My trip to Dallas last week was like a breathe of fresh air compared to the stagnant feeling of recession in most other cities.
Dallas is not a small city with over 1 million people living in the city and with well over 6 million in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex area (4,980 square miles).
This is estimated to grow to 10 million people by 2030.
It still has a small town feel though.
You only have to drive around for a few minutes to see new homes being built, major road improvements in progress and an abundance of shopping, services and restaurants.
In fact Dallas has the most restaurants per capita than any other US city! I was lucky enough to stay in North Dallas in Addison, only 30 minutes from Dallas Fort Worth airport (the second largest airport in the US).
Visiting various parts of the US frequently, I am used to how convenient the US is to get around and how friendly the people are.
It's almost like it is the law to make people feel welcome and treat everyone with respect.
But I have to say, the people that I met in Dallas have a new level of positivity and confidence, without any ego.
The media driven view of Texas is cowboy hats, boots and yeehaw! But in reality it couldn't be further from the truth, caused somewhat by the net migration into the area of around 200,000 people per year, with the most being from California, diluting the Texas born and bred population.
The primary driving factor for people relocating being jobs and low cost of living.
Dallas and Texas in general offers a pro-business environment, reliable infrastructure and an abundant educated labour pool.
It is already home to major companies such as Exxon Mobil, JC Penney, Texas Instruments, AT&T and Wells Fargo.
Cisco have recently built a $1 billion green data center in Allen.
This area of Allen, Plano and Richardson is known as Silicon Prairie the Texas version of Silicon Valley, with part of this area being known as Telecom Corridor.
A 6.
5 mile development and home to 600 technology companies such as AT&T, Ericsson, Samsung, Siemens and HP Enterprise Services.
Healthcare is booming too with $2 billion in new hospitals being built in Dallas.
Part of a $6 billion total investment in hospitals, outpatient clinics and other healthcare-related construction.
Sales tax revenues are increasing on average over 5% year on year with vehicle sales and rental collections up by over 11% year on year.
Retail occupancy rates average over 85% and are rising, with over 1.
2 million square feet of retail space being added each year.
The employment figures are equally as strong.
During the recession which reached its lowest point in December 2009, Texas employment fell by more than 422,000.
But by December 2011 it had recovered all those lost jobs and was back to it's pre-recession peak of 10.
65 million.
By March 2013 the state had added an additional 454,000 jobs.
Way more than the national average, which had only recovered 67% of the jobs lost in the recession.
The Texas unemployment rate is typically over 1% lower than the national average.
Home prices are up 6 percent from a year ago, compared with the national average of 2 percent.
Inventory continues to drop with new home inventory being at a 20-year low, especially in the lower price ranges.
In the second quarter of this year the national median price for a single family house was $181,500.
In Dallas-Fort Worth the median home price was $163,000.
However the household median income in Dallas in 2011 was $55,546 compared to the national median of $50,502.
Looking at the previous years figures through the recession, Dallas has already rebounded.
The business climate and quality of life is excellent and the Texas government is committed to building the infrastructure, with sustainability.
As a real estate investor, I believe Dallas represents the perfect storm for a boom and my next real estate buy will be in the north Dallas area.
I will also be recommending Dallas real estate to my foreign real estate investing clients.