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Texas Gulf Coast Online reports the Top 10 reasons why the Texas Coast real estate market will boom to record levels in early 2008.

The evidence that Texas Gulf Coast Online has uncovered which predicts a real estate boom for the Texas Coast is supported by several facts that make the argument convincing.

Baby Boomers from thriving Houston/Dallas/San Antonio/Austin are coming in mass starting in 2008

Investors from California/Florida are now turning to Texas

Huge capital projects in Beaumont area for energy plants – 3.6 billion

Federal Spending on the Border Security Fence – 3 billion, construction starts in fall 2007 for Texas

Strong rental demand for coastal properties for massive local and growing populations within driving distance to the coast

Texas Exports to Booming China’s economy are skyrocketing

New high-end developments transforming the resort markets to accommodate all the new and different buyer profiles.

State expenditures to improve and protect the coastlines with beach replenishment, geo-tubes and other major coastal initiatives already funded or soon to be funded

The affordable prices for Texas coastal property and steady appreciation rates. We are 1/3 of California’s and half price of Florida’s median pricing for ocean front property and our newer products are on par

Consumer Confidence Index Climbs to a Six-Year High and Insurance companies are now returning to the Texas Coastal markets

The study also includes comments from some of the major developers and real estate agencies on the Texas Coast.

When asked where buyers on the Texas Coast are coming from, Alice Donahue, owner of the leading real estate brokerage for the Texas Gulf Coast, says, “What we are seeing are sophisticated buyers who are retiring within the next few years and want the ’sun, sand and water.’ The Texas Gulf Coast offers this plus much, more!”

According to Edith Personette, owner of a leading marketing agency for the Texas Gulf Coast, “people buying along Galveston are many empty nesters who want a place an hour away from Houston – many still very active executives or business owners – some perceive they may keep for retirement. They are primarily driven by closeness to Houston and reasonable prices.”

Texas Gulf Coast Online also talked to major developers in the area such as Jim Hayes, Senior Partner of Crown Team Texas, and Jeff Lamkin, Senior Partner of Sea Oats Group Atlanta, to find out some of the environmental/political issues developers face when trying to build along the Texas coast.

According to Jim Hayes, “New development on the Texas Gulf Coast requires a wetlands delineation that is performed by a professional and must be approved by the Corp of Engineers. The Delineation report can take about 2 months to produce and then take from 9 months to several years to get approved.”

Jeff Lamkin shared that, “it is important to be mindful of the environmental issue along the coast. On Mustang Island in particular there is an incredible dune system and a stable (non-eroding) beach. These are 2 critical factors that cannot be overlooked when purchasing beach property. In the good ole’ days people would bulldoze a path straight through the dunes – modern developers recognize the importance of these dunes and guard them as protection from the weather.”

Read more about the study at: Texas Gulf Coast Online

Foreclosure filings across South Florida continue to rise, as hopes for a housing recovery have fizzled.

The number of people behind on their mortgage payments in July almost tripled in Broward County from a year ago, from 517 to 1,430, according to Plantation-based Realestat.com. In Palm Beach County, the number more than tripled from 298 to 1,063.

While actual foreclosure sales aren’t increasing as fast, experts say lenders, court clerks and lawyers are having a hard time keeping up with all the filings. They expect a significant surge by the end of the year as more adjustable-rate mortgages come due.

Everybody’s inundated and overwhelmed,” said David Dweck, founder of the Boca Real Estate Investment Club. “Sales are taking longer to get to the courthouse steps.”

Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Colbath handles all foreclosures in Palm Beach County. He devotes a day and a half a week to the 7,000 cases in his division but says he might have to set aside even more time in the months ahead.

“There are a lot of different stories that lead people into my world,” Colbath said Friday. “The worst of it has not come yet.”

Last month, Broward’s foreclosure sales increased 70 percent from a year ago, from 224 to 381. Such sales were flat in Palm Beach County, with 183 in July compared with 187 a year ago.

Deerfield Beach foreclosure lawyer Brian Rosaler said he’s working seven days a week, often into the night, to keep up with all the filings.

“In Broward, they can’t get the cases clocked in fast enough,” he said. “All of us involved in this, we’re working our tails off.”

Experts mostly blame the trouble on adjustable-rate mortgages made to borrowers who bought houses and condominiums that shot up in value during the housing boom from 2000 to 2005. People who secured those risky loans found out that they couldn’t afford the monthly payments once interest rates rose.

Increases in property taxes and insurance rates throughout the region also have made it difficult to pay the monthly mortgage.

“A lot of people got into more house than they could afford,” said Lewis Goodkin, a Miami-based housing analyst.

People with late mortgage payments that result in foreclosure filings are behind by at least 90 days and have been notified by their lenders that they intend to take back the homes.

Some of those owners avoid foreclosure by selling the properties themselves or working out deals with their lenders. But that’s becoming harder to do as the housing slump lingers and borrowers face increasingly tight credit standards.

Concerns about problems facing subprime lenders have rocked Wall Street this year. The companies, which make loans to people with poor credit, were accused of fueling the housing boom.

Dozens of lenders nationwide have closed as borrowers default on loans. Just this week, American Home Mortgage Investment Corp. of Melville, N.Y., announced plans to shut down, becoming the second-largest residential lender to fail this year after Irvine, Calif.-based New Century Financial Corp.Many foreclosed homes will go back on the market, adding to the glut of properties. Palm Beach and Broward counties have roughly triple the number of homes for sale now compared with two years ago, according to the Miami-based Keyes Co.

As a result, some experts who had predicted a housing rebound this year now insist it won’t happen until later in 2008 or even 2009.

“In October, more adjustable-rate mortgages are coming due,” said Marc Thomashaw, a vice president of Realestat.com. “I expect much higher foreclosure numbers early next year because of that.”