SFA professor provides Deep East Texas economic outlook for state journal

NACOGDOCHES, Texas –– Despite economic uncertainty in the U.S., East Texans can look forward to growth in 2026, according to a recent Texas Real Estate Research Center article written by Dr. Mikhail Kouliavtsev, professor and chair of Stephen F. Austin State University’s Department of Economics and Finance and director of SFA’s Center for Business and Economic Research in the Nelson Rusche College of Business.

The Texas Real Estate Research Center, part of Texas A&M University, is the nation’s largest publicly funded organization devoted to real estate research. To kick off the new year, the center asked Kouliavtsev to author an economic forecast for the Deep East Texas region in its journal, the Tierra Grande.

In the winter 2026 publication, Kouliavtsev discusses:

• New retail and education developments fueling the local economy, including increased enrollment at SFA
• The region’s marginal exposure to the negative economic forces impacting employment in other areas of the U.S.
• Local residential and commercial real estate trends

To read the full article, visit gosfa.com/TierraGrande. To learn more about SFA’s Department of Economics and Finance, visit sfasu.edu/ecofin.