Texas Real Estate Listings, Texas Homes for Sale, Texas Condos, TX

Texas Real Estate Overview

Texas is a state in the South and Southwest regions of the United States. It joined the United States in 1845 as the 28th state, after nine years of self governing.

With an area of 268,820 square miles (696,241 km2) and a population of 22.5 million, Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous 48 states in area. Texas has historically had a "larger than life" reputation, especially in cowboy films.

Texans pride themselves in a history of tradition, yet there are still new social and technological developments. Austin is the headquarters of Dell and known as "Silicon Hills", Dallas is a famously cosmopolitan metropolis, Houston is a leader in the oil industry, and cultures of San Antonio and El Paso retain their Mexican heritage. The state tourism slogan is "Texas: It's like a whole other country."

Texas Location

Texas borders New Mexico on the west, Oklahoma on the north (across the Red River), and Louisiana (across the Sabine River) and Arkansas on the east. To the southwest, across the Rio Grande, Texas borders the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas. To the southeast of Texas lies the Gulf of Mexico.

Texas lies in the south-central part of the United States of America. Texas is considered to form part of the US South and part of the U.S. Southwest. Some regions of Texas are associated with the Southwest more than the South, while other regions are associated with the South more than the Southwest. Texas shares some cultural elements with both regions, with more similarities with the South, especially Arkansas and Louisiana, in East Texas, and more similarities with the Southwest, especially Mexico and New Mexico, in West Texas and South Texas.

Texas is so large in its east-west expanse that El Paso, in the western corner of the state, is closer to San Diego, California than to Beaumont, near the Louisiana state line; Beaumont, in turn is closer to Jacksonville, Florida than it is to El Paso. The north-south extent is similarly impressive; Dalhart, in the nortwestern corner of the state, is closer to the state capitals of Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Wyoming than it is to (Austin), its own state capital.

Texas Geography

Texas has five major topographic regions:

1. The Coastal Plain, from the Gulf of Mexico inland to about San Antonio and just southeast of Austin
2. The Hill Country and Edwards Plateau, a hilly rocky area in central Texas bordered on the east by the Balcones Fault zone and Blackland Prairie
3. The Great Plains region extends into northern Texas, including the Llano Estacado and the Panhandle High Plains
4. The North Central Plains
5. The Trans-Pecos Desert, a subdivision of the Chihuahuan Desert, in extreme western Texas, west of the Pecos River

Texas Economy

The economy of Texas relies largely on information technology, oil and natural gas, energy exploration and energy trading, agriculture, and manufacturing. The state has two major economic centers: the Greater Houston area and the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. Houston stands at the center of the petrochemical and biomedical research trades while Dallas functions as the center of the agricultural and information technology labor market in Texas. Other major cities include San Antonio, Austin, Brownsville, Lubbock, Amarillo, Abilene, Beaumont, McAllen, Tyler, Odessa and Midland. Other important cities include Killeen (home to Fort Hood, the largest military post in the U.S.) and the cities of El Paso, Eagle Pass, and Laredo (these have particular significance due to their location on the border with Mexico, making them important trade points).

Texas passed New York in the 1990s to become the second-largest U.S. state in population (after California). Texas had a gross state product of $764 billion, the third highest in America after California and New York respectively. Texas's growth is often attributed to the availability of jobs, the low cost of housing (housing values in the Dallas and Houston areas, while generally rising, have not risen at the astronomical rates of other areas such as San Francisco), the lack of a personal state income tax, low taxation and limited regulation of business, limited government (the state legislature of Texas meets only once every two years), and favorable climate.

Texas Demographics

The people of Texas, historically often known as Texians, are now generally referred to as Texans.

As of 2005, the state has an estimated population of 22,859,968, which is an increase of 388,419, or 1.7%, from the prior year and an increase of 2,008,176, or 9.6%, since the year 2000.

Largest Texas Cities

Largest Texas Real Estate Markets (Cities):

As determined by population data in 2000 U.S. Census.

1. Houston Real Estate (1,953,632)
2. Dallas Real Estate (1,188,580)
3. San Antonio Real Estate (1,144,646)
4. Austin Real Estate (656,562)
5. El Paso Real Estate (563,662)
6. Fort Worth Real Estate (534,694)
7. Arlington Real Estate (332,969)
8. Corpus Christi Real Estate (277,454)
9. Plano Real Estate (220,030)
10. Garland Real Estate (215,768)
11. Lubbock Real Estate (199,564)
12. Irving Real Estate (191,615)
13. Laredo Real Estate (176,567)
14. Amarillo Real Estate (173,627)
15. Pasadena Real Estate (141,674)
16. Brownsville Real Estate (139,722)
17. Grand Prairie Real Estate (127,427)
18. Mesquite Real Estate (124,523)
19. Abilene Real Estate (115,930)
20. Beaumont Real Estate (113,866)
21. more Texas real estate listings...
 

Texas has two out of eleven U.S. global cities as Houston and Dallas ranked "Gamma World City" by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group & Network (GaWC).

Ranked by population of cities (incorporated municipalities), the six major cities in Texas are Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Fort Worth, and El Paso.

Texas is the only state in the U.S. to have three cities with populations exceeding one million (California has two; no other state has more than one) — Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas, which are also among the 10 largest cities of the United States. Austin and Fort Worth are in the top 20 largest U.S. cities.

Some cities not listed are still considered important on the basis of other factors and issues, including culture, economics, heritage, and politics.

Largest Texas Metropolitan Areas:

Texas has 25 metropolitan areas (MSAs) defined by the United States Census Bureau. The two largest are ranked among the top 10 United States metropolitan areas. In 2003, the U.S. Census introduced "metropolitan divisions" within some metropolitan areas. Texas has two metropolitan divisions within the Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington MSA.

1. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington (5,700,256) {Dallas-Plano-Irving (3,812,875) > Fort Worth-Arlington (1,887,381)}
2. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown (5,180,443)
3. San Antonio (1,854,050)
4. Austin-Round Rock (1,412,271)
5. El Paso (713,126)
6. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission (658,248)
7. Corpus Christi (409,741)
8. Beaumont-Port Arthur-Orange (383,443)
9. Brownsville-Harlingen (371,825)
10. Killeen-Temple (346,116)
11. Lubbock (257,663)
12. Amarillo (236,113)
13. Waco (222,439)
14. Laredo (219,464)
15. Longview-Marshall (200,405)
16. Bryan-College Station (189,468)
17. Tyler (186,414)
18. Abilene (158,515)
19. Wichita Falls (147,826)
20. Texarkana (132,716)
21. Odessa (124,488)
22. Midland (120,344)
23. Sherman-Denison (115,933)
24. Victoria (113,450)
25. San Angelo (105,510)

• Harris
• Dallas
• Tarrant
• Bexar
• Travis
• El Paso
• Hidalgo
• Collin

The Texas real estate links at the top of the page will help you find Texas homes for sale, Texas real estate agents and Texas home values. Get access to Texas real estate listings and Texas home listings, including the Texas MLS, Texas REALTORS, Texas new homes, Texas condos, Texas condominiums, Texas property, Texas land, Texas acreage and Texas foreclosures. These free real estate services feature all Texas cities, Texas towns, Texas suburbs and Texas neighborhoods. The websites linked above also contain information on Texas home selling, Texas home buying, Texas mortgages, Texas insurance, Texas movers and other Texas realty services for anyone looking to sell a home or buy a home in Texas, TX.

Also: State of Texas Official Government Website