Last fall I did some comparisons with my current locale, Reno NV, versus my home town just outside of Charlotte NC. While the standard of living in Charlotte was 6% lower than Reno, the median home prices were 20-30% lower than Reno, and cost of living was 8% lower than Reno. Charlotte also still boasts an unemployment rate of approx. 3%, and is the only major housing market to see an increase (2%) in new home sales in the 1st quarter 2008. From talking to family back in God's country, I know that fuel prices, while high, are still lower than Reno.
So, in sum, I'd assume that some of those home prices in Texas probably represent a very affordable home, even in a rural home market, with an overall lower standard of living. In the end, you still save money...
Na, man as I posted I went to Texas and checked around in both Austin and Dallas.. Houses are just cheap out there because they never got a big housing boom. The prices reminded me of Florida about 10 to 15 years ago. Back then I bought a house was a 3 bdrm,2bth,2 car on a corner lot with a privacy fenced in back yard. The house had a minor fire in it so the entire place had been gutted and redone, talking new bathroom new kitchen the whole 9 yards. I paid $54k for it when I was 21. Today that same house had a tax appraisal value of $175k.
This was in Brevard county were some of the highest paid jobs are in Florida because of the tech industry. That place is second only to silicon valley in the amount of high tech companies. It's just Florida had cheap houses for a long time, Texas is the same way but for what ever reason Florida's prices went through the roof the last 10 to 15 years and Texas houses didn't.
Just on the flip side though, just for the hell of it I was looking at prices in Detriot and you could liturally buy houses fot $100. They may or may or may not be burt down..