Yesterday brought some pretty bad economic news-- huge increases in both the price of crude oil, and in the national unemployment rate.  Sounds like terrible news to the vast majority of people, right?  But it can be seen as good news, if you're smart enough to own real estate in Tarrant County (In case you haven't been to my Fort Worth seminar yet, Tarrant County is the heart of the Barnett Shale, which is estimated to be the largest onshore natural gas reserve in the country.  This county encompasses the area in and around Fort Worth, TX.). 

The reason this can be seen as good news is:

1. The price of natural gas shadows the price of crude oil; natural gas becomes more of a viable alternative to oil as it becomes increasingly expensive. 

2.  As the price of natural gas increases, the land that the gas is under becomes much more valuable.

3.  There is increased competition on the land between natural gas companies that want to drill, and developers that want to create residential and retail properties to accommodate the growing population.

4.  Due in large part to the Barnett Shale, the unemployment rate of Tarrant County is 3.6%.  As announced yesterday, the national unemployment rate is 5.5%.


Included below are a couple of links below that I highly suggest you visit, if only for the sake of your on-going real estate education:


Track the rising price of crude oil:

http://www.wtrg.com/daily/crudeoilprice.html


Track the rising price of natural gas:

http://www.wtrg.com/daily/gasprice.html


Article about the increase in the U.S unemployment rate:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7440104.stm


Article about the growing economy in Tarrant County (Fort Worth, TX):

http://www.star-telegram.com/business/story/649850.html

Questions?  Comments?  Contact Us!

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Ofer Goldenberg is the Owner and CEO of Capital Growth Investment.