Expensive homes in Keller staying on market longer, analysts say

By SARAH JUNEK

With tighter mortgage lending, pricier homes in Keller have lingered on the market, contributing to tumbles in first quarter 2009, analysts say.

Thirty-five percent fewer pre-owned homes sold through March than in the same period in 2008, according to North Texas Real Estate Information Systems. That’s compared to a roughly 25 percent drop across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, said James Gaines, a Texas A&M Real Estate Center economist.

Average price also fell 4 percent, but median price rose 5 percent – a sign Keller’s more expensive homes are taking longer to sell, Gaines said. That difference wasn’t as wide across the area, where average and median prices fell 7 percent and 5 percent, respectively, according to Gaines and the National Association of Realtors.

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Real estate: Sinclair Building won’t lose parking

By Sandra Baker

May. 24, 2009

The owners of the Sinclair Building in downtown Fort Worth were not left without parking for their tenants when they recently sold the building’s parking lot at Third and Commerce streets to billionaire Ed Bass’ Fine Line Diversified Realty.

As part of the deal, Fine Line conveyed to Sinclair Building Partners the 20,000-square-foot surface parking lot it owned on Jones Street, between Fifth and Sixth streets, two blocks east of the Bass Performance Hall, according to deed records. The Sinclair Building is at Fifth and Main streets.

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Deadline for property appraisal protests nears

By SCOTT PRICE Wednesday, May. 20, 2009

The deadline for most property owners in Tarrant County to protest their appraisals with the Tarrant Appraisal District is June 1, 2009.

Fort Worth-based attorney Ryan E. Ray said many people do not take advantage of their opportunity to have the tax value of their home or other property reduced. He said this can save people a lot of money.

Ray said last year he assisted a Colleyville homeowner whose tax value was reduced from about $1 million to $750,000. He said that reduced the annual property tax bill by about $6,000.

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Cowtown City Hall Considers Going Postal

The Fort Worth City Council has approved money for a study on moving City Hall into the city’s historic downtown Post Office building.

The city is considering renovating the state landmark into a new City Hall.

“And we should do that, because its a centrally located facility, it’s at the heart of the Lancaster corridor development (and) it has great access to current and future mass transit,” said Randall Harwood, director of the city programs office.

The City Council approved $200,000 for a study to determine if the project would be economically feasible.

The question is: Do the numbers work?

The city would be on a 20 to 30-year lease purchase agreement at up to $6.4 million a year.

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Rise in Tarrant County property values puzzles some homeowners

By ANTHONY SPANGLER May. 16, 2009FORT WORTH — A reeling economy plus rising foreclosures plus a faltering housing market equals higher home values.

Sound like fuzzy math?

Thousands of property owners in Tarrant County may be asking that question. Roughly the same number of homeowners’ values increased as fell, but overall property values rose 4.6 percent in Tarrant County in the past year, according to preliminary data.

Values would have dropped if not for an additional $1.2 billion in taxable mineral rights and $4.4 billion in residential and commercial construction, data released Friday show.

So why did some properties rise in value against the downward current?

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Southlake’s Three Dogs Bakery to send Obamas’ pooch ‘Bo’ a special treat

A Southlake bakery is sending a bit of Texas love to Bo, the Portuguese water dog, as he settles into his new digs at the White House.

The Three Dogs Bakery in Southlake is shipping a specialty doggie dessert to D.C. for Bo, who was bred at Amigo Portuguese Water Dogs in Boyd, 35 miles northwest of Fort Worth.
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Hundreds turn out for ‘tea party’ protest at Southlake Town Square

Southlake’s Town Square rarely caters to more than lunchtime retreats, making the hundreds of tea bags, “Downsize DC” signs and tiny American flags at noon even more distinctive.

In what amounted to a warm-up for the Dallas “Tax Day Tea Party” on Wednesday night, about 500 people stood in front of Southlake’s town hall to boo governmental intervention, burgeoning bank bailouts and the recent stimulus package.
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DFW rains help put out most smoldering grass fires

The day belonged to the ducks instead of Easter bunnies.

Booming thunderstorms dumped heavy rains in Tarrant County on Sunday morning, washing out many outdoor Easter plans.

Rain totals ranged from 0.75 inches in Southlake to an inch in the Texas Christian University and Wedgwood areas of Fort Worth to almost 2 inches in Haltom City and north Arlington.

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Crowds of teens spark concern at Southlake Town Square

SOUTHLAKE — Some teens appear to be making themselves a little too at home in Southlake’s Town Square, city officials and others believe.

Residents, retailers and city officials say that hordes of unsupervised and unruly teens descend on Southlake’s signature commercial development and stay there for hours on end, making the square an unwelcoming place to visit on Friday and Saturday nights.

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Texas highway officials support plans to divide stimulus money among Fort Worth-area projects

By MICHAEL A. LINDENBERGER / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – Texas highway officials, carving up federal stimulus money, are endorsing projects that range from a big toll road in Fort Worth to road improvements across North Texas.

Among the ideas:

•$250 million for the DFW Connector toll road project, which would expand State Highways 121 and 114 near Grapevine in Tarrant County.

•$60 million to repair dozens of existing highways in Dallas, Collin, Tarrant and nine other nearby counties.

•$144 million for a new interchange at Interstate 20 and State Highway 121 in Tarrant County.

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