then, when you have kids, it’s schools; then when you start a business,” said Mayor Harry LaRosiliere in December.
In addition to the residents drawn to the city by corporate moves, population projections by the Office of the State Demographer (OSD) show the populations of all of Collin County growing in the coming year, which could also have effects on the residential housing market.
According to OSD projections, with a factored in migration scenario of half of what the state saw between 2000-2010, Collin County is expected to grow by about 129 percent, bringing the total population to about 1.8 million by 2050. As of 2010, the population of the county was 782,341. The information also shows that suburban counties, especially ones surrounding Dallas, are some of the fastest growing in the state.
“All three population projection scenarios suggest the majority of Texas counties will experience continued steady population growth between 2010 and 2050,” states a OSD population projection report.