Inside This Issue…
 

Dallas Home Prices Rise 
Energy Bars: Some Not As Healthy As You Might Think

The Difference Between A Real Estate Agent and a Dedicated Professional 

Wild , Yet Trivial Statistics  

Real Estate Corner 

Quote of the month

 

DALLAS HOME PRICES RISE!

Dallas' home prices were down 2.2 percent in June from a year earlier but rose 2.7 percent from May to June
to the highest level since last September, according to Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller Index . It was the fourth
consecutive month of gains in the Dallas index price.

Good indications for housing says, an economist at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.

Economists are still concerned about job losses and lack of job creation this year.

The job market in DFW is key in housing market recovery.  A business economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of
Dallas, is also cautious, but hopeful that the positive news on housing may cause a sustained turnaround in the

industry soon. 

The Case-Shiller numbers are in line with local statistics that indicate that the rate of decline in the DFW housing market is bottoming out.

In July, median home resale prices in North Texas rose about 3 percent from a year earlier after a long string of decreases.

The National Association of Realtors estimates that home sales prices in the area were essentially flat in the second
quarter.  The Federal Housing Finance Agency said Tuesday that Dallas-area prices were up 1.1 percent in the second quarter. Prices were up 1.6 percent in the Fort Worth area, according to the index, which tracks values of mortgages
insured by federally backed loan companies. 
The Case-Shiller index shows that residential values in the Dallas area bottomed out in February and have risen by
about 6 percent since then.

Case-Shiller tracks the prices of typical single-family homes in each metropolitan area.
The index survey does not include condominiums and townhouses. It covers only pre-owned properties.

SOURCE: Dallas Morning News
 

Energy Bars: Some Not As Healthy As You Might Think

  

Professional athletes and “weekend warriors” alike use energy bars as a fast energy boost during sports.  And some
people eat them throughout the day as a quick-pick-me-up snack.  But a University of South Florida dietitian says sports enthusiasts often get better energy and nutrition from munching a handful of dried fruit or a peanut butter sandwich before exercising than from so-called energy bars.  Cynthia Sass explains that many energy bars are missing essential nutrients, while substances they do contain may not be cleared with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.   

 

 A common ingredient is ephedra, a stimulant that Sass says can increase blood pressure and heart rate beyond safe levels.  The FDA has recently warned against ephedra use, citing a link to “as many as 800 cases of medical problems and a dozen deaths,” says Sass.  And unless you do marathons or other intensive sports, she adds, the high calories and simple carbohydrates typical of many bars don’t provide the kind of energy you need.  Better and easy-to-grab sources include apples, yogurt, or a dollop of peanut butter on whole-wheat bread.

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

¨ The city with the most Rolls Royce’s per capita: Hong Kong.

¨ Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better.

¨ The amount American Airlines saved in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first class—$40,000.

¨ State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska.

¨ Percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28%.

¨ Percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%.

¨ Percentage of American men who say they would marry the same women if they had to do it all over
again: 80%.

¨ Percentage of American women who way they would marry the same man if they had to do it all over
again: 50%.

¨ The cost of raising a medium size dog to the age of eleven: $6,400.

¨ Average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000.