Originally Posted by cjr72

Here in Texas you can only borrow up to 80% of your home's value unlike many other states where people's homes were treated as personal ATM machines during the bubble. Texas also has less restrictive land use policies which helps keep building costs lower than states with more restrictive land use policies. These are the two main reasons I've seen cited for Texas avoiding the housing bubble.

As far as the criticisms of Texas' performance here's a link to an article that digs a little deeper than the usual drive-by analysis:
Rick Perry And Texas Job Numbers Political Math