Fort Worth Business Press, June 2, 2014 Vol. 26, No. 22 | Page 4

4 June 9 - 15 , 2014 | fwbusinesspress.com The happiness factor TEXAS QUARTERLY HOUSING REPORT 2014 “ Fort Worth About the Texas Quarterly Housing Report The Texas Quarterly Housing Report is compiled by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University using statistics from multiple listing services in nearly 50 markets throughout Texas. The report includes data for single-family home sales over the course of one quarter. UNIT SALES 3,200 3,000 2,800 2,600 2,400 2,200 2013 Q1 2013 Q2 2013 Q3 2013 Q4 2014 Q1 YoY % Change 2.45% MEDIAN PRICE $136,000 $134,000 $130,000 $128,000 $126,000 $122,000 2013 Q1 2013 Q2 2013 Q3 2013 Q4 2014 Q1 YoY % Change 6.14% Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Remember when that song was an earworm in your brain? It was 1988 and Bobby McFerrin topped the charts. Not that the song made him happy. He had a spat with thencandidate George Bush who used it in his campaign. McFerrin didn’t like that and refused at times to sing it, which didn’t make audiences happy. Now, it’s 2014 and what song is topping the Hit Parade? “Happy” by Pharrell Williams and it’s another earworm. I can’t get it out of my head, except now it’s competing with “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” as the unhappiest of “happy” mash-ups. In the ‘60s there were The Turtles with “Happy Together,” a song that modulated between minor and major as it got to the chorus, giving it a “happy” sound. It too is an earworm. Yes, we like to be happy or pretend to be anyway. Happy hour anyone? So what does it take to be happy? Many Americans don’t think they need a CEO-sized paycheck to be happy, or even six figures. When asked how much money would put a spring in their step, just over half those surveyed in CNNMoney’s American Dream poll said it would take less than $100,000. Nearly a quarter of the people who took the poll, conducted by ORC International, said between $50,000 and $74,999 would do the trick. That calls to mind the results in market Robert Francis of a Princeton study, which found that emotional well-being rose with income, but not much beyond the $75,000 mark. Remember “Richie Rich, the Poor Little Rich Boy” comic? Interestingly, some people really don’t care about money: 10 percent of those polled said somewhere north of a buck but south of $30,000 would be their minimum requirement. Those people should pursue a career in journalism. On the high end of the scale, 23 percent said they’d need between $100,000 and $199,999 to really feel good about the world. Very few