Apparently, the Dallas and Houston areas each added more than 60,000 new jobs in the past year, and each "has posted a slightly lower number of new housing permits," says here. Then why, wonders the Houston Chronicle, did home sales in Houston experience a "sharp" increase in September, while home sales in Dallas/Fort Worth experienced a considerable dip from the same period last year? In short, says the paper, folks moving to Houston for jobs already own houses and are financially solid enough to buy another one when they move to Houston, while newcomers to Dallas are usually younger and more likely to rent. In long, read it for yourself.

In other home-ownin' news, Dallas-based subscription-only MortgageDaily.com reports that mortgage fraud may surpass $2 billion this year, which, by my bad math, still seems awfully high. --Robert Wilonsky

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