Austin / Central Texas Real Estate News & Updates

Violet Crown Trail... progressing - 611 acres purchased

2011-09-19T08:49:00.010-05:00

On Aug. 31, the City of Austin finalized the purchase of 611 acres in Spillar Ranch, the southern portion of subdivision Avaña-Esquel, in Southwest Austin and northern Hays County [for 11.8 million dollars]. The city plans to prevent the development of more than 500 homes in the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone and connect the land to the Violet Crown Trail, a 30-mile regional trail system.

Violet Crown Trails

The City of Austin, in partnership with the Hill Country Conservancy, has been working toward the creation of the Violet Crown Trail. The trail, formerly known as the Walk for a Day trail, would allow for more than 30 miles of connecting trails throughout the area.

“The Violet Crown Trail is regional trail system starting in Austin at Zilker Park right by the Barton Springs pool, following the greenbelt and turning southward through Sunset Valley, connecting parks, schools, neighborhoods, retail,” said George Cofer, the executive director of the Hill Country Conservancy. “The new land will connect at the Veloway Trail at the Lady Bird Johnson Center and goes into Hays County.”

The trail is being implemented in three phases. Phases 1 and 2 are expected to be complete by 2014. The new land purchase, which is Phase 3, will allow for the trail to connect from the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, located on La Crosse Avenue, through Hays County.

“Now that the city owns the acreage, we have some great opportunities to revisit where the trail can run,” Cofer said. “It is going to be an official route of the trail, we just don’t know where exactly yet. The official maps are still conceptual.”

Cofer said there is still a lot to learn about the land within the 611 acres, adding that the purchase is an exciting addition to the regional trail plans. There is currently no timeline as to when the entire trail system will be complete.

“It is going to be a much better trail user experience,” Cofer said. “HCC, the city and the other partners’ primary goal is to provide a trail user experience that also respects the conservation values of the sensitive lands.”

Purchasing the 611 acres is a step forward in accomplishing that goal, he said.

By: Kate Hull - Community Impact Newspaper (full article)

Austin expected to add 6,000 residents this summer

2011-06-27T13:58:00.002-05:00

Austin's population is expected to swell by more than 6,000 people between July and August, according to a new U.S. Census Bureau analysis.

The data compiled by Austin Business Journal affiliate Business First showed the city growing from about 1.784 million people to about 1.79 million. The newspaper analyzed populations in 942 U.S. metropolitan and micropolitan areas and projected growth using a computer program.

New York City will remain the most populous metropolitan area in America with an estimated population of 18.97 million as of July 1. It is followed by Los Angeles (12.89 million), Chicago (9.51 million), Dallas-Fort Worth (6.53 million) and Houston (6.12 million).
Austin was ranked 35th nationwide.

Click here for the latest population estimates for all 942 metropolitan and micropolitan areas across the United States.

A separate report last year said nearly half a million Americans moved to Texas between July 2008 and the same month in 2009, making it the most moved-to state in the U.S. that year.

Austin Business Journal
Date: Monday, June 27, 2011, 1:58pm CDT

Don’t Do These at Home: 3 Big Remodeling Mistakes

2011-06-13T07:25:00.001-05:00

Remodeling a kitchen, bathroom, or other room to increase a home’s value can be a good idea, but home owners need to be careful when undergoing a remodeling task to ensure they don’t fall for some of the common traps. CNNMoney.com recently highlighted a few such common mistakes:

1. Being too trendy. The home will look out-of-date a lot faster if you just reach for today’s trends, according to design experts. As such, you might want to bypass such trends as glass tiles, wire-hung track lighting, and vessel sinks, says Curt Schultz, a real estate professional and architect in Pasadena, Calif. Instead, opt for classic choices that compliment the home’s original style, he says.

2. Going overboard in the kitchen. Kitchens can help sell houses but that doesn’t give you a green-light to spend big bucks in giving it a total redo. You still want to be practical, or you likely won’t recoup the cost of all your upgrades when selling. The kitchen usually makes up 5 percent to 15 percent of a home’s value so limit your kitchen remodeling budget to that range, says John Bredemeyer with the Appraisal Institute. And don’t gut the kitchen if it’s already in good shape, he adds.

3. Assuming “green” always will net you a big return. You’ve heard a lot of buzz about going green and increasing the energy efficiency of a home. Certainly, home buyers have said in recent surveys that they want more energy efficiency upgrades, but when selling a home, you won’t always see a payback in the sale if you opt for a bunch of costly “green” updates. For example, swapping out old windows–estimated at about $300 to $1,200 each–may save you $50 to $175 a year on your energy bills, but your installation investment and savings might not necessarily be made up at resale.

So you’ll likely want to keep the potential paypack in perspective when doing any remodeling so you can judge if it’s really worth it–that is, if you’re looking for a return at resale. You might just want fancy windows and countertops.

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey, REALTOR® Magazine

Texas Housing Market SPRINGS FORWARD

2011-03-22T08:37:00.001-05:00

Existing Home Sales Increase

Existing home sales in Texas trended upward over the last six months, as the housing market begins to show signs of recovery.
The average amount of homes sales over the last six months increased in every Texas major metropolitan area in January for the first time since the expiration of the homebuyer tax credit, according to a report by The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Thursday's report also showed that the six-month average for the whole state improved during the month as well.
Yingda Bi and Jason Saving, the authors of the report, said this alone suggests the residential real estate market "may have finally begun recovery," but other housing indicators also improved in January. According to the Fed's report, all major metros witnessed declines in housing inventory.

To sell all housing inventory in the Lone Star State would take 7.7 months as of January, down from eight months in December, the Fed said.

The serious delinquency rate, anything more than 90 days delinquent, dropped on a seasonally adjusted basis to 2.9% in the fourth quarter of 2010 from 3.4% the previous quarter.

The Foreclosure Listing Service reported that year-to-date postings for foreclosure auctions in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex decreased for the first time in 11 years. Postings for the January to April auctions fell 4% compared to the same period of 2010.

"Over the past year, posting activity for this four-month period declined to 21,387 for the first four foreclosure auctions of this year, which includes January through the upcoming auctions in April," said George Roddy, president of FLS. "Last year, foreclosure notices for the first four auctions of the year reached a new record high with 22,305 postings."

The last time there was a decline in year-to-date foreclosure auction postings during this period was 2000, according to Roddy. However, underwater properties made up a larger portion of postings than in past months, up to 27% in April 2011 from 21% in April 2010.

Bi and Saving at the Fed remain cautious on the whole, as home prices will also be a large factor in market recovery.

"New data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency housing price index show slight declines in fourth-quarter housing prices from both the third quarter and year-over-year," their report said.

by Christine Ricciardi.
Follow her on Twitter @HWnewbieCR.

New Home Sales Surge

2011-01-26T19:28:00.002-06:00

New single-family home sales in December rose to their highest level in eight months and prices were the highest since April 2008, raising cautious optimism for a housing market recovery.

Housing Starts & Sales Up

The Commerce Department said sales jumped 17.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted 329,000 unit annual rate after a downwardly revised 280,000-unit pace in November. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast new home sales rising to a 300,000-unit pace in December from a previously reported 290,000 unit rate. Compared to December a year earlier, sales were down 7.6 percent. Overall 2010 sales dropped 14.4 percent to a 321,000-unit rate.

Economists saw the gains as significant.
"Clearly we are seeing stabilization in new home sales and this data suggests some upward momentum that we have seen in existing home sales. What is important to realize is even in a period of softer new home sales, inventory continues to decline, said Dean Maki, chief U.S.. economist with Barclays Capital in New York.
“The level of inventory is at its lowest since the 1960s," Maki said. This suggests the big declines in housing starts are now behind us and housing starts should be on a gradual trend in 2011.”

Brian Bethune, an economist with HIS Global Insight in Lexington, Mass added: "It's meaningful to the extent that there is a pattern of numbers showing increases. It's a sign that there is a turnaround. Things are definitely perking up, but there is a question whether it's sustainable.

Read the latest report from the National Association of REALTORS®: December Existing-Home Sales Jump

Source: "New Home Sales Surge in December," Reuters(Jan. 26, 2011)

Austin #1: Best City For College Grads

2011-01-14T07:02:00.082-06:00

Americans value mobility. But if you want to move up in the world, sometimes you have to move, literally. In a recession, that's a problem.

In 2010, migration within the United States slowed to its lowest rate in recorded history, according to new research from William Frey at the Brookings Institution. Among college graduates, the story is particularly striking. Here are the 10 most popular cities for college graduates since the recession:

Frey's analysis challenges the story of the 2010 Census, which is the Rise of the Sun Belt. In the last decade, 7.5 million people — more than the total population of Massachusetts and Vermont — moved to Texas and California, while Arizona and Nevada led the nation in pace of growth. Imagine a river flowing from the northeast to the southwest, and you've got a sense of America's general migration pattern.

That's changing, fast. At the height of the housing boom, the most popular destinations for college graduates were Phoenix, Seattle, Atlanta, Riverside (CA), and Charlotte. But when the bubble burst, Texas cities have zoomed up the list: Austin and Dallas were the most popular destinations for bachelor degree earners between 2007 and 2009.

[See America's Best Cities for Young Professionals]

"In 2005-2007, college-educated adults, like other segments of the population, were strongly attracted to "bubble" metro areas like Riverside, Phoenix and Las Vegas," Frey writes. After the burst, degree-earns are clustering in more "knowledge economy" metros, like Austin, Raleigh, Charlotte and Seattle.

According to Frey's figures, the five metro areas with the highest concentration of people with bachelors degrees are: Washington, D.C./Arlington (47%), San Francisco (43%), San Jose (43%), Boston (42%), and Raleigh (42%). The most popular destination in America, Austin (38%), is number six on that list. New York City (36%) is number ten.

When I asked Frey to call out some of the more surprising results of his analysis, he pointed out that interstate migration rates have generally fallen over the last few decades, but the recession accelerated the trend.

Why didn't the recession increase migration, sending families fleeing from weak states like Florida to stronger states like Texas? Frey answered: "The financial crisis meant families couldn't get a loan to get a house. They couldn't sell a house. They were frozen in place because of the housing market and the paucity of jobs."

[See American Cities That Are Running Out of People]

In his Brookings paper, Frey concluded by sounding the alarm on slow interstate migration:

The recent more tentative migration patterns of the younger and "best and brightest" segments of our population are holding back the free flow of human and social capital that has made our society more vital and dynamic than most of our developed country peers. This slowdown, in addition to the decline in immigration can be expected to pick up when the economy revives. But if it takes too long, we run the risk of creating a "lost generation" of young adults, the likes of which we have not seen for some time.

1. Austin, Texas

Percent with BA: 38
Austin is one of the most resilient cities in the U.S., buffeted by state government spending, a large public university and a thriving high-tech sector. It is also the most dynamic city in the United States, according to the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, a mecca for music lovers, and a cultural jewel of the South. It's got brains, it's got growth: Indeed, Austin could be America's hottest city at the moment.

2. Dallas, Texas

Percent with BA: 30
The second most popular city in the Texas is also the second most popular city in the country for college grads. Credit the ample housing, the legendary (if recently disappointing) sports franchises, and the legendary and non-disappointing tech and and transportation industries.

3. Phoenix, Ariz.

Percent with BA: 27
The sun is fun, but is it enough? Phoenix is a city that has, in the last few years, lived up to its namesake. The second-fastest growing metro in the 2000s (after Las Vegas) got rocked by the recession, and median home prices are down 43 percent from their peak in 2009. Phoenix has been on Brookings' list of 20 weakest city economies for more than a year.

4. Portland, Ore.

Percent with BA: 34
What is it about Portland? Despite an unemployment rate over 10 percent, the city has drawn hoards of young, creative, educated graduates in the last few years. Frey chalks it up to a unique cult status. "If you're going to be underemployed somewhere," he said, "you might as well embrace the lifestyle." Here, here!

5. Houston, Texas

Percent with BA: 28
One of three Texas on this list, the largest city in the Lone Star State isn't just an oil town, anymore — but recovering oil prices aren't exactly hurting the economy, either. An expanded biotech sector and an aeronautical cluster draw brains and BAs from across the country — if they can stand the infamous humidity.

6. Seattle, WA

Percent with BA: 37
Seattle has long been a magnet for young brainiacs looking to either start their own firm or work for a major corporation. As the headquarters for Amazon, Microsoft, it's a major draw for other companies in the Web-and computer-tech business. The city gets an additional boost from the temperate weather (for those who don't mind the misty rain) and a coffee culture that makes it something like a modern Vienna.

7. Atlanta, GA

Percent with BA: 34
It's no surprise that only Deep South city on this list arguably has the region's best school: Emory University. Before being slammed by the recession, Atlanta was the 3rd most popular destination for both college grads and young people between the ages of 25 and 34. Today it ranks 7th among both groups.

8. Riverside, CA

Percent with BA: 19
Nice weather! But Riverside's inclusion in the top ten is somewhat an artifact of the housing bubble. Only 19 percent of its population holds a BA, by far the lowest on this list. Once the most popular destination for young people during the bubble, Riverside's attractiveness took a hit in the recession. Brookings recently called Riverside one of the worst performing metro areas in the country, based on growth, housing and employment. But still: nice weather!

9. Raleigh, NC
Percent with BA: 42
The Research Triangle of Duke, UNC and NC State make Raleigh an inevitable destination for young degree-earners on the move — especially if they're interested in medicine or looking to go back to graduate school. But Raleigh is more than a college town. It's also a blooming high tech center, with IBM among its highest employers.

10. Tampa, FL
Percent with BA: 26
On the one hand, Tampa and St. Petersburg have every reason to be on this list, with beautiful weather, large universities, and hordes of young people. But consider the headwinds: the Tampa-St. Petersburg area has one of the worst housing markets in the country (Brookings puts it in the bottom quintile) and a relatively low share of bachelors degree earners.
____________

This cities were ranked by total migration among BA earners. But as a percentage of total population, the cities with the fastest growing college-educated community are (in order): Austin, Raleigh, Portland (Ore.), Riverside, Phoenix, Charlotte, San Antonio, Tampa, Nashville, and Kansas City.

by Derek Thompson

Friday, January 14, 2011

Austin Ranked 3rd Best Job Market in US - Forbes.com

2011-01-07T16:23:00.001-06:00

On the eve of a Katie Couric interview on Austin's job market, the city was ranked as having the third best employment prospects in the U.S.

Forbes.com released a report Thursday ranking Austin 3rd best job market in the U.S. The business publication cited the city's low unemployment, about 7.1 percent, and low job-seekers per opening ratio, about 2.39 to one.

Forbes said Austin has many assets that have helped it weather the downturn: It's a state capital and major convention center, especially for the music industry, and home to the University of Texas and a wealth of technology companies.

In October, Austin officials announced a new Eco-Merge Green Corporate Center devoted to producing new technologies, Forbes said. Also, several international firms, including Toshiba and China's Taiwan Clean Energy, plan to open shop here.

The listing is not Austin's first appearance on Forbes' best of lists. The publication ranked Austin No. 1 last year for economic recovery, 8th best for business and careers, No. 2 most innovative and 10th best place for best cities for young professionals, among other rankings.

Washington, D.C. topped the most recent list as healthiest labor market among major U.S. metro areas. By one estimate, the nation's capital has roughly one advertised job opening for every unemployed worker in the region. Its unemployment is just 6 percent, the lowest among the country's largest 50 metros.

Las Vegas was ranked as having the worst major job market with 14.3 percent unemployment and eight unemployed workers for every job opportunity.

The see the full listing, click here.

Austin Business Journal
1/7/2011

Austin 26 out of 150 world cities for recovery: Where are the Jobs? Welcome to Jobstown, USA

2011-01-06T15:41:00.002-06:00

First impressions mean a lot.

As soon as I got off the plane at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport I could tell this place was different from nearly all the mid-size US cities we have visited since the beginning of the Great Recession.

It was close to midnight and the tarmac was crowded with aircraft parked nearly wing-tip to wing-tip.

The morning rush was going to be huge. Business travelers would be on the move.

Make no mistake - find a city where businesspeople are travelling and I'll show you a city where money is being made. Welcome to Jobstown, USA.

A study by the Brookings Institution and the London School of Economics ranks Austin 26 out of 150 world cities in its ability to recover from the recession well ahead of places like Dallas (39), New York (77), San Francisco (129) and Las Vegas (146). No other US city is experiencing faster job growth than Austin (2.4 percent per year).Over the course of three days, CBS News visited a number of firms to try and figure out what's behind Austin's success as a job generator and if there is anything other American cities can learn from their example.

Here are some things we noticed right away: The place is loaded with young talent. There is venture capital pouring in from all over the world (especially the Persian Gulf). There is a sense that anything is possible. And finally, there is openness to new ideas - no matter how off the wall. In many ways, Austin has the same feel as Palo Alto, California did as it was morphing into what the world knows as "Silicon Valley."

There are negatives in Austin too, for example an infrastructure that's not close to being ready for the crush of people that's flooding the area (avoid the Loop during rush hour at all costs!). The town also remains largely dependent on Texas state government and education for its job base (22 percent of jobs, versus 18% across all U.S. metro areas).

Still, we were left with a sense that Austin represents a model many American cities may need to follow if they are to fully recover from the recession and be competitive in the global economy.

From a tiny toy company struggling to get on its feet to an international tech giant creating thousands of new jobs, CBS News Senior Business Correspondent Anthony Mason gives you an inside look at Jobstown, USA tonight on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. We invite you to watch.

CBS News w/ Katie Couric

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Austin 10th Strongest Commercial Real Estate Market

2011-01-03T14:09:00.017-06:00

Austin is forecast to have the 10th strongest commercial real estate market nationally for the next four years, according to a new Grubb & Ellis Co. (NYSE: GBE) report.

The real estate services and investment firm Monday released its "2011 Real Estate Forecast," which foresees the start of a slow recovery in the leasing market for all property types in the coming year.

Activity in the investment market, which began its recovery earlier than anticipated in 2010, will expand beyond assets at the top and bottom of the quality scale to include properties with slightly more risk, the report said.

“All things being considered, 2010 was actually better than most anticipated it would be — we saw positive net absorption and an uptick in investment sales during the second half of the year, positioning us for a continued recovery in 2011,” said Robert Bach, senior vice president and chief economist at Grubb & Ellis.

“We have challenges to overcome, and we don’t expect fundamentals to return to their pre-recessionary peaks for several more years, but we’re slowly and cautiously building the foundation necessary to do just that.”

Analysts said Austin’s market continues to benefit from the city’s low business costs, high quality of living and a highly-educated workforce that attracts new companies to the area. Many of the sectors saw improvement last year, though industrial properties continue to struggle, according to Grubb & Ellis’ 2011 Central Texas forecast report.

“Austin’s commercial real estate market is predicted to continue its recovery in 2011, although at a slow, but steady pace due to different obstacles faced in each property sector,” said Moody Younger, Grubb's executive managing director of Texas. Although Austin witnessed an uptick in the number of properties trading hands last year compared to 2009, lower values, coupled with increased loan-to-value ratios restricted more deals. This year, the market is expected to see the beginning of a turnaround, especially in transaction volume, since debt availability and credit terms have improved.

At the same time, though foreclosures and write-downs are expected to increase as banks deal with the pool of distressed loans extended last year, Austin’s office market still managed 10th place on Grubb & Ellis’ annual "Investment Opportunity Monitor." The listing ranks metropolitan markets with the strongest investment prospects for each major property type during the coming five years. The rankings are based on 15 to 20 variables.

The vacancy rate in Austin’s office market benefited from an overall improvement in demand due to job growth in 2010, which was aided by an empty construction pipeline. For landlords most severely impacted by the down cycle, the office market is beginning to see a stabilization of rental rates.

“Austin’s office market has seen a renewed level of demand and is enjoying a healthy rebound that is expected to continue over the next year,” Younger said. “The city’s long-term investment prospects are also extremely encouraging.”

In multi-family housing, Austin experienced considerable occupancy gains and moderate rental rate growth last year. Leasing activity improved as a result of better economic conditions, job creation and an influx of people moving to the area. New construction projects are expected to taper off this year, which will likely keep positive net absorption up.

The entire Central Texas report is available here.

U.S. OFFICE MARKET STRENGTH FORECAST
Top 10 Markets 2011-2015

1. New York
2. Washington, D.C.
3. Portland, Ore.
4. Boston
5. Los Angeles
6. San Diego
7. San Francisco
8. Oakland/East Bay, Calif.
9. Raleigh/Durham, N.C.
10. Austin

Austin Business Journal
Monday, January 3, 2011, 2:09pm CST

Austin highest-rated recovery in U.S / 26th in the World

2010-11-30T07:52:00.011-06:00

Austin was ranked as having the 26th best economic recovery worldwide, the highest rank of all U.S. cities, a report from the Brookings Institution said Tuesday.

The analysis ranked 150 cities according to three main indicators between 1993 and 2010: employment growth, per-capita gross value added and income per person. The group said Austin employment has grown 3.2 percent between 2009 and this year, while income has escalated about 2.7 percent.

Austin came in No. 40 for growth between 2007 and 2009, clocking in about 0.1 percent employment growth, but a 3.1 percent decline in income. The city was the 25th fastest growing economy between 1993 and 2007, elevating employment about 3.1 percent and income about 3.4 percent.

The local population has growth about 67 percent since 1993 to about 1,763,192 people, according to the report.

Istanbul, Turkey was the highest ranked city worldwide, though Asian cities dominated the listing. Austin edged out Montreal at No. 27, but was just below Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Read more: Austin highest-rated recovery in U.S., Brookings says
Austin Business Journal

:: Austin Ranked 3rd Most Recession-Resistant City ::

2010-09-16T11:12:00.002-05:00

In April of 2008, Austin was ranked the third most recession proof city by Forbes because of a lack of a housing bubble, low median home price, low unemployment, and strong job growth segments that would recover more quickly. Plus, Austin was known as “Silicon Hills” for its growing tech sector industries.

Now, over two years later, the Brookings Institute has released their quarterly in-depth analysis which also ranks Austin the third most recession proof city in the U.S.

The top 10 stable cities identified by MetroMonitor are:

1. Albany, N.Y.

2. Augusta, Ga.

3. Austin, Texas

4. Baton Rouge, La.

5. Buffalo, N.Y.
6. Columbia, S.C.
7. Dallas, Texas
8. Des Moines, Iowa
9. El Paso, Texas
10. Honolulu, HI

The Brookings Institute analyzes the health of America’s 100 largest metropolitan economies. It examines trends in metropolitan-level employment, output, and housing conditions to look “beneath the hood” of national economic statistics to portray the diverse metropolitan trajectories of recession and recovery across the country. MetroMonitor looks at the particular industries that drive national economic trends, and takes into account metro areas’ unique starting points for eventual recovery.

For more info you can see the Full Report. You can view many interactive reports for employment, REO properties and other economic measurements.

Austin Ranked #4: Social Media Savvy Cities

2010-09-10T18:32:00.001-05:00

NetProspex, a sales and marketing database company, has released its "Top 50 Social Media Report" analyzing the social media presence and activity of professionals around the U.S.

Among other findings, the report ranks the top 50 "most social" cities in the country--the "parts of the US are filled with the most social businesspeople."

What metric was used? The company writes in its report that it based its ranking on what it calls the "NetProspex Social Index (NPSI)," a score that takes into account "the number of employees with at least one social media profile," "the average number of connections per employee across major social networks," and "the average number of tweets, number of followers, and number of following." Activity across nine social networks--Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, LinkedIn, Friendster, Flickr, LiveJournal, hi5 and Flixster--was considered.

See the top 17 most social media savvy cities in the U.S. in the slideshow below (Fun fact: four of the cities are in California). Are you surprised by the list? Do you take issue with it?

Austin #2: Best College Town

2010-09-10T16:32:00.000-05:00

Ample arts, strong creative class and beating entrepreneurial heart are just a few reasons Austin was ranked one of the best places for college students, among other factors, a recent study reported.

The American Institute for Economic Research ranked Austin, the Texas state capital, the second best place for students in mid-sized cities, out of more than 222 considered in the index. Rather than focusing on a specific school's performance, the study analyzes indicators related to the city including:

The number of college students per 1,000 residents (85.2 in Austin)
Student diversity (4.5 percent Austin students hold foreign passports)
Research capacity ($306 academic research and development expenditures per capita in Austin)
Degree attainment (37.3 percent of the 25-34 year old population with college degrees in Austin)
Cost of living ($954 rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Austin)
Arts and leisure venues (34.5 cultural and entertainment venues per 100,000 residents)
Commuting options (7.7 percent percentage of workers older than 16 commute on foot or by public transportation or bicycle in Austin)
Creative class, or the percent working in arts, education, knowledge industries, science and engineering, management and other fields (38.5 percent in Austin)
Income per capita ($39,602 in Austin)
Entrepreneurial activity (112.9 net annual increase in total number of business establishments per 100,000 residents in Austin)
Year-over-year ratio of college-educated population in the area
Unemployment rate (7.3 percent in Austin)

The Barrington, Mass.-based nonprofit pulled data from the Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Science Foundation.

“The amenities that create great college communities also make these destinations great places to visit, live, retire or locate a business,” AIER President Charles Murray said.

The top 10 college towns for major metros were in order: San Francisco, New York City, Washington D.C., Boston, Seattle, Wash; Baltimore; Los Angeles, San Diego, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Chicago, Denver, Miami, Phoenix and Atlanta.

For medium sized cities, the top 10 in order were: San Jose, Calif.; Austin, Raleigh, N. Car.; Hartford, Conn.; Portland, Ore.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; Salt Lake City; Rochester, N.Y.; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Nashville, Tenn.

Read more: Austin second best college town, study says - Austin Business Journal

Austin #4: Least Stressed Cities in the US

2010-09-07T16:25:00.002-05:00

Good health and relatively-low unemployment has placed Austin the fourth least stressed city in the U.S., a Portfolio.com study reported Tuesday.

The national news site for small- and mid-sized business executives analyzed the nation's 50 largest metropolitan areas and found Detroit residents the most tense. The publication used various indicators to calculate the ranking, including local unemployment, personal financial data, environmental factors, health risks, crime rates and living standards. Detroit topped the list largely due to steep unemployment, about 14.3 percent of its population, combined with a high 9.9 percent living in poverty. The Michigan metro also reported a high murder and robbery rate and low levels of sunshine.

Stars' town Los Angeles came in second most stressed; a combination of expensive housing and high pollution and unemployment. Cleveland, Ohio came in third followed by Riverside, Calif. (No. 4); St. Louis (No. 5); New York City (No. 6); New Orleans (No. 7); Chicago (No. 8); Birmingham, Ala. (No. 9); and Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (No. 10).

Among the most relaxed, Salt Lake City topped the list followed by Virginia Beach-Norfolk, Va; Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.; Raleigh, N.C.; Austin; Oklahoma City; Denver; San Antonio; Kansas City, Mo.; and Phoenix. Portfolio attributed Salt Lake City's high standing to low crime levels, easy commutes, high employment and good health.

Portfolio.com is an American City Business Journals Inc. unit, the same company that owns the Austin Business Journal.

Top 10 Cities for Young Adults

2010-09-05T19:10:00.002-05:00

Free from ties to kids or a mortgage, young adults can settle virtually anywhere they choose. So which place is best for you when the world is your oyster?

Here are 10 cities in the U.S. that offer exceptional opportunities for those starting out in life. We began our search using the criteria we used to select our overall list of Best Cities for the Next Decade: healthy economies fueling new job growth. We fine-tuned our search using other youth-friendly factors such as large percentages of people under 35, cost of living and rental costs, culture, nightlife, and the time you're likely to spend in traffic.

1) Austin, TX
2) Charlotte, NC
3) Chicago, IL
4) Houston, TX
5) Kansas City, MO
6) Lansing, MI
7) New York, NY
8) Portland, OR
9) Salt Lake City, UT
10) Washington, D.C.

By Caitlin Dewey
Kiplinger.com

Austin #1:10 Best Cities for the Next Decade

2010-08-31T18:51:00.001-05:00

1) Austin, TX
2) Seattle, WA
3) Washington, D.C.
4) Boulder, CO
5) Salt Lake City, UT
6) Rochester, MN
7) Des Moines, IA
8) Burlington, VA
9) West Hartford, CT
10) Topeka, KS

10 Best Cities for the Next Decade
They're prosperous, innovative, and they'll generate plenty of jobs, too.
We live in challenging times. Unemployment remains high, and the U.S. lead in technology and science is slipping as many foreign countries gain ground. But some U.S. cities, though slowed by the Great Recession, still thrive by lifting good old American innovation to new levels. And that will help put more Americans back to work and keep our international edge.

In Kiplinger's latest search for top cities, we focused on places that specialize in out-of-the-box thinking. "New ideas generate new businesses," says Kevin Stolarick, our numbers guru, who this year evaluated U.S. cities for growth and growth potential. Stolarick is research director at the Martin Prosperity Institute, a think tank that studies economic prosperity. "In the places where innovation works, it really works," he says.

After researching and visiting our 2010 Best Cities, it became clear that the innovation factor has three elements. Mark Emmert, president of the University of Washington in Seattle, put his finger on two of them: smart people and great ideas. But we'd argue that it's the third element -- collaboration -- that really supercharges a city's economic engine. When governments, universities and business communities work together, the economic vitality is impressive.

And it's no coincidence that economic vitality and livability go hand in hand. Creativity in music, arts and culture, plus neighborhoods and recreational facilities that rank high for "coolness," attract like-minded professionals who go on to cultivate a region's business scene. All of which make our 2010 Best Cities not just great places to live but also great places to start a business or find a job.

1. Austin, Texas
Austin is arguably the the country's best crucible for small business, offering a dozen community programs that form a neural network of business brainpower to help entrepreneurs. Now overlay that net with a dozen venture-capital funds and 20 or so business associations, plus incubators, educational opportunities and networking events. Mix all these elements in what many call a classless society, where hippie communalism coexists with no-nonsense capitalism, and you’ve got a breeding ground for start-ups.

Don’t discount the fun factor: In the self-proclaimed live-music capital of the world, music and business creativity riff off one another. The city’s famous South by Southwest festival, where concerts, independent film screenings and emerging technology overlap, is a prime example

By the Editors of Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine
From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, July 2010

3112 Lafayette Ave, Austin, TX | Powered by Postlets

2010-01-30T20:19:00.000-06:00

3112 Lafayette Ave, Austin, TX | Powered by Postlets

Austin Ranks #2 in Best Performing Cities for Job Growth & Employment

2010-01-26T15:27:00.006-06:00

How did Austin rank in job growth compared to the other top 50 U.S. Metros? We were Number Two in the nation!

When you compare to jobs lost in the U.S. in 2009 (4,941,700) or TEXAS (201,700), Austin’s performance is amazingly strong. With so many indications of growth returning to different segments of the economy, Austin is well positioned to benefit early on in the recovery.

The Austin Chamber of Commerce’s customary ranking of the best performing large metros, we retain second place behind Virginia Beach.
#2 Austin’s aggregate job losses of 2,300 (-0.3%) as compared to #1 Virginia Beach job losses of 1,600 (-0.2%).
Fort Worth was 8,000 (-0.9%)
San Antonio was 9,000 (-1.1%)
Dallas was 42,100 (-2.0%)
Houston was 92,500 (-3.5%)

Top 10 Best Performing Cities
1) Virginia Beach
2) Austin
3) Washington DC
4) Newark
5) Fort Worth
6) San Antonio
7) Edison
8) Columbus
9) Baltimore
10) Boston

Source: Austin Chamber of Commerce

Texas Job Growth Tops Nation for the Decade

2010-01-26T10:40:00.002-06:00

While the rest of the nation fell behind, Texas continued to make strides in private sector job growth during the past 10 years.

Figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics showed Texas leading the nation with 724,300 more net private sector jobs in December 2009 compared with one decade ago.

Of the top 10 largest states ranked by civilian labor force, only Texas and Florida had positive job growth over the 10 year period.

Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Tom Pauken credits economic policies for better-than-the-rest job growth.

“While the rest of the nation has only seen net growth in government jobs, Texas’ business, tax, and economic policies have created an environment where businesses can succeed and create the jobs that will allow Texas to lead our nation out of this national recession,” Pauken said.

For December, Texas showed the lowest overall seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate of large states at 8.3 percent, compared to 10 percent nationally. Austin rates were steady at 6.9 percent in December.

“Our nation cannot continue to spend its way out of the recession by incurring ever increasing amounts of government debt,” Pauken said. “For more than a year now I have been warning that Washington policymakers have failed to develop an economic policy designed to encourage capital investment and private sector job creation here in the United States. We need to act quickly in order to avoid a jobless recovery.”

Source: Austin Business Journal

Austin Home Sales up 5%, Down in 2009

2010-01-21T16:05:00.002-06:00

Austin home buyers returned in force last month, increasing sales 5 percent from the same time in 2008, according to a Austin Board of Realtors report Wednesday.

The median price of the 1,373 homes sold in December rose to about $194,000, an increase of 6 percent year over year.

“We saw dramatic increases in sales volume in October and November 2009, which were presumably related to the original deadline for the first-time home buyer tax credit,” board Chairman John Horton said.

“However, increases in sales volume beyond November and figures that have improved steadily throughout the year indicate that, while some demand was driven by the tax credit deadline, a sustainable recovery is also underway in the real estate market.”

Despite the encouraging numbers, home sales were still down 6 percent from 2008. Homes sold last year drifted near a $188,480 median, which was down 1 percent year over year. Officials said the overall 6 percent decline in home sales is still a significant improvement when compared to the double-digit decreases experienced in the first quarter 2009.

Source: Austin Business Journal

Texas Ranks Low on U.S. Foreclosure Rates

2010-01-14T14:35:00.002-06:00

Texas Ranks Low on U.S. Foreclosure Rates
Texas fared better than most in a ranking of U.S. foreclosure rates, according to new research from RealtyTrac Inc.

Though 4 percent more foreclosed in 2009, the Texas came in 29th among U.S. states. Slightly more than 1 percent of homes foreclosed, or about 100,045. The rate equates to about one in 94 houses.

Nevada ranked highest on the list with a 10.17 percent foreclosure rate, followed by Arizona, where one in 16 homes were affected. Florida was No. 3 at 5.93 percent and California came in No. 4 at 4.75 percent.

In terms of total filings, California was No. 1, with nearly 633,000 properties receiving foreclosure notices in 2009. Florida posted the nation’s second-highest total, followed by Arizona and Illinois.

Texas' 2009 foreclosure rate was 18.44 percent higher than 2007.

Nationwide in 2009, 3.9 million filings went out on 2.8 million properties, or 2.21 percent of the housing supply. That’s a 21 percent jump in the number of properties compared with 2008, according to the report.

RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio speculated that the 2009 numbers, across the board, would have been worse had it not been for “legislative and industry-related delays in processing delinquent loans,” including mortgage modification programs and state statutes extending the foreclosure process

Source: Austin Business Journal : Thursday, January 14, 2010, 2:34pm CST

Austin Housing Market OK, Will Improve This Year

2010-01-14T09:58:00.001-06:00

Austin Housing Market OK, Will Improve This Year
The spiraling home market has neared stabilization and could see a slight rebound in Austin this year, according to local real estate experts during a 2010 housing forecast Wednesday.

Speakers during the Austin Board of Realtors and the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin event pointed to the relatively better job market as one sign improvement is on the way.

The Texas Workforce Commission reported the area lost about 4,300 jobs in the 12 months ending November 2009, which is better when compared with cities like Houston and Dallas, which lost 88,900 and 50,700 jobs respectively.

The program was presented and moderated by Eldon Rude, who directed a residential real estate market study comparing Austin with 30 other U.S. metros. He said Austin builders cut new home production by about 19 percent last year, breaking ground on 6,490 new homes.

“Starts have stabilized in recent quarters, builders have closed more homes than they have started for the last three years. This strategy has resulted in far fewer inventory issues in the Austin new home market compared to the more challenged markets across the U.S.,” said Rude.

The study anticipates new home starts maintaining 2009 levels, primarily due to slow job growth through at least the first half of 2010.

Though home pricing and buying has improved, experts said the true test will come when interests rates begin to climb and the stimulus-fueled tax credits run out.

Source: Austin Business Journal : Thursday, January 14, 2010, 9:58am CST

Austin New Resale Listings Continue to Fall

2010-01-13T12:23:00.001-06:00

Austin New Resale Listings Continue to Fall
Austin residential properties for sale (listings) dropped 17.6 percent in December compared with the same month in 2008, according to a ZipRealty Inc. report today.

The document that compares listings in 27 U.S. metros found on average the homes for sale sloped 26.3 percent year over year and 4.3 percent between November and December. The final month of last year was the largest month-to-month drop in home listings of 2009.

“Seasonality and the heavy activity by first-time home buyers in October and November, who were rushing to take advantage of the tax credit, impacted housing inventory in December,” ZipRealty President and CEO Patrick Lashinsky said.

Austin reported 6.7 percent fewer homes on the market in December than the previous month, which was more than the change in Houston and Dallas. San Antonio numbers were not available.

Dallas listed 9.1 percent fewer homes on the market year over year and 3.8 percent fewer between November and December. Houston posted 5 percent less from November to December and 11.7 percent less in December than 12 months before.

Source: Austin Business Journal : Wednesday, January 13, 2010, 12:15pm CST

Austin Ranked Best City to Invest in Commercial Real Estate

2010-01-04T17:48:00.000-06:00

Austin Ranked Best City to Invest in Commercial Real Estate

Austin has the best prospects for commercial real estate investment this year, a Grubb & Ellis Co. forecast reported today.

The Santa Ana, Calif-based real estate services and investment firm said it expects commercial real estate will continue to falter this year, but at a slower rate, according to the 2010 forecast. Most property types will reach bottom pricing near the end of 2010 with a slow recovery beginning in 2011, officials said.

In a ranking of the top 10 markets for long-term office, industrial, retail and multi-housing investment potential, Austin was listed No. 1. Houston was the only other Texas city to make the list, taking the sixth spot.

“Because commercial real estate lags the labor market, it still has a ways to go before reaching its own low point,” said Bob Bach, Grubb & Ellis senior vice president and chief economist. “The good news is that the freefall we saw in 2009 is over and the future is more certain, giving owners and users of real estate the confidence to begin making decisions again.”

The investment market will see a slight rebound in 2010, according to the forecast, with at least some assets entering the market in 2010. Officials said the shift should prompt increased sales volume of 20 to 30 percent. The report said record-high office vacancy rates will likely continue, reaching as high as 19 percent by the year’s close.

Source: Austin Business Journal : Monday, January 4, 2010

2010-01-01T18:45:00.000-06:00

Austin Area Tops City Performance Index

2009-11-11T21:05:00.002-06:00

The Austin-Round Rock area was named the best performing city on the 2009 Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners Best Performing Cities Index.

Killeen-Fort Hood-Temple, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission and Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown were second, fourth and fifth, respectively. Also, Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown was named one of the top five largest cities, and Midland was named the No. 1 small metro.

The index ranks U.S. metro areas based on their ability to create and sustain jobs, measuring employment, salary growth and technology output.

“Texas’ strong position in our best performing cities study demonstrates that a favorable business climate, combined with a low-cost/low-tax environment, is highly supportive of job creation,” said Ross DeVol, senior economist at the Milken Institute and lead author of the report. “The state has diversified its economy by fostering several key high-tech clusters, and the passage of Proposition 4, allocating $500 million in funding for research universities, will make Texas an even more formidable competitor in the future.”

Tax Credit Extention Is A Reality!!!! (Chart of Changes attached)

2009-11-06T04:51:00.000-06:00

RISMEDIA, November 6, 2009—
After the Senate gave final approval last night without a dissenting vote, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly this afternoon to pass legislation containing an extension and expansion of the homebuyer tax credit, completing Congressional action and sending the tax credit to President Obama for his signature, possibly as early as tomorrow.

The $8,000 homebuyer tax credit for first-time buyers, due to expire in 25 days, will be extended through April 30 of next year and buyers will have an additional two months, until the end of June, to close.

First-time buyers who are in the process of making a purchase will no longer need to worry about qualifying for the $8,000 credit if they close after the November 30 deadline.

The new legislation increases the income limit for couples with income up to $225,000- a nearly $55,000 increase above the level in existing law.

For the first time, the new legislation makes buyers who already own a home eligible for a credit. A $6,500 maximum credit will be available to existing homeowners who have lived in their current residence for five of the prior eight years. The legislation limits eligibilThe legislation takes effect December 1 and is not retroactiveity for the existing homeowner credit to homes worth $800,000 or less.

The legislation takes effect December 1 and is not retroactive. Both credits are available only for primary residences, not second homes or investment properties.

In the House debate, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) took the floor to say the homebuyer tax credit was helping a new generation of Americans live out their dream of homeownership and financial independence. Debate on the homebuyer credit was overwhelmingly positive and the legislation passed 403 to 12.

However, several leading economists have voiced concern about the $16.7 billion cost of the credit and the wisdom of spending up to $400,000 per homebuyer to stimulate real estate sales and White House support for extending the credit has been lukewarm at best. However, it is virtually certain that the President will sign the legislative package, which contains an expansion of unemployment benefits as well as the tax changes.

In the Senate, the homebuyer tax credit was amended to a bill expanding unemployment benefits by 20 weeks for those who have exhausted their benefit. The latest unemployment numbers are due out tomorrow and Congressional leaders are rushing the unemployment bill to the White House so that the President can show compassion by signing on the same day more job losses are announced.

The legislation included provisions added to address complaints of fraud. The Internal Revenue Service is given greater authority to oversee the process to root out fraud, and provisions are added in response to past abuses of false sales or underage buyers. An investigation by the Treasury Department’s Inspector General for Tax Administration found that more than 580 children, some as young as four years old, had received $627,000 in first-time homebuyer credits. The IRS has identified 167 suspected criminal schemes and opened nearly 107,000 examinations of potential civil violations of the first-time homebuyer tax credit.

The legislation also contains a provision supported by the National Association of Home Builders which will help larger companies strapped for cash with net operating losses (NOL). Ordinarily these companies can carry back these losses for only two years to qualify for a tax refund. The provision would make this process extend the carry-back to five years for either 2008 or 2009. The tax break will now apply to losses in either 2008 or 2009, and the income cap will come off.

Area Home Sales Jump, Fueled by Tax Credit

2009-10-21T14:35:00.003-05:00

Existing home sales in Central Texas rose 6.4 percent in September, the first year-over-year increase in more than two years, and the median sales price also was up, rising 2 percent to $185,250, the Austin Board of Realtors reported Tuesday.

Sales were buoyed by factors including a federal tax credit of up to $8,000 for eligible first-time homebuyers and mortgage interest rates that are hovering around 5 percent.

The 1,780 sales last month were up from 1,748 in August and up from 1,673 in September 2008. The number of sales due to close in October was up 24 percent from a year ago, an indication that the tax credit is continuing to spur sales, real estate agents and experts say.

With pending sales up and prices stabilizing, it seems "to indicate a market that is beginning to recover," said Charles Heimsath, an Austin real estate consultant, although he predicts "a slow ascent into recovery over the next 12 to 18 months."

Heimsath and other experts have cautioned that the housing market, locally and nationally, could lose steam if the tax credit is not renewed, although there are proposals in Congress to extend or broaden it.

"Still, it does appear the worst of the housing downturn is behind us, although it may be some time before we see a marked turn upward," said D'Ann Petersen, an economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, adding that she expects "a slow, prolonged recovery."

Nearly half the sales in September were for homes costing between $100,000 and $199,999 — a typical price range for a first-time home.

Nick Teplitz moved to Austin from Los Angeles in late May, drawn by the city's reputation as a "hip, fun city" and lower housing costs than in California.

He said the tax credit was a factor in his purchase of a unit at 2020 Congress, an apartment building that was converted to condominiums on South Congress Avenue.

Teplitz, a writer, closed on his condo June 30, paying under $100,000 for a one-bedroom unit.

Instead of "flushing $2,000 a month down the toilet" on rent in Los Angeles, Teplitz, 32, found he could own his home in Austin for one-third that much.

He said he thinks the tax credit should be extended, because it's "definitely going to keep the market afloat right now ... and keep people buying."

Jay Gohil, chairman of the real estate board, said the tax credit is likely to feed sales into November as buyers scramble to make the deadline.

The credit was passed earlier this year as part of the federal stimulus package. It provides a 10 percent credit, up to $8,000, for first-time buyers and those who have not owned a home in the previous three years. It is available to single buyers who make less than $75,000 a year and couples who make $150,000 or less.

Through September, the 14,286 home sales were down 14 percent from the same nine months of 2008, and the median price was unchanged, at $190,000.

But home sales have been slowly improving this year along with the economy, spurred by the tax credit and low mortgage rates.

Nell Hanson, a real estate agent with JB Goodwin Co., said the company "has had a huge influx of buyers who want to use the tax credit." Although an extension of the credit would be beneficial, "the low interest rates and the potential rise in the median price in Austin for 2010 will keep sales going up," Hanson said.

Greg Cooper, CEO of Goldwasser Real Estate in Austin, said "it would be suicide for the (housing) market" if the tax credit isn't renewed.

"I can't see them (Congress) taking it away right now," Cooper said, at least not until job growth comes back and unemployment eases.

Cooper said sales at his firm were up 51 percent in September over a year earlier, and "if we close what we have pending," October's sales will be triple that of last October's.

"Obviously, the stimulus is clearly helping," Cooper said.

Steve Cochrane, managing director at Moody's Economy.com, an economic forecasting and consulting firm, said he thinks that there is "a better than even chance" the credit will be renewed. He noted that there are positive ripple effects, as owners sell their entry-level homes to first-time buyers and are able to move to another home.

Asked whether the credit is artificially propping up the market, Cochrane said: "One can argue that any kind of government stimulus is artificial. But if it acts as the spark to get the market going, that can be fine. The government doesn't have to stay in the business of providing the spark forever."

By Shonda Novak
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
snovak@statesman.com; 445-3856
Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Austin a Top Place to Launch a Small Business

2009-10-13T16:15:00.001-05:00

With so many Americans in the unemployment line these days, a growing number are looking at entrepreneurship as an option. That's what makes this year's list of the best cities to start a small business from Fortune all the more timely.

The folks at Fortune rank Austin eighth on this year's list, behind cities such as Houston, Raleigh, N.C. and No. 1 Oklahoma City. Austin got kudos for its angel investment groups, business-friendly tax structure and support for business development in sectors like tech.

"The Austin metro area, which has doubled its population growth in the last 20 years, is often used as a test market by national companies because its large minority population reflects the nation's future demographic mix," Fortune said. "With University of Texas college students in residence, the area offers entrepreneurial opportunities for the youth market and skilled workers for local businesses. One-third of the area's payroll is related to technology jobs, contributing to Austin's reputation for having one of the most educated workforces in the nation."

But it isn't all roses for Austin. Fortune cited some complaints from business owners such as transportation issues and lack of flights to desired markets.

Fortune's top 10 cities:

1)Oklahoma City, OK
2)Pittsburgh, Penn.
3)Raleigh, NC
4)Houston
5)Hartford, Conn.
6)Washington D.C.
7)Carlotte, NC
8)Austin
9)New York City
10)Baltimore, MD

Source: Austin Business Journal

Austin 2nd of 40 Strongest US Ecomonies!

2009-10-09T07:14:00.003-05:00

Austin-Round Rock, TX
Overall rank: 2

Austin, a high-tech center, is also home to the University of Texas. Employment in the Austin metro peaked in the fourth quarter of last year. Gross metropolitan product peaked in the second quarter. Home prices grew 2.5% in the second quarter compared with the same period a year earlier. And the unemployment rate in June was 7.1%, up 2.6 points from a year earlier. (Please see below for the various criteria used by the Brookings Institution to determine the overall ranking.)

Job growth (since peak) rank: 2
Gross Metro Product (since peak) rank: 2
Unemployment change (year over year) rank: 16
Home price change (year over year) rank: 18

1) San Antonio, TX
2) Austin/Round Rock, TX
3) Okalahoma City, OK
4) Little Rock/Conway, AR
5) Dallas/Ft.Worth/Arlington, TX
6) Baton Rouge, LA
7) Tulsa, OK
8) Omaha,NE/Council Bluffs, IA
9) Houston/Sugarland/Baytown, TX
10)El Paso, TX

-----
HOW DID THEY DO IT?

Employment and Economic Muscle
Using data and analysis from the Brookings Institution's new MetroMonitor study, BusinessWeek.com ranked the nation's top 40 economies based on job growth, employment, economic growth, and home prices. And Texas seems to be the clear winner with San Antonio at the top of the list and five metros in the top 10. To see which metros made the list, read on.

The Brookings Institution ranked the 100 largest metros by averaging the ranks for four key indicators: employment change, unemployment change, gross metropolitan product, and home price change. Employment was measured by the change from the peak quarter for each metro to the second quarter of 2009. The peak was the quarter in which the metro had the most jobs during the past five years. Unemployment was ranked by measuring the percentage-point change from the first quarter of 2009 to the second quarter of 2009. Gross metropolitan product was measured from the peak quarter to the second quarter of 2009. And the ranking of home prices compared the second quarter of 2009 to the previous quarter. The employment data were provided by Moody's Economy.com, the unemployment data were collected from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the home price index came from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
By Prashant Gopal
Source: The Brookings Institution's MetroMonitor

Austin cited as one of the next "youth-magnet" cities

2009-09-30T16:07:00.001-05:00

According to the Journal, "Austin has become a gathering place for tech- and arts-conscious young adults." The paper also lauded Austin for its cultural attractions like the Austin City Limits Music Festival and South by Southwest. But some of those polled by the Journal expressed concern over how strongly Austin will bounce back from the recession.

What do Washington D.C., Seattle, New York, Portland and Austin all have in common? They are the five cities that top a new Wall Street Journal poll on where young people are likely to flock once economic recovery takes hold.

The Journal polled a panel of experts, from demographers to economists, on where young college graduates are likely to congregate in coming years. Austin ranked fifth on the list with the lowest unemployment rate of the five cities and a relatively high median household income. The Capital of Texas didn't fare quite so well as the others on the education front, with 41.8 percent of 25-35 year olds holding a bachelors degree or higher compared with 61.3 percent in Washington and 64.2 percent in Seattle.

The top 10 post-recession boom towns for the young and ambitious:

1. (tie) Washington D.C.
1. Seattle
3. New York
4. Portland
5. Austin
6. San Jose, Calif.
7. Denver
8. Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
9. Dallas
10. Chicago

Austin Business Journal

Austin Among Best Performing U.S. Metros (Economic Recovery)

2009-09-22T14:17:00.003-05:00

Austin and San Antonio will be the first two U.S. cities to recover from the recession, according to a new national forecast from IHS Global Insight.

The forecast from the Lexington, Mass. economic research firm suggests the two Texas cities will bounce back to their pre-recession job levels sometime next year.
Eight other metropolitan areas are predicted to recover by 2011, a group that includes Texas’ two largest markets, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, along with Washington, D.C.

IHS Global Insight said most metros will start adding employment next year, but the increases are likely to be tepid. “Solid gains will not return for the majority of the country until 2011,” the report said.

Austin is also named one of the 20 best performing metropolitan areas in the second quarter of 2009, according to a study by the Brookings Institution. The second quarter MetroMonitor report tracked nine metrics in 100 U.S. metro areas, and found Austin was a leader in many of those, from percent change in gross metropolitan product to percent change in housing prices.

Employment in Austin fell 0.5 percent from its pre-recession peak, that was the second-narrowest gap in the nation. The Texas Capital was also one of only three metro areas that surpassed their pre-recession peak output by the second quarter of 2009. Along with the other two cities, McAllen and Washington D.C., Austin was one of those least affected by the downturn.

The report’s authors said the figures reveal some stark differences in economic performance among metro areas. “Signs at the national level that job and income losses are slowing continue to mask the highly variable performance of individual metropolitan economies,” said Alan Berube, co-author of the report. “While several metro areas may have reached a turning point, there are many others that still have not touched bottom, as well as a few that have almost fully recovered.”
Texas had the strongest showing, with six cities among the 20 strongest metro areas: Austin, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, McAllen and San Antonio. Florida dominated the list of the 20 weakest metro areas with eight, including Bradenton, Cape Coral, Lakeland, Miami, Orlando, Palm Bay and Tampa.
For the full report, click here.

Source: Austin Business Journal

Austin 7th Most Generous Big City for Online Giving

2009-09-21T11:54:00.002-05:00

The recession doesn't appear to be keeping many Austinites from giving to nonprofits.
According to data from Convio Inc., the Capital City was the 7th most generous big city in the nation based on per capita online giving during the first eight months of this year.

Austin ranked 14th on the list in 2008. The rankings are based on the online donations Convio processed on behalf of thousands of nonprofits between January and August.

The top 10 big cities for online giving are:

1) Alexandria, Va.
2) Cambridge, Mass.
3) Minneapolis
4) Arlington, Va.
5) Seattle
6) St. Louis
7) Austin
8) Bellevue, Wash.
9) Washington D.C.
10) Pittsburgh

Another Central Texas city, Georgetown, ranked third on the list for most generous small cities, or those with a population of under 100,000.
"As the Internet pervades all aspects of our life it continues to become a growth engine for nonprofit fundraising," said Convio CEO Gene Austin.
For the full rankings, click here.

Source: Austin Business Journal

Austin Poised for Fastest Recovery

2009-07-23T07:59:00.000-05:00

From now until the end of 2010, the Austin economy is projected to grow by $5 billion. That, coupled with relatively subdued unemployment, has the Texas Capital poised for the quickest economic rebound in the nation, according to Forbes.com.

Overall, many economists expect the national economy to return to growth later in 2009, perhaps as soon as this summer. But, as the Forbes writers point out, that won't be the case everywhere. While some cities are positioned for a quick rebound, others face a slow crawl to recovery that could take years.

Texas cities such as Austin, San Antonio, Dallas and McAllen are in a good position, Forbes' analysis found. That's due in part to the fact that Texas did not see the massive real estate bubble that formed in states like California, Nevada and Florida.

To determine the 10 cities that look best poised for recovery, Forbes examined estimates from data provider Moody's Economy.com of the projected gross domestic product of metropolitan areas across the U.S., as well as unemployment figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and home prices, incomes and affordability data from the National Association of Home Builders.
The analysis shows the importance of a city's economic make-up. In essence, the more diverse the industry base is in a particular city, the better off that city is when it comes to quick recovery.
The top five cities for recovery, in order, are Austin; Fayetteville, Ark.; Boulder, Colo.; Huntsville, Ala.; and San Antonio.

Source: Austin Biz Journal

2009 BEST CITIES: Austin #8

2009-07-21T08:16:00.000-05:00

2009 BEST CITIES: No. 8 Austin, Texas
"DEFYING THE ODDS"
Population: 1,533,263
Income Growth: 7%
Cost of Living Index: 94
Median Household Income: $54,827
Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 37%

Leave it to Austin to ruin the curve. While most cities around the country posted job layoffs in the past year, Austin added 3,300 jobs, the biggest bump in the country. The increase covered a broad swath, from professional services, education and hospitality to health care and government. Gains in those sectors more than offset losses in manufacturing and information technology -- though the unemployment rate in the area has crept up.

By Jane Bennett Clark, Senior Associate EditorFrom Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, July 2009

Austin Ranked in Top 10 list of Nation's Green Cities

2009-07-16T08:05:00.001-05:00

The City of Austin was recently named as one of the nation’s 10 greenest cities by the Mother Nature Network, an environmental news and information site founded by Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell.

Austin ranked number 10 on the list, with Portland ranking No. 1. Other cities on the list include: San Francisco, Boston, Berkeley and Seattle.

In the ranking, the network cited Austin’s Climate Protection Program, a plan to go carbon-neutral by 2020; and the city’s electric utility Austin Energy, the nation’s largest provider of renewable energy, among its reasons for naming Austin a Top 10 Green City.
"Austin is a green city because of our engaged community, and we hope our residents will continue to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions," Ester Matthews, director of the Austin Climate Protection Program, said in a statement.

Austin Leads Nation Again on Job Growth

2009-06-03T11:22:00.001-05:00

The Austin area was the nation’s strongest big-city job market last month, according to a new report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Among the 38 metro areas with a workforce of at least 750,000, Austin was the only one that gained jobs from April 2008 to April 2009, the bureau said. It was the third month in a row that Austin had earned that distinction.

Austin added 3,400 jobs in that period, a 0.4 percent gain, during that period.
Among other technology hubs, the Silicon Valley area lost jobs at a 4.4 percent annual rate in April. Portland, Ore., was down 4.7 percent, Seattle was down 3.4 percent and Raleigh, N.C., was down 3.3 percent. Some smaller cities also racked up gains, including Midland, up 2.2 percent, and Odessa, up 2.9 percent.

By American Statesman staff Wednesday, June 3, 2009, 11:22 AM

Austin 2nd Healthiest Housing Markets for 2009

2009-03-31T15:19:00.002-05:00

#2: Austin, Texas - Healthiest Housing Markets for 2009

(2008 Total Building Permits: 14,250)

Nine years ago, during the tech bust, some builders felt that Austin was too crowded and left. The bloom is back on Austin’s yellow rose now; it moved up the leader board to become the sixth largest home building market last year. Job creation explains the move. While other markets lost employment, Austin added 17,400 jobs last year, 2.3 percent growth rate.

It helps that Austin is home to both a major university, The University of Texas, and the state capital. Existing homes cost a little bit more in Austin than other Texas markets, roughly $188,600, but that’s still below the national average.

Also, Austin is one of the few metro areas in the country where median prices actually rose in 2008--2.7 percent. Amazingly, Austin now generates more home building activity than Chicago, which has six times more people. Busiest Austin builders: D.R. Horton, Lennar, KB Home, Centex Homes, Meritage Homes.

#1 - Houston, TX
#2 - Austin, TX
#3 - Fort Worth, TX
#4 - San Antonio, TX
#5 - Dallas, TX
#6 - Raleigh, NC
#7 - Seattle, WA
#8 - Indianapolis, IN
#9 - Fayetteville, AR
#10 - Washington D.C.
#11 - Nashville, TN
#12 - Denver, CO
#13 - Charlotte, N.C.
#14 - Willmington, N.C.
#15 - Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Courtesy: Hanley Wood Market Intelligence By: Boyce Thompson

Austin 2nd Fastest Growing City in the Nation!

2009-03-28T23:11:00.000-05:00

Austin was the nation’s second-fastest-growing metropolitan area between 2007 and 2008, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The population in the Austin-Round Rock area grew 3.8 percent to 1.65 million between July 2007 and July 2008. Among major U.S. metros, that growth rate was second only to Raleigh-Cary, N.C., which experienced a 4.3 percent population uptick during the 12-month period.

Large metro areas — those with 2008 populations of 1 million or more — were home to nine of the 10 fastest-growing counties. Texas had the largest number of counties on the 100 fastest-growing counties list with a total of 19. The Lone Star State was also home to 10 counties among the 25 with the highest numerical gains.

Four metro areas--including two in Texas--increased their populations by more than 100,000 people between 2007 to 2008: Dallas-Fort Worth (147,000), Houston (130,000), Phoenix (116,000) and Atlanta (115,000).

From Ausitn Business Journal 3/19/09

Forbes Ranks Austin #8 for Biz & Careers!

2009-03-27T16:32:00.001-05:00

Forbes.com ranks Austin the 8th best place for business and careers in its latest list.
Texas' Capital City rose significantly from 47th on last year's list. Austin was behind cities such as No. 1 Raleigh, N.C. and No. 4 Fayetteville, Ark. The list was ranked according to factors such as cost of doing business and projected employment growth.

Forbes.com cited Austin's projected annual job growth rate of 2.3 percent--the fifth fastest in the country, and its relatively low subprime mortgage exposure.
For its reporting on Austin, Forbes.com spoke with the Charles Schwab Corp., which expanded its Austin presence in 2007 when it purchased the 401(k) Co. "The city of Austin is extremely business-friendly. They have bent over backwards to accommodate us," Glenn Cooper, head of real estate at Schwab, told the news site.

The top 10 cities on the list were as follows:
1) Raleigh, N.C.
2) Fort Collins, Colo.
3) Durham, N.C.
4) Fayetteville, Ark.
5) Lincoln, Neb.
6) Asheville, N.C.
7) Des Moines, Iowa
8) Austin, Texas
9) Boise, Idaho
10) Colorado Springs, Colo.

From Austin Business Journal 4/3/09

Texas Counties Show BIG Growth Numbers!

2009-03-27T13:09:00.002-05:00

Ten of the top 25 fastest growing counties in the country between July 2007 and July 2008 are in Texas, according to a Capital Area Council of Governments analysis of the most-recent U.S. Census report.

That’s more than any other state, with California registering six of the top 25 and Arizona and North Carolina each capturing two.

Texas counties among the top 25 include:

Harris, No. 2
Tarrant, No. 5
Bexar, No. 10
Collin, No. 12
Dallas, No. 13
Travis, No. 14
Fort Bend, No. 18
Denton, No. 21
Williamson, No.23
Hidalgo, No. 24

Central Texas counties experienced considerable population increases over the period—emphasizing the need for a continued focus on managed growth, CAPCOG officials said.

CENTRAL TEXAS COUNTIES: The numerical and percentage growth break down among counties in CAPCOG’s service area is as follows:

Bastrop: 1,364, 1.9 percent
Blanco: 81, 0.9 percent
Burnet: 901, 2.1 percent
Caldwell: 299, 0.8 percent
Fayette: 241, 1.1 percent
Hays: 7,526, 5.3 percent
Lee: 115, 0.7 percent
Llano: 58, 0.3 percent
Travis: 28,651, 3 percent
Williamson: 22,172, 6.0 percent

“These latest figures from the Census Bureau underscore the fact that we can’t stop talking about how to manage growth effectively, even during a recession,” said Brian Kelsey, director of community and economic development for CAPCOG. “The number of people relocating to the Austin-Round Rock region has likely slowed as a result of the recession, but we need to appreciate that Hays, Travis, and Williamson alone added nearly 60,000 people between July 2007 and July 2008, according to these latest figures. For some perspective, that’s more people than the entire city of Cedar Park.”

From the Austin Business Journal 3/27/09

2009 Austin Area Market Update - Alamo Title

2009-03-24T17:28:00.003-05:00

While homeowners nationwide have watched their home values plummet, the Central Texas real estate market has fared much better in comparison. Economic forecasters now say a looming housing shortage will increase real estate prices within the next two years.

With the relatively healthy local economy encouraging continued population inflows to Austin, economic consultant Angelos Angelou forecasts demand to soon outstrip supply, a theory consistent with current real estate sales absorption rates (see attached).

Angelou estimates newcomers move to Austin at a rate of approximately 42,000 per year. New residents coupled with a decrease in the number of new home starts locally may lead to a shortage over the next few years, he said. Three years ago, we were building at the pace of 18,000 a year, but last year, only 8,100 were built; this year, only 6,000 new homes will be built.

Angelou said this is an ideal time to buy, and that current sellers may consider waiting for increased demand and prices in the upcoming housing shortage.
Like in January and last fall, the number of transactions per month are still down as many borrowers face difficulty securing financing and investors wait for signs of confidence in the markets. Austin-area prices remain stable and affordable, and properties are selling, on average, after just 83 days on market.

Austin Tops the Top 10 Lists in 2009

2009-03-18T13:36:00.004-05:00

Here are some stats for those of us that already love Austin!

Healthiest Housing Markets for 2009 - BuilderOnline.com
Austin #2

Fastest Growing Cities in the Nation - Austin Biz Journal
Austin #2

Top 10 Best Bang for the Buck Cities - Forbes Magazine

Austin #1

Top 10 Most Recession-proof Cities - Forbes.com

Austin #3

TOP 10 Best Cities to Work & Play - Kiplinger.com

Austin #6

Top 10 Greenest Cities in America - Popsci.com

Austin #10

Top 10 Best Cities to have a Baby - FitPregnacy.com

Austin #9

Top 10 Golf Cities in America - Golf Magazine

Austin #1

Top 10 Best Places to Live in America - CNN/Money Magazine

Round Rock #7

Top 10 Best Cities for Married Couples - Forbes.com

Austin #5

Best Cities for Dating - Sperlings

Austin #1

Most Educated Cities in the US - US Census Bureau

Austin #5 (41.5% have a college degree or higher!)

There are more on the attached link!

It's a good time to live in Austin!

JoAnne

My Core Values:

Continual Education, Targeted Excellence, Balanced Growth & First Class service!

JoAnne McKinney, Broker/Owner, GRI, CRS, ABR
Violet Crown Realty
943 East 51st Street Austin, TX 78751
512.628.0990 wk · 512.628.0992 fax · 801.9001 mb
JoAnne@VioletCrownRealty.com
http://www.VioletCrownRealty.com/

2008 Average Prices - Austin

2009-03-14T15:30:00.003-05:00

Attached is our annual Average Price map for the Austin MLS for the past year. The percentages show the change from 2007 to 2008 per MLS area.

Keep in mind that this is a bird's eye view of the city, not intended to estimate the price on a specific home or neighborhood.

For example, Area 3 now includeds the new Mueller Redevelopment Neighborhood(http://www.MuellerAustin.com/) as well as cute cottage communities from the 1930s & 40s like French Place (Dean Keeton to Cherrywood to 38 1/2 to I-35). There are other parts of Area 3 that include Windsor Park & University Hills where the homes are built in the 60s & 70s. Each of these smaller communities are are different price points and the only way to determine the market value of a specific home is to look at the houses most similar in that neighborhood. Sites like http://www.zillow.com/ average aggregated data and don't give a true representation of a specific home's market value.

Contact us if you have questions about a home, condo or neighborhood in the Austin or Central Texas area!

It's a good life...

JoAnne McKinney
Violet Crown Realty
943 East 51st Street
Austin, TX 78751
http://www.violetcrownrealty.com/

AverageSalesPrice09.pdf

First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit - explained

2009-02-20T07:21:00.005-06:00

Information about first time home buyer tax credits as amended by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (HR 1).
Please consult your tax advisor / accountant to determine whether you are eligible for this tax credit before making any decisions or changes to your tax status. This website is for information only and should be verified by a tax professional.

The 3 changes to the first-time home buyers tax credit program include:

1) Tax credit has been increased to $8,000.
2) Homes have to be purchased between Jan. 1, 2009 & Dec. 31, 2009
3) No repayment/recapture clause for homes sold after 36 months of occupancy and ownership.

1) The Tax Credit is for home buyers (either spouse if filing jointly) who have NOT owned a principle residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase. Ownership of vacation property or rental property does not disqualify home buyers from this program.

2) The maximum credit is $8,000 or 10% of the home purchase, whichever is less.

3) The credit is available for homes purchased on or after Jan. 1, 2009 and before Dec. 31, 2009.

4) To qualify for the full tax credit, married couples' modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) should be under $150,000 and single filers' MAGI should be less than $75,000. Partial tax credits may be available for married couples with MAGI incomes of over $150,000 but under $170,000 and single filers with incomes over $75,000 but under $95,000. If married couples who qualify for the first-time tax credit file separately, they would both claim 5% of the home purchase or $4,000 each (whichever is less) on their tax returns.

5) Home buyers who qualify for this program, but who do not intend to purchase a home till the end of 2009, may elect to alter their tax withholdings (up to the amount of the of the tax credit) in order to save up money for a down payment. However, if the purchase of the home does not occur, the taxes must be repaid to the IRS.

6) There is no recapture or repayment clause IF the home is owned for at least 36 months.

7) The effective date of purchase for new construction (even if buyer owns title to the lot) is the date the owner first occupies the house. So even if construction began in 2008, as long as the home and buyers qualify for the tax credit, they will be eligible if they take possession any time during 2009. However, new construction bought from the builder is only eligible if the settlement date (closing) takes place between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009.

8) The law allows taxpayers to elect to treat qualified 2009 purchases as a 2008 purchase so that they can receive the tax credit on their 2008 tax returns.

9) The full amount of the eligible tax credit is refunded to the buyer, regardless of whether the buyer has paid an equivalent amount in taxes.

National REALTOR® Statistics

2009-01-26T15:10:00.007-06:00

I thought this was interesting...

Hours worked by all REALTORS (nationwide): 40 per week

Gross personal income by hours worked: $63,000 (median for 40-59 hrs.)

Real estate experience of all REALTORS (median): 7 years

REALTORS by gender: Male 41%; Female 59%

Formal education of REALTORS: Some college: 34%; associate degree: 12%; Bachelor's degree: 26%; High school graduate: 8%; Graduate degree and above: 10%; Some graduate school: 8%

Affiliate membership of REALTORS: CCIM: 1%; CRE: 1%; CRB: 3%; CRS: 10%; IREM: 1%; REBAC: 10%; RLI: 1%; SIOR: less than 1%; WCR: 4%

Sides per agent: For all REALTORS in 2007, the typical brokerage specialist completed 10 transaction sides

Number of years with present firm (median): Agents - 3 years; Brokers - 7 years

REALTOR affiliation with firms: Independent contractor 83%; Employee 6%; Other 11%
Source: 2007 National Association of REALTORS® Member Profile

2008 Market in Review - Austin Title

2009-01-16T21:07:00.001-06:00

As most parts of the nation experience significant decline in housing starts, sales, and prices, the Central Texas market remains relatively strong in comparison. Although units sold and aggregate volume are down around 20%, prices remain stable and inventory remains low, suggesting that pent-up demand from 3rd and 4th quarters may soon re-enter market as the credit freeze continues to thaw. With just 5.3 months of inventory, Austin actually had less units for sale in November 2008 than in November 2007. As buyers take advantage of historically low interest rates, our local market should continue to benefit as prices here grew modestly throughout the bubble times elsewhere. Austin's projected equity accumulation in the years ahead is one of the nation's healthiest according to a recent study (See pdf article here, page 5 and page 15)

While the Austin housing market has realized some price increases over the past decade, we have been insulated from the steep price drops seen in coastal markets and places like Arizona and Florida. Although market conditions are tough nationwide, Austin remains stable in comparison due to a formidable economic base and a healthy job market with 4 of the nation's Top Ten cities for growth located here in Texas. These factors also account for the steady stream of new residents who come to Austin for the sunshine and good jobs. [For more statistical data: http://austintitle.com/statistics/map2.php]

Central Texas Real Estate In Perspective

2008-12-05T13:04:00.001-06:00

While headlines such as last week's about the latest monthly numbers for Austin home sales and prices can inspire debate about whether we are defying the national trends or following them, 2008 will see a volume of sales exceeding 24,000 homes. 2008 will represent the 4th highest total of homes sold in a year over the last 25+ years. This is lower than the last three years, however, home sales nationally are at their lowest level since 1999.

Year-to-date, 2008 is down 18% over the same period in 2007, however, the Real Estate Center's latest projection for 2008 only puts sales off 3,460 or 14% from last years total.There was an average of 4 months inventory remaining on the market in Austin during 2007 which increased to 6 months by September 2008. Nationally inventories currently represent a 10-month supply, while 4-5 months is considered typical.

Average home prices in Austin have held steady based on estimated 2008 data and median price has increased 3%. Nationally, the median has dropped 9% and in some areas of the United States, home values are down substantially more.More information on Central Texas economic indicators can be found at www.austinchamber.com.

by Beverly Kerr, Chamber Vice President of Research

Best Cities to Live, Work and Play (Austin is #6)

2008-12-04T13:25:00.001-06:00

Our approach this year to picking the ten best cities in which to live and work was simple: Look for places with strong economies and abundant jobs, then demand reasonable living costs and plenty of fun things to do. When we ran the numbers, some of the names that popped up made us do a double take at first. So we hit the road to meet movers, shakers and regular folks, experience the ambience and take in the sights.
We discovered that our numbers guru, Kevin Stolarick, hadn't steered us wrong. Stolarick, research director at the Martin Prosperity Institute, a think tank that studies economic prosperity, says: "Our formula highlights cities not just with strong past performance, but also with all the ingredients for future success."

One key to a bright future is a healthy shot of people in the creative class. People in creative fields -- scientists, engineers, architects, educators, writers, artists and entertainers -- are catalysts of vitality and livability in a city.

The cities that made our list also represent larger surrounding areas. And because we understand that city living isn't for everyone, we've highlighted some great suburbs, too.
Pack a bag and join us on a tour of the Best Cities for 2008 and prepare for some surprises.
No. 1: Houston,Texas
No. 2: Raleigh, N.C.
No. 3: Omaha, Neb.
No. 4: Boise, Idaho
No. 5: Colorado Springs, Colo.
No. 6: Austin, Texas
No. 7: Fayetteville, Ark.
No. 8: Sacramento, Calif.
No. 9: Des Moines, Iowa
No. 10: Provo, Utah

From Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine, July 2008

Austin job creation slower, but still outpacing rivals

2008-12-02T09:13:00.000-06:00

Employment in the Austin-Round Rock region increased 1.9 percent between October 2007 and October 2008, outpacing many of Austin’s economic development competitors, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The local region added about 14,700 jobs in the 12-month period, bringing its total employment figure to roughly 781,000, according to the report.

By comparison:
• San Jose, Calif. added 700 jobs for a 0.8 percent increase
• Raleigh, N.C. added 8,800 jobs for a 1.7 percent increase
• Nashville, Tenn. lost 2,200 jobs for a 0.3 percent decrease
• Seattle lost 1,900 jobs for a 0.1 percent decrease
• Phoenix lost nearly 50,000 jobs for a 2.3 percent decrease
• San Antonio added 17,900 jobs for a 2.9 percent increase
• Memphis, Tenn. lost 10,800 jobs for a 1.7 percent decrease
• Albany, NY remained stagnant.

Mortgage Market Explanations

2008-10-03T06:22:00.002-05:00

Hello All! I wanted everyone to have this information, so that you can share it with your buyer’s and seller’s to hopefully add understanding and to show them that you are their trusted advisor. Good luck! I will keep you posted.

The Chinese have a proverb: “May you live in interesting times.” And we are living through interesting times indeed.

Whatever the political posturing regarding the current rescue plan, a plan needs to be passed. Credit markets are frozen and banks are going bust every day. This is not totally because of "toxic" mortgages. This has a lot to do with FASB 157, also known as "mark to market". Each day lenders must mark their assets to the marketplace. It's like you having to appraise your home everyday and if your neighbor was under duress because they got very ill, divorced, lost their job and was forced to sell their home quickly they may have sold it super cheap. Now, does that mean your house is worth that super cheap price? Clearly not. Why? Because you are not under duress. You have the time to sell your home and get a more normal price, which more accurately reflects true market conditions.

But "mark to market" does not allow for this, which creates a vicious cycle. Why is this so bad? Because as lenders mark down their assets, the amount that they have loaned previously becomes much riskier in relation to their assets. For example, say a bank has $1 million in assets and say they have $15 million in loans outstanding. Their ratio is an acceptable 15 to 1. But should they take a paper write down of $500 thousand due to "mark to market" requirements, their ratio suddenly changes to 30 to 1. This is because their assets are now only $500 thousand after taking the paper loss, while their loans outstanding are $15 million. And at 30 to 1 this bank is viewed as a risky investment. So the stock price starts to get hit, it becomes harder to borrow, and most importantly harder to make money. The bank is then forced to sell some of its loans to reduce its ratio...at cheap prices. And this makes the vicious cycle continue.

And a quick look at the holdings of these loans show that 95% are problem free. Additionally, the Credit Default Swaps (CDS) that are used with the pools of mortgages are relatively safe. But this requires a bit of understanding. You see, when a pool of mortgage loans is put together, it isn't just A paper or B paper etc….it's everything. It’s got some A paper, B paper, C paper…and even what looks like toilet paper. An "A" investor buys the whole pool but because they are an "A" investor their safety is greater because they can avoid the first 20% (an example) of defaults. So they own the whole pool but are sheltered from the first batch of defaults, and for this they get the lowest rate of return. As you can figure from here the more risk investors want to take, the higher the return. So the investments are relatively safe, but the accounting rules currently place undue pressure on the banking institutions.

Now add to all this, the opportunistic “shorting” done on the financial stocks, much of it illegal because those shorts did not legitimately borrow shares (called naked shorting), and you exacerbate this whole problem. Thank goodness for the recent temporary ban on shorting in the financial sector. As for the plan the government is the only one who can step in to do this. And they have to do this. And they will do this. The nauseating political posturing from both sides is just part of the process. This is not easy to understand for the general public. In fact most politicians don't get this either. That's why it is a difficult yet critical bill for them to vote on.Once this is done it will take some time but the markets will stabilize. As for the real estate and mortgage industries, it will take a bit of time but we will make it through this. Rates will remain attractive and the influx of credit availability will help the housing market gradually improve. This ultimately will be the medicine needed to improve the situation overall.

As always – please keep in touch, especially during these volatile times. I am here to help you in any way that I can.

Wishing you Abundance!

Nan

Mortgage Broker #72387
Abundance Home Mortgage LLC
12885 Research Blvd., Suite 102
Austin, TX 78750
512-335-7800 Office
512-335-7805 Fax
512-970-8617 Cell
www.nankirkpatrick.com

Value of Austin Homes Remains Stable

2008-07-22T16:29:00.002-05:00

Value of Austin homes remains stable: Real estate market grows due to first-time buyers and young people in their early 20s

Despite home price depreciation around the rest of the country, Austin housing is holding its value. According to an Austin Board of Realtors study, the median price of single family homes is at $200,000, a 4 percent increase from last June. "Our homes are affordable in comparison. Less than $200,000 is amazing," said Socar Chatmon-Thomas, chairman of the board. "In most parts of the nation you can't buy anything as a first home for less than $350,000."Sales of single-family homes are coinciding more with national figures, as they have decreased by 20 percent since last June."

Austin is a vital and dynamic environment because of business growth," said Beverly Kerr, vice president of research at the Austin Chamber of Commerce. "We're a lot less expensive in terms of taxes and regulation than other tech industry centers and we're a great place for quality of life."

Forbes magazine ranked Austin as America's third-most "recession-proof city" in April. At 3.7 percent, Austin's unemployment levels are nearly 2 percent below the national average."Growth in Austin is really driven by the job market," said Chay Walker, senior agent manager at Austin's Uptown Realty.

However, Walker said, Austin's 6 percent unemployment rates in 2001 and 2002 prevented the city's housing market from growing at 45 percent, the highest appreciation rate seen in some parts of the country, Walker said."Austin's real estate market stayed flat," Walker said. "When the rest of the country started having problems, our markets were just coming around." Austin builders responded to the crisis by scaling back production of new homes, Chatmon-Thomas said. Austin housing appreciation continues to hold steady at around 5 percent.Chatmon-Thomas said some of Austin's real estate growth stems from an influx of Asian-American and Hispanic first-time home buyers and younger buyers. "A lot more young people are buying homes in their early 20s," Chatmon-Thomas said. "I think it's that younger people realize the value of a home and realize that 'If I purchase this home now, I can use it as an investment property when I get married or change lifestyles or whatever.'"

By Mohini Madgavkar
The Daily Texas

Top 25 Markets Shake-Up

2008-07-16T10:22:00.003-05:00

Top 25 Markets Shake-Up

The once top-rated housing market Yakima, Washington is beginning to run out of gas, and falls from the number #1 forecast position in Housing Predictor's Top 25 markets for 2008.

After years of strong sales and appreciation, the Yakima market is slowing and is forecast to slide over the rest of the year. A ripple effect of tighter mortgage lending standards and increasing inventory is beginning to impact the marketplace.

Biloxi, Mississippi all but destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, is in the number one position. A government sponsored program is helping the area rebuild what was once the second largest casino business in the country to Las Vegas.

The Top 25 with the highest forecast appreciation have the greatest probability of reaching their forecast of the more than 250 local housing markets Housing Predictor forecasts.

Conservative North Dakota with one of the strongest statewide economies nationally, and the lowest subprime mortgage activity in the country, placed three cities on the list. Four states each placed three communities on the list.

Interestingly, the top markets for 2008 are scattered throughout all parts of the U.S. from the west to the east and into the southern states. No particular region of the country was more dominate than another as more and smaller communities based on population made the Top 25, which have less appreciation forecast than earlier in the year.

Rank Real Estate Market 2008 Forecast

1. Biloxi, MS 4.9%
2. Salem, OR 4.7%
3. Bismarck, ND 4.6%
4. Spokane, WA 4.4%
5. Yakima, WA 4.1%
6. Austin, TX 4.0%
7. Grand Junction, CO 4.0%
8. Fargo, ND 4.0%
9. Mobile, AL 3.9%
10. Idaho Falls, ID 3.8%
11. New York, NY 3.8%
12. Glen Falls,NY 3.8%
13. Salt Lake City, UT 3.8%
14. Grand Forks,ND 3.8%
15. Pascagoula, MS 3.8%
16. Hattiesburg, MS 3.7%
17. Albuquerque, NM 3.5%
18. Kellogg, ID 3.5%
19. Boise, ID 3.5%
20. Provo, UT 3.1%
21. Ogden, UT 2.7%
22. Edmond, OK 2.6%
23. Oklahoma City, OK 2.5%
24. Amarillo, TX 2.4%
25. Lubbock, TX 2.3%

Austin Home Sales Gaining Strength

2008-06-20T11:27:00.000-05:00

It's showing signs of a possible rebound, but the Austin home market remains sluggish.
Single-family home sales in the metro area totaled 2,154 in May, down 20 percent compared with May 2007, according to data from the Austin Board of Realtors. However, the May figure is the highest number of total sales the area has experienced in eight months.

Austin is not seeing the drastic price drops that many other markets around the country have experienced. The average price for a single-family home stood at $263,151 in May, up 5 percent from a year ago.

"Despite economic conditions across the nation, Austin continues to have a relatively low unemployment rate and cost-of-living index," says ABoR Chairman Socar Chatmon-Thomas. "While we're not enjoying the booming real estate markets of 2006 and 2007, we have seen steady increases in sales volume since January 2008."
Pending single-family home sales totaled 1,418 in May, down 55 percent from May 2007. New listings for the month were down 7 percent from a year ago.
Townhome and condo sales are also on the downswing. A total of 239 units were sold in May, a 24 percent decline from a year ago.

from: Austin Business Journal

50 Reasons to Love the USA: Austin Music!

2008-06-19T19:00:00.002-05:00

Texas:

Because you don’t have to be 22 to get excited about Austin’s music scene. Known as a mecca for the indie–music set (thanks to the annual South by Southwest festival in March), Austin now has a venue for Bach, Mozart, and Stravinsky as well. On the edge of Lady Bird Lake, the Long Center for the Performing Arts (701 W. Riverside Dr.; 512/474-5664; thelongcenter.org) houses the city’s ballet company and symphony orchestra. The performance hall, designed by Nelsen Partners and Zeidler Partnership Architects, is in tune with Austin’s unconventional spirit—70 percent of the structure was made from recycled materials, including the gigantic concrete ring that encircles the central building like a halo. On the lineup this summer: Austin’s Chamber Music Festival, the Austin Shakespeare Festival, and free weekend symphony performances on the public terrace.

Travel & Leisure's state-by-state guide to fun summer travel.
updated 8:43 a.m. CT, Thurs., June. 19, 2008

Best Cities to Live, Work and Play

2008-06-04T13:32:00.001-05:00

These ten great places will only get better.

Our approach this year to picking the ten best cities in which to live and work was simple: Look for places with strong economies and abundant jobs, then demand reasonable living costs and plenty of fun things to do. When we ran the numbers, some of the names that popped up made us do a double take at first. So we hit the road to meet movers, shakers and regular folks, experience the ambience and take in the sights.

We discovered that our numbers guru, Kevin Stolarick, hadn't steered us wrong. Stolarick, research director at the Martin Prosperity Institute, a think tank that studies economic prosperity, says: "Our formula highlights cities not just with strong past performance, but also with all the ingredients for future success." One key to a bright future is a healthy shot of people in the creative class. People in creative fields -- scientists, engineers, architects, educators, writers, artists and entertainers -- are catalysts of vitality and livability in a city.

The cities that made our list also represent larger surrounding areas. And because we understand that city living isn't for everyone, we've highlighted some great suburbs, too.

Pack a bag and join us on a tour of the Best Cities for 2008 and prepare for some surprises.

1. Houston
Population: 5,542,048
Population Growth Since 2000: 14.9%
Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 31.3%
Cost-of-Living Index: 88.1 (100 being national average)
Median Household Income: $50,250
Income Growth Since 2000: 13.1%

2. Raleigh
Population: 995,662
Population Growth Since 2000: 19.9%
Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 36.1%
Cost-of-Living Index: 99 (100 being national average)
Median Household Income: $56,150
Income Growth Since 2000: 10.3%

3. Omaha
Population: 821,356
Population Growth Since 2000: 6.6%
Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 30%
Cost-of-Living Index: 89.4 (100 being national average)
Median Household Income: $51,627
Income Growth Since 2000: 15.1%

4. Boise
Population: 568,086
Population Growth Since 2000: 18.2%
Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 33.2%
Cost-of-Living Index: 95.5 (100 being national average)
Median Household Income: $49,833
Income Growth Since 2000: 16.6%

5. Colorado Springs
Population: 600,444
Population Growth Since 2000: 10.5%
Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 34.1%
Cost-of-Living Index: 95.3 (100 being national average)
Median Household Income Since 2000: 53,486
Income Growth Since 2000: 16.1%

6. Austin
Population: 1,506,425
Population Growth Since 2000: 17%
Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 36.5%
Cost-of-Living Index: 92.8 (100 being national average)
Median Household Income: $52,882
Income Growth Since 2000: 12.2%

7. Fayetteville
Population: 419,455
Population Growth Since 2000: 17.3%
Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 31.4%
Cost-of-Living Index: 90.4 (100 being national average)
Median Household Income: $42,267
Income Growth Since 2000: 17.6%

8. Sacramento
Population: 2,067,117
Population Growth Since 2000: 13.1%
Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 34%
Cost-of-Living Index: 121.7 (100 being national average)
Median Household Income: $56,953
Income Growth Since 2000: 19.1%

9. Des Moines
Population: 532,425
Population Growth Since 2000: 9.6%
Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 32.1%
Cost-of-Living Index: 90.6 (100 being national average)
Median Household Income: $53,384
Income Growth Since 2000: 16.3%

10. Provo
Population: 474,351
Population Growth Since 2000: 20.6%
Percentage of Workforce in Creative Class: 32%
Cost-of-Living Index: 97.7 (100 being national average)
Median Household Income: $50,583
Income Growth Since 2000: 12.2%

Wednesday, June 4, 2008, provided by www.kiplinger.com

31 Places to Go This Summer

2008-06-01T11:00:00.001-05:00

1. TEXAS HILL COUNTRY
“Who needs Europe? The Texas Hill Country, west of Austin and north of San Antonio, might be the next best thing to crossing the Atlantic. The region is lush, colorful and, unlike much of the pancake-flat state, dotted with beautiful green hills that are evocative of Tuscany or the south of France. Moreover, the region is speckled with 22 wineries (http://www.texaswinetrail.com/) that buzz with food and music festivals year round. And towns like Fredericksburg offer a taste of the Old World, with German-style biergartens and schnitzelhäuser.”

New York Times: 6/1/2008

Austin keeps truckin' on job creation

2008-05-16T23:38:00.000-05:00

Providing more evidence of Austin's economic resilience, the region added 4,100 jobs last month with big gains in sectors such as hospitality and professional and business services.
The April additions included 900 new positions each in the government and leisure/hospitality sectors. Professional/business services added 500 jobs as did retail trade, according to the latest figures from the Texas Workforce Commission.

In the last year, Austin has gained 20,100 jobs for an annual growth rate of 2.7 percent. Retail trade added 2,900 jobs since April 2007; professional/business services added 5,700 positions, leisure and hospitality grew by 2,900 and government increased by 3,700 jobs. The largest job declines came in the manufacturing sector, which saw a year-over-year drop of 2,100 positions.

The unemployment rate in the Austin-Round Rock area stood at 3.3 percent in April, down from 3.2 percent a year earlier. That remains better than the Texas unemployment rate at 3.9 percent and the national rate at 4.8 percent.
Texas employers added a total of 15,400 jobs in April for a 12-month job increase of 262,000 positions since April 2007.

Austin Business Journal

Austin: Top 10 "Recession-Proof Cities"

2008-04-29T20:48:00.000-05:00

Austin was named third on the Forbes.com list of the top 10 "Recession-Proof Cities" in the United States.
To create the list, the magazine looked at the 50 largest U.S. metros, examining key measures, such as unemployment data, non-farm related job growth, median home prices and data from a 2007 report, "U.S. Metro Economies: The Mortgage Crisis" by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

At number three, Austin was right behind San Antonio, which grabbed the second spot thanks to solid employment figures and affordable home prices that continue to rise.
Oklahoma City took the No. 1 spot because of its strong housing market and solid growth in agriculture, energy and manufacturing. For its part, Austin was lauded for being a hip town with one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country.

Forbes magazine's list of recession-proof cities also included: Houston, Dallas, Charlotte, N.C., Raleigh, N.C., Salt Lake City, San Jose, Calif. and Seattle.

Forbes says that Texas cities such as San Antonio, Austin, Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth have benefitted from historically lower home prices, land availability and 'little zoning'. All four Texas cities boast falling unemployment rates, according to Forbes, with Austin dropping from 3.8 percent to 3.6 percent.

Why Mortgage Rates Aren't Lower

2008-03-31T21:33:00.002-05:00

With storm clouds hanging over the U.S. economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has gone on the offensive, slashing the federal funds target rate by 3 full percentage points—to 2.25 percent—since September. But despite the central bank's aggressive action, prospective homebuyers are left scratching their heads. After all, the average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage has fallen by only about half a percentage point, to 5.85 percent, since mid-September. So what gives?
Here's a look at the factors influencing today's mortgage rates and a peek at where rates might be headed.

Does the Fed set mortgage rates? No. The Fed is responsible for setting the federal funds target rate, which is the interest rate that banks charge each other for overnight loans. "A bank's balance sheet needs to balance every day," says Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics. "If a bank needs funds, it will borrow. If it has a surplus, it will lend—at the federal funds rate." Interest rates on short-term certificates of deposit and commercial paper are closely linked to the federal funds rate, Mayland says, but its influence on fixed-rate mortgages is less direct.

Does the federal funds rate affect mortgage rates? Only indirectly. The fed funds rate affects a lender's borrowing costs. When the federal funds rate is cut, lenders pay less for the funding they need to finance loans. As such, they can reduce the interest rates they charge on mortgages without hurting their profit margins. "You're not looking at any kind of direct relationship," says Christopher Thornberg of Beacon Economics. "When you think about a fixed-rate mortgage, you're talking functionally about a 30-year bet of which the short- run costs of capital are but a minute part."

So what are the key factors that determine mortgage interest rates? Fixed mortgage rates typically track the yield on the 10-year treasury note. "The 30-year mortgage tends to have roughly the same [sensitivity to interest-rate changes] as a 10-year treasury," says T.J. Marta, a fixed-income strategist at RBC Capital Markets. "On average, people pay off their mortgage roughly every 10 years." The outlook for inflation plays a key role in determining the yield on the 10-year treasury, Marta says.
In order to compensate lenders and investors for the risk that home loans will not be repaid, mortgage interest rates are set higher than the yields on 10-year treasuries, which are essentially risk free. Historically, the typical difference between mortgage rates and the 10-year treasury yield—known as the spread—has been roughly 1½ percentage points. In the mortgage industry, the difference between these two rates is often referred to as a "risk premium."

How have those factors influenced mortgage rates lately? Although 10-year Treasury yields have declined in recent months, risk premiums have widened dramatically. The spread between the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate and the 10-year Treasury yield has ballooned nearly 60 percent over the past year, to about 2½ percentage points, according to HSHAssociates.com, which tracks mortgage rates. "That spread—the normal 1.5 percentage points—has gone haywire," says Orawin Velz of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

What is driving up those risk premiums? Before the housing crisis, mortgages were considered safe investments, so risk premiums were slim. During the housing boom, huge swaths of home loans were pooled together and sold to investors in the form of mortgage-backed securities. But rising delinquencies on subprime home loans led to large-scale losses for investors holding such products.
With demand for mortgage-backed securities evaporating, higher returns were required to attract new buyers, who were fleeing to safer investments like treasury securities. Meanwhile, banks—which have absorbed billions of dollars in losses since the onset of the crisis—have been requiring tougher underwriting standards and wider spreads on new mortgages.
"The spreads [between the 10-year treasury yield and mortgage rates] are wide because of a pickup in defaults and delinquencies and an expectation of more to come," says Michael Darda, chief economist at MKM Partners. (As a result, the recent declines in the yield of the 10-year treasury have been more than offset by the escalating risk premiums. That has prevented mortgage rates from falling as much as they otherwise might.

Will these risk premiums decrease anytime soon? As portfolios begin to heal from the housing market's wrath, risk premiums should begin to decrease, says Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSHAssociates.com. "We'll start to get to a point where lenders will feel more comfortable passing along more of those declines in interest rates [to customers] and certainly expanding—nibbling at the fringes—of lending they used to embrace wholeheartedly," Gumbinger says. "So you should see some of those risk premiums start to decline, especially for the best credit quality borrowers."
Indeed, the risk premiums have decreased recently—although they remain well above historical norms. Gumbinger credits the narrowing in part to recent changes allowing government-sponsored mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to increase their holdings of mortgage-backed securities. "Lots of liquidity is becoming available to good credit quality borrowers," he says.

What's the outlook for the 10-year treasury? While risk premiums may decline, the 10-year treasury yield is expected to increase. Marta of RBC Capital Markets expects the yield to be about 3.9 percent by the end of the year, up from its current yield of about 3.5 percent. "Back in January, on the [Société Géneralé] meltdown, we made our second-lowest yield in [modern] history," Marta says. "I don't really see that yields are going to get a whole lot lower than this."
So where will mortgage rates be at the end of the year? Velz of the Mortgage Bankers Association expects the rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage to be just over 6 percent at the end of the year. Rates could go lower, she says, should the economy slip into a protracted recession—which she does not expect.

How attractive are current mortgage rates? Although higher risk premiums may be preventing rates from falling as low as they otherwise might, today's mortgage interest rates are still pretty darn compelling. After all, the lowest average 30-year fixed rate ever recorded by Freddie Mac's weekly mortgage survey was 5.21 percent in June 2003. By that standard, the current weekly average mortgage rate of 5.85 percent is "very attractive," says Lincoln Anderson, chief investment officer and chief economist at LPL Financial Services.

By Luke Mullins
Posted March 28, 2008
US News & World Report

Austin Fifth Fastest-growing Metro area in Nation

2008-03-28T08:42:00.003-05:00

Austin hasn't lost its allure.
The city was the only one in Texas to make the list of the 10 fastest-growing U.S. metro areas, ranking fifth, with a population increase of 4.3 percent in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Austin-Round Rock area had the eighth highest numeric population gain, with 65,880 new residents moving into the region in 2007.
Overall, four Texas metropolitan areas saw big numerical population increases last year.
The Dallas-Fort Worth region ranked No. 1 in the list of top 10 U.S. metro areas by overall numeric population growth with an additional 162,250 people from 2006 to 2007.
The Houston metro area ranked fourth on that list, with an additional 120,544 people, trailing Atlanta, with 151,000 people, and Phoenix, with 132,000.
Neighboring San Antonio came in tenth with an increase of 53,925.
The Census Bureau also reports that eight of the fastest-growing metro areas were located in the southern part of the country.

-As reported in Austin Business Journal 3/27/08

Study Ranks Austin as One of the Least Stressful U.S. Cities

2008-02-29T20:35:00.004-06:00

We live in stressful times. Consider the evidence:

Forty percent of Americans say they are frequently subjected to stress, and another 36 percent sometimes feel that way, according to a January survey by the Gallup Poll.
Nearly half of U.S. adults believe the stress in their lives has escalated during the past five years, as reported in an October study by the American Psychological Association.
Three of every 10 Americans say they experience persistent stress or have panic attacks, as documented in a November survey by the Anxiety Disorders Association of America.

These numbers reflect the dimensions of a "national pressure cooker," to use the American Psychological Association's term, and it's causing untold damage to physical and emotional well-being and relationships. Several factors contribute to the daily pressure felt by millions of Americans, ranging from finances and unemployment to traffic, crime and pollution. The intensity of this toxic mixture varies from market to market across the country, as does the level of stress.

BizJournals Rankings of 10 Least Stressful Metros:

Virginia Beach-Norfolk, VA
Salt Lake City, UT
Phoenix, AZ
Oklahoma City, OK
Austin, TX
Las Vegas, NV
Denver, CO
San Diego, CA
Jacksonville, FL
Providence, RI

The worst (Most Stressful Metros - full article)
Nowhere is the situation worse than in Detroit, which ranks as the most stressful metropolitan area in America, according to a new Bizjournals study.
Detroit is saddled with the highest unemployment rate, 7.2 percent, in any of the nation's 50 largest markets. It also has the group's worst murder rate. And it's among the 10 places with the most robberies, the slowest rates of income growth, the most heart attacks and the fewest sunny days.

Austin Business Journal - by G. Scott Thomas Contributing writer
and www.BizJournals.com

Austin Housing Demand Still Higher than Average

2008-02-25T17:47:00.000-06:00

By OLGA CAMPOS KVUE News

Nationally, home sales in January fell to the lowest level in nearly a decade while the median price for a home continues to decline. But in Austin, it's the opposite. While sales are down from year to year, 2007 is still on record as the second best ever for home sales with an increase in the median price.

In Austin sales are up 4 percent, the median price is up by 7 percent with houses staying on the market for about four months. While nationally home sales dropped by 13 percent with the median price down by 6 percent. Houses are staying on the market for more than nine months before selling.

The Austin Board of Realtors says homes sales in January 2008 are down 10 percent from January of the previous year, but even with that month-to-month decline, Gay Puckett, of J.B. Goodwin Realtors, says Austin is a hot housing market. "It was the second best year in the history of Austin real estate," says Puckett.

She says new homes are selling, others are being remodeled and local businesses are booming in neighborhoods like Crestview.
"It makes me thrilled because we just bought our house a year ago," said Jaime Brydson. Brydson is tracking the value of her new home in her North Central Austin neighborhood.
"I read the paper and I'll see how percentage wise our property has already gone up in the past year. I feel like not only did we get a great house, but we made a fantastic investment," she said.
Experts predict 41,000 new jobs will be created over the next two years making increasing population and new employment the key reasons why the local housing market stays in better shape than the national average.

Here are more housing stats: 1,321 single family homes sold last month and the Median price of a home was $183,000.

05:47 PM CST on Monday, February 25, 2008

Some Cities Are Spared the Slide in Housing

2008-02-15T21:34:00.001-06:00

AUSTIN, Tex. — The real estate market these days is a tale of two Americas, and one of them is not doing too badly.

In the America of big-city housing markets, especially on the coasts and in the struggling industrial Midwest, the huge run-up in values in recent years has given way to big drops in prices and sales volume. Millions of people owe more than their houses are worth.
But in the other America, specifically in cities like Austin; Grand Forks, N.D.; Yakima, Wash.; and Salem, Ore., the available evidence suggests the real estate market is holding up. Prices there never boomed as crazily as they did in the big cities, and now, even though volume is down almost everywhere, prices in many of these towns are firm or rising.

Consider the experience of one Austin resident, Dan Clark. Forced by a job change to put his house here on the market, he wondered whether he would get anything like the $385,000 he paid for it a year ago. He was floored when the second potential buyer to look at the place snapped it up for $429,000. “Manna from heaven,” he said. Many people are aware that a handful of big-city markets, like Manhattan and San Francisco, have largely resisted the real estate slide. It is less widely known that the same thing is true in scores of smaller markets.
“I would call them backcountry cities,” said Robert J. Shiller, an economist at Yale University and an expert on real estate markets who predicted the bursting of both the housing and stock market bubbles of recent years. “They are just going through normal growth, and they are out of the bubble picture.”

In figures released on Thursday covering 150 metropolitan areas, the National Association of Realtors said that median home prices were falling in 77 markets — but rising in 73.
Real estate statistics must be interpreted with caution, especially when sales volumes are declining, as they are all over the country. But an analysis by The New York Times of three distinct data sets — mortgage data from the government, sales figures from the Realtors’ group and courthouse records from a company called Data Quick — produced a list of 17 metropolitan areas where all three sources of information agree that prices were still rising as of late last year, the most recent figures available.

For another 43 cities, two data sets, from the Realtors and the government, suggested that prices were still rising late in the year. Data Quick could provide no information on those cities.
How long the situation will last is anyone’s guess. One possibility is that the smaller cities are just lagging behind the big ones in seeing prices fall. And if the economy weakens drastically, all bets are off. But for now, buyers in these towns seem to feel they are getting a lot of house for the money; sellers and brokers are realizing that they have, so far, dodged a bullet.

“When I read about the national real estate market, I feel fortunate I am in Austin,” said Shara Parker, a real estate agent who is happy she turned down a chance four years ago to relocate to Las Vegas, which was booming then and is sinking now. “Our highs are not as high and our lows are not as low.”

Economists say small and medium cities, especially those where land availability is not a constraint on growth, have done better than the nation as a whole because they have followed more traditional economic patterns. New-home prices in most of these places still reflect, more or less, the cost of the labor and materials used to build the houses, in addition to a profit margin. “There are a lot of places where you didn’t have flipping of real estate,” said Steve Dennis, a business professor at the University of North Dakota. “Since you didn’t have the price appreciation, you don’t have the price correction.”

Generally, the markets that are showing strength do not have the bulging housing inventories of larger cities, because there was relatively little speculative building during the early part of this decade. Most of the towns have only modest exposure to the subprime loan crisis. And falling mortgage rates are buoying these markets. Typically, their local economies are still producing new jobs and healthy income growth because of factors like rising crop prices (as in Bismarck, N.D.) or local oil booms (Midland, Tex.) or an influx of second-home buyers (Sun Valley, Idaho).
“In 2008, I see momentum growing in Middle America for prices to stabilize and increase, given the historic mortgage rates,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the Realtors. But he added, “If we go into a recession, it’s possible some markets will reverse themselves.”

Austin is a good example of a real estate market that was slow and steady for years and now appears to be taking off. Austin’s high-tech industries are attracting well-heeled buyers from cities where real estate is far more expensive.
Sales prices for existing homes barely moved from 2001 to 2005, when the markets in a handful of superstar cities were on fire. But last year, the median price for a single family home rose 6.4 percent, to $185,000. It was the second consecutive strong year.
“I have to calm my buyer clients down,” said Mark Minchew, an Austin Realtor, “so they don’t pay too much.” The fly in the ointment for these cities is declining sales volumes, which prompt some experts to argue that median prices are presenting an unduly rosy picture. If fewer houses sell, but the ones that do sell are at the high end of the range, that can skew median prices.
“In the markets that are doing better, lots of people are not selling their houses, so you don’t see the prices going down because they are not selling for a lower price,” said Todd Sinai, a real estate professor at the University of Pennsylvania. “The market is doing a lot worse than what the median prices would show.”
Still, in many of the cities where prices are strongest, local Realtors contend that volume drop-offs have been modest, just a few percentage points. Mr. Clark is one Austin home seller with a happy tale. When a recruiter called him late last year with an enticing executive health care job in Fort Worth, Mr. Clark thought twice about trying to sell a house he had bought only a year before. “I was concerned after my relocation package ran out I would have to carry either two mortgages or a mortgage and apartment rent,” he recalled. Instead he sold the house for a profit, and only $10,000 below his asking price. “A weight was taken off our shoulders,” he said.
Mike Colpitts, the editor of Housing Predictor, an online housing forecaster, says that the market is still slowing and that some smaller cities will be hit. He projects that only 60 of the 251 markets in the United States that he monitors will show price appreciation in 2008. “The housing market is real sad, and getting sadder,” he said.
Realtors in medium and small cities contend the median price figures may actually underestimate market sentiment, because the issuance of large mortgages has frozen up in recent weeks because of problems on Wall Street. In the view of these Realtors, it is the high-end sales that are stalled in smaller cities, skewing the median price data downward.
“Call me back next year, and we’ll probably have a 3 percent to 5 percent price increase in 2008,” said Rob Higgins, executive vice president for the Spokane Association of Realtors. The median price for a home sold in Spokane was up 2.6 percent in 2007.
In Salem, Ore., “everything is going up, even the lower-income homes,” said Marlene Scully, executive vice president of the Salem Association of Realtors. Realtor data for the metro area that includes Salem showed a 3.6 percent increase for the year.
Ms. Scully noted that of the houses that were listed in 2007, 97.6 percent sold for the listed price, “which tells me there is a strong market because if there weren’t, the sellers would have to negotiate down.”
Clifford Krauss reported from Austin in late January and later added updated information. Ron Nixon reported from New York.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: February 19, 2008 Because of an editing error, an article in Business Day on Friday about cities in which real estate values are holding up misidentified the state of one city cited as an example. The city is Salem, Ore., not Salem, Mass.

Reprinted from NYTimes.com

How Austin Stacked Up in '07 - Austin Monthly Magazine

2008-02-01T22:03:00.000-06:00

Here are some top ratings that Austin has received in the past few months...

No. 1 greenest city in America, MSN.com
No. 1 in terms of job growth, Forbes' "Best City for Singles"
No. 1 city for growing businesses, Expansion Management's "2007 Mayor's Challenge Rankings
No. 1 overall economic vitality, Moody's Economy.com, "Business Vitality Index"
No. 1 of top four cities to watch, AARP's The Magazine's "Great Places to Live"
No. 2 for overall characteristics, Travel + Leisure's "America's Favorite Cities"
No. 2 best eco-neighborhood (SoCo took the honors), Natural Home magazine
No. 2 best walking city, Prevention Magazine
No. 2 fastest-growing wine region (Hill Country), Orbitz.com
No. 3 adventure city, National Geographic Adventure's "50 Best Places to Live and Play"
No. 3 best city for young singles, Kiplinger's Personal Finance
No. 3 top city for making movies, MovieMaker magazine
No. 5 luxury housing market, Unique Homes magazine
No. 7 hottest job market for young adults, Bizjournals
No. 10 healthiest city in America, Sperling's Best Places
No. 16 hottest entrepreneurial city, Inc. magazine, "Boomtowns 2007"

Historic Fed Move Cuts Both Ways for Borrowers

2008-01-31T10:07:00.000-06:00

Hot on the heels of its surprise inter-session rate cut of 75 basis points last week, the Federal Reserve cut key interest rates again, the fifth straight cut since September 2007. In its statement last week, the Fed said it had decided to cut the federal funds rate "in view of a weakening of the economic outlook and increasing downside risks to growth." In other words, economic data suggests the US is on the brink of recession, and the Fed is acting accordingly.

Who benefits from this cut?
If you have a loan that is directly tied to the Prime Rate, you will see an immediate benefit. Home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) and variable rate charge cards are the types of loans that will have an interest rate reduction on their next statement.

What does this mean for long-term rates?
Long-term mortgage rates, the lowest we've experienced in years, could actually increase after today's cut, based on historical performance and recent trends. So if you're waiting for long-term rates to fall further, don't count on it. Your best chance to lock in the lowest rates since 2005 is now. Getting your application in process now will allow you to capture a great rate before it's too late.

What REALLY moves mortgage rates?
Fixed-rate mortgage rates aren't directly tied to Fed interest rate moves. Instead, they tend to follow in the direction of other long-term government bond yields, such as the 10-year Treasury, which historically moves in accordance with the economic outlook and in advance of Fed actions. The performance of Mortgage Backed Securities, issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is what really determines long-term mortgage rates.

How does the economic stimulus package fit into the picture?
The economic stimulus package from Congress and the White House could be a double-edged sword for borrowers. Combined with recent Fed actions, the package could create inflation and bring about higher long-term interest rates. On the positive side, conforming loan limits are likely to be raised from the current $417,000 to upwards of $625,000. This means great potential savings for purchase and refinance candidates who live in 20 high-cost areas across the country.

What should you do next?
If you're unsure how the rate-cut or the proposed legislation affects your mortgage, don't worry, you're not alone. There's no one-size-fits-all answer. Contact your lender & they'll review your mortgage and see what, if anything, can or should be done to make the most of your individual financial goals and needs.

Don't have a great lender? Contact us at we'll send you a few names of super lenders in the Austin area.

Austin listed as Best Place to Buy a Home by Entrepreneur.com

2008-01-25T22:48:00.000-06:00

Best and Worst Places to Buy a House - Whether you're looking for an investment property or a place to live, here's a look at the cities you should seek out and avoid in 2008.
By Danielle Babb January 23, 2008

The housing crunch and the excessive inventory--exceeding 10 months on resale homes--continues to take its toll on housing prices. But over the long term, housing is still a good investment. In fact, it's more than an investment; it's a home. Plus, you're not really saving anything by renting, as the costs of renting and owning are about equal (well, owning may be a little more). The tax benefits of home ownership far outweigh renting, too. With good housing prices in many great areas, this may indeed be the time to buy.
So now that I've convinced you this is a good time to buy a home, the next question is, Where do you buy one? No matter where you look, you should check out some basic economic fundamentals before buying. Is job growth stable in the area? Is income keeping up with inflation? Is crime above the national average? Is there a higher-than-average rate of foreclosures? These issues and others play a factor when deciding where to buy a house.
As a real estate investor and analyst, it's my job to provide buyers with qualified information on where to buy--and where to stay away from. Here are my thoughts for 2008 based on the indicators noted above.

The Top Places to Buy

Whether you're an investor like me or you're looking to purchase that next move up, here are my picks for the best areas to buy a home:

Killeen, Round Rock, Austin, Texas: Killeen has the lowest average home price in any market in the nation while still maintaining quality. Round Rock and Austin have seen incredible job growth and very stable home prices despite the downturn nationwide. Jobs continue to grow here--a factor for keeping inventory low and prices stable.
Mission Viejo, California: Mission Viejo has the lowest crime statistics in the nation. With no murders in 2007 and a low rate of violent crime, this is a good place to raise a family. Prices are relatively stable, and the job market in the nearby cities of Irvine and San Diego means there is consistent demand from job seekers.
Palm Beach, Florida: I'm taking a risk here because this area has been pummeled by foreclosures in 2007. But there are also a lot of boomers retiring, and Palm Beach is looking mighty attractive. If you don't like this high of a risk (which translates to great prices), check out Tampa or Clearwater in the same state.
Las Vegas, Nevada: Yes, Las Vegas has been hit hard by incoming investors, who watched their home values disappear and then left those homes empty. Las Vegas comes in quite high on the national foreclosure list, almost always within the top three metro areas. But there's an upside--a very strong job market. In 2007, Las Vegas experienced a 12 percent increase in population, partly driven by retirees looking for Sunbelt states to move to. Coupled with low prices, we could see inventories reduced here, which would also stabilize prices. Be careful what you buy, but I like it.

To see the Places to Avoid: see the full article at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/money/personalfinance/article189454.html

Google signs lease in Austin at Scarbrough Building

2008-01-25T22:18:00.000-06:00

Google is headed to downtown Austin.
The Internet search leader has leased the second floor of the historical Scarbrough Building for an engineering center, said Office Leasing Advisors Inc., the Austin firm that represented Google Inc. in the deal.

Google will occupy 25,000 square feet of the art-deco-style building at Sixth Street and Congress Avenue, Office Leasing said.
Mountain View, Calif.-based Google did not respond to inquiries about the Austin office.
In recent months, Google has posted Internet job listings for an engineering director in Austin to head up a group of 100 or more engineers. It also has posted listings seeking software engineers in Austin. The Scarbrough office could hold 125 to 150 people, according to real estate brokers.
The entrance of a high-profile, national tech player like Google is a coup for Austin's technology industry, tech recruiters and executives said.
"Google is another marquee name in the technology world that we can say we have in Central Texas, and in addition to getting the Google name, we'll probably get some good-paying jobs with it," said David Porter, senior vice president of development for the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce.
The Google news follows announcements by other California-based firms to relocate or expand in Austin, including PayPal Inc., an eBay-owned online payment system that is locating a data services center in Austin that could have up to 300 workers by next year. Also, Borland Software Corp., a personal computer software company, is moving its headquarters to Austin from Cupertino, Calif., and expects to have 150 to 200 employees in Austin this year.
High-tech recruiters said Austin is a natural fit for Google, which has nearly doubled its work force every year for the past four years and now has about 12,200 employees worldwide.
In addition to the specific technical skills that match Google's personnel needs, Austin's youthful, freewheeling attitude that encourages risk-taking makes it a good cultural fit, said Kim Butler of Greywolf Consulting Services Inc.
Google, which has become a high-powered recruiter on college campuses and has opened a number of research and development centers near university communities, stresses that it looks for ability more than experience when it hires.
"It's a tremendous match for the city," Butler said. "They're looking for innovation, and that's what Austin brings to the table."
In turn, Google will accelerate growth in Austin, he added, saying, "It's like if you're trying to start a fire, you can twirl the stick in the pit and wait for friction or you can get one of those Duraflame logs and light it up with a match. That's the kind of impact that a Google can have on a city like Austin."
Google's choice of ZIP code is also a boost for downtown, which is undergoing major changes, from the new shops and restaurants in the Second Street retail district to a residential building boom that is adding hundreds of apartments and condominiums. Tech companies expanding downtown include Silicon Laboratories Inc., the chip design company that has 430 employees at its headquarters on West Cesar Chavez Street and is negotiating to buy a neighboring six-story building.
"Downtown has always been home to state government and accountants and attorneys, and now we're becoming a destination for tech companies," said Molly Alexander, associate director of the Downtown Austin Alliance, which represents downtown business and property owners. "They're looking for unique and unusual spaces that are reflective of their culture."
When a player like Google lands downtown, Alexander said, "it raises the profile for others to say, 'If we want to go to Austin, we need to go downtown.' "
lhawkins@statesman.com; 912-5955
Scarbrough Building history
• The Scarbrough Building was Austin's first skyscraper and marked the beginning of Austin's downtown business district.
• It was built for Emerson Monroe Scarbrough, a successful merchant.
• It was designed in the Chicago style by Fort Worth architects Sanguinet and Staats and opened in 1910.
• Bets were taken on whether it, the city's first steel and concrete structure, would stand or fall.
• Art deco elements were added in 1930.
• The second story, which will be home to Google, housed the Scarbroughs department store for years until its closing in 1983.
Sources: Austin History Center, American-Statesman archives

By Lori Hawkins and Shonda NovakAMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFFThurs., January 24, 2008

AUSTIN: Top 10 Best Performing Housing Markets

2008-01-24T12:38:00.000-06:00

As anybody who has ever sold real estate knows, there are no national markets, only local markets. That adage holds true when you look at the condition of the real estate business nationwide. Business may be tough in many places, but it’s not tough all over.

In Salt Lake City, Charlotte, N.C., and San Jose, Calif., prices have climbed relentlessly. In the Northeast, the biggest gainers are the gritty cities of Buffalo, N.Y., Pittsburgh, Pa., and Philadelphia.

In the West, business is brisk in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest.

Here are the top 10 best performing housing markets, according to Forbes magazine, their third quarter median home sale prices, and the percentage that prices have risen compared to third quarter 2006.

Salt Lake City — median home sales price: $246,700; Percent change: 14.1 percent
Charlotte, N.C. — $220,000, 11 percent
San Jose, Calif. — $852,500, 9.4 percent
San Francisco — $825,400, 8.6 percent
Raleigh, N.C. — $229,500, 7.5 percent
Austin — $188,200, 7.2 percent
Pittsburgh — $127,700, 6.1 percent
Seattle — $394,700, 6 percent
San Antonio — $154,700, 5.7 percent
Portland, Ore. — $299,700, 5.2 percent

Source: Forbes, Matt Woolsey (11/21/07)

Forbes votes Austin one of the Best Cities For Jobs In 2008

2008-01-23T09:00:00.000-06:00

The Lone Star State shines brilliantly in a list of the best places to work in the U.S. when some economists peer into their crystal balls for 2008.
Austin, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio all rank high on the latest forecast data from Moody's Economy.com. McAllen, Texas, is expected to have the highest job growth rate, as its leisure and hospitality, educational and health services and commercial construction jobs flourish.
"While the economy is cooling, Texas continues to generate more jobs than the national average," said Krista Piferrer, deputy press secretary to Gov. Rick Perry. "Unemployment is low in Texas, thanks in large part to a favorable business climate that encourages businesses to expand or relocate to our state."In Pictures: Best Cities For Jobs 2008
Even still, Salt Lake City, in all its tech-job abundance, looks like it will remain No. 1 since Forbes.com's most recent ranking ( see last year's story).
To compile the rankings for the Best Cities For Jobs list forecast, we used five data points, weighted equally: the state's unemployment rate, job growth, income growth, median household income and cost of living for full-year 2006 (only partial data is available so far for 2007). We measured the largest 100 metropolitan areas, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, and obtained the data from Moody's Economy.com.
The numbers are compiled based on greater metropolitan areas; it's also important to note that this list doesn't weigh specifics like job composition or job stability, two significant characteristics that will appeal to any job seeker.
Mark Zandi, chief economist and co-founder of Moody's Economy.com, acknowledged the housing market depression the company is facing and said the destinations that prevail on this list weren't as heavily vested in the real estate development boom, which ultimately led to a historic bust.
That's not to say the highest-ranking cities on this list are completely in the clear, though: "If we have a national recession, if problems intensify nationwide, these economies are going to struggle," Zandi said.
The top cities on this list also include Atlanta, plentiful in transportation, distribution and financial services careers. Indianapolis has a strong showing in agriculture, too. Omaha, Neb., Warren Buffet's hometown, offers jobs at opposite ends of the spectrum, in financial services and agriculture as well. The Emerald City--Seattle--brings aerospace and global trade professions to the table.
Kurt Ronn, president and founder of HRworks, an Atlanta-based job recruitment and consulting firm, said Americans gravitate to certain locales based on opportunity and affordability, both offered right in his backyard.
He noted that, on a broad scale, the employment picture has been strong in the areas of technology and logistics, such as in distribution and sales.
Some notables: Honolulu is the best in the pack for low unemployment, a good sign that tourism there remains healthy. Edison, N.J., ranked the highest in the median income category. Buffalo, N.Y., has the lowest cost of living, while San Jose, Calif., has the highest. New York sits at No. 58 on the list, while Los Angeles is No. 87.

http://www.forbes.com/leadership/2008/01/10/jobs-economy-growth-lead-careers-cx_mk_0110cities.html

The State of Austin's Housing Market

2008-01-04T22:28:00.000-06:00

The end of 2007 will see the Austin Housing Market sell about 94% of the number of homes that were sold through the Austin area MLS in 2006, the most prolific year ever in Austin home sales. Historically this will place 2007 Austin homes sales in second place.

Yet, concert has arisen about the slowing housing market due mostly to headlines comparing ’07 with ’06. Comparing any year to the best year ever is going to give less than impressive numbers; however, our average home price is up $16,000 over ’06 (through October ’07). Our total value of homes closed is above ’06, but the number of homes sales is down 5.7% and the days on the market is up slightly.

Austin’s job and population growth is very strong (4+%) and appears to be getting stronger. The report that Property & Portfolio Research, Inc. of Boston recently completed indicates that Austin has possibly the highest office rent growth in the nation and is projecting 2008 at a 9.2% increase. Google is nearing finalization of a lease for 25,000 square feet in the downtown area (ABJ) and is one of many such companies locating offices here. Our direct monetary impact from tourism is up 19% over three years (ABJ). Apartment occupancy rates rose 1.43% in the third quarter to 94.14% overall at a rate of $.95 per square foot (highest in the state and rose 6.2% over ’06) on an average of 834 SF apartment (Austin Trends Report and ALN). Unemployment is at 3.5% and more employers are being announced weekly.

So, why all the concern? Too many people read national stories and apply it locally. Austin is not a declining market. Austin’s inventory is growing and this means more days on the market and more motivated sellers. Our inventory is growing for only two reasons: fewer buyers and more homes. Why has this happened? We have fewer Buyers due to lack of easy money. We have more homes a 4.6 months supply which is up from our 3.1 months supply in 2006. The truth is, we has drifted into a period that anyone who wanted a loan could get one and the foreclosures are mounting so the lenders went back to the former standard.
Bottom line, this is healthy adjustment. Austin just happens to be in the right place at the right rime. The nation’s situation is bringing interest rates down while we are experiencing a rental boom.
There is no better place to invest today than Austin!

Austin No. 1 in a ranking of 381cities based on their Economic Vitality by Moody's Economy.com

2007-12-14T22:37:00.000-06:00

The clouds are gathering over the national economy, but the forecast is better for the Austin area. For the second time this year, the metropolitan area has come out No. 1 in a rating of 381 cities based on their economic vitality. Moody’s Economy.com rates the cities based not only on what’s happening now but also the near-term outlook and potential risk factors. Austin came out ahead on factors including the high quality of its work force, its strong base of innovation and population growth.
Austin American Statesman, Friday, December 14, 2007
Business & Personal Finance Section (Austin, Inc.)