Blue Skies Here | Central Texas

Austin Metro Fastest Growing City

For those of us who live here...we have seen the growth from the 1990s bust.  Great to see our fine area touted!  http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/27/11430472-bigger-in-texas-state-has-many-of-us-fastest-growing-cities

Highway 195 Expansion in Georgetown Approved

This is good news for many that travel the busy (and getting busier) Highway 195 in Georgetown. I am currently marketing a property at 1020 Highway 195 (unrestricted) - and this announcement only enhances the site's appeal. For full details, please check out the article from Community Impact News. http://impactnews.com/articles/hwy.-195-expansion-project-receives-final-environmental-clearance

HOA Jurisdiction...?

Some folks love HOAs - as they help to preserve their property investments. Others feel that they've gotten too dictatorial. Found this article interesting, as I have had some clients who recently found themselves in a similar situation. http://austin.ynn.com/content/top_stories/282512/round-rock-family-s-fight-with-hoa-heads-to-court

Austin a Top Five Best Performing City

Milken Institute just released its "Best-Performing Cities" index for 2011, and Texas is everywhere you look. Nine Texas MSAs landed in the top 25 on the institute's list of 200 largest metros, and four of those ranked in the top five, including number one San Antonio. Others on the list were El Paso (2), Austin–Round Rock (4), Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood (5), Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown (16), McAllen-Edinburg-Mission (18), Dallas-Plano-Irving (20), Fort Worth-Arlington (24) and Lubbock (25). The state's smaller metros didn't do too shabby either, with five among the top 25: College Station-Bryan (4), Longview (9), Waco (12), Tyler (20) and Midland (22). While it's good news for Texas to do so well on in index that is based largely on employment growth, Real Estate Center Research Economist Dr. Jim Gaines said the state looked good mainly because other states didn't. “Our growth rate and advancement isn't all that wonderful,” Gaines told the San Antonio Express-News. “We've managed to stay flat or have very small positives. But because everybody has so many negatives, we look so much better.” Texas accounted for one in every five jobs created in the country between June 2010 and June 2011, reported the Express-News. Houston and Dallas alone were responsible for one in every ten new jobs in the country.

TEXAS LEADS IN PROJECTED JOB GROWTH

When it comes to which states will add the highest percentage of jobs over the
next few years, Forbes reports Texas will lead the way.

Total employment here is forecast to expand 2.9 percent annually through
2015, according to research firm Moody’s Analytics. That represents 1.6 million
new net jobs for the state over five years.

Forbes points to Texas' "low tax, business-friendly climate with a
surging population that offers a nearly unlimited supply of young labor" as
reasons for the growth. However, it also acknowledges that the state's rapid
population growth has pushed its unemployment rate to 8.5 percent, the highest
in 24 years.

Where to Invest? TEXAS!!!

If you've been trying to determine a good place to put your money - look in the Lone Star State. The latest edition of the Texas Real Estate Center's Tierra Grande has nine great reasons why you should look here. Check it out:

http://recenter.tamu.edu/pdf/1976.pdf

Where are the jobs? Williamson County!

According to CNN Money, if you're looking for a job - the #3 place to find one is right in Williamson County...apparently, they think a bunch of smart people live here. (hope that includes me...)

Take a look!

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/moneymag/1108/gallery.best_places_job_growth.moneymag/3.html

Texas Leads the Way in Recovery

TEXAS LEADS THE WAY IN RECOVERY - The Texas economy continues to outperform the U.S. economy in the current recovery, according to the Real Estate Center's latest monthly economic review.

The state’s economy gained 194,400 jobs from November 2009 to November 2010, an annual growth rate of 1.9 percent, compared with the nation’s 842,000 jobs, an annual growth rate of 0.6 percent.

Texas’ private sector continues to play a key role in job creation. The state’s private sector posted an annual employment growth rate of 2.2 percent compared with 1 percent for the U.S. private sector from November 2009 to November 2010.

The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 8.2 percent in November 2010, the same as in November 2009, while the nation’s rate decreased from 10.0 to 9.3 percent over the same period.

All Texas industries except the trade and information industries had more jobs in November 2010 than in November 2009. The state’s mining and logging industry ranked first in job creation followed by professional and business services, education and health services and manufacturing.

All Texas metro areas had more jobs in November 2010 than in November 2009. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission ranked first in job creation followed by Brownsville-Harlingen and Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos.

The state’s actual unemployment rate in November 2010 was 8.3 percent. Midland had the lowest unemployment rate followed by Amarillo, Lubbock, College Station-Bryan and Abilene.

Texas Home to 1/4 of US Private Sector Employment Gains

From the Austin Business Journal:  According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, four major Texas metros had the strongest employment gains in the nation during the past five years.

Houston led the way with 129,800 new private-sector jobs created between June 2005 and June 2010.

Dallas came in second with 71,300 jobs, followed by Austin and San Antonio with 56,100 and 32,600, respectively.

With 84 of the nation's 100 biggest labor markets suffering losses in private-sector employment during that time, Texas represented one-fourth of those that finished on the upside.

In a shorter time span, Texas fared well with Austin having the largest one-year gain at 8,400 jobs and Dallas ranking third with 4,800 private-sector jobs created between June 2009 and June 2010.

Texas Median Home Prices Down; Still Faring Better than National Median

The Texas Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University has just published data from August sales in comparison with August 2008.  Overall, the median price dropped 1% year over year - to get some perspective, the national price dropped 2.8%.  Below, by looking at each area you can get a better idea of what's happening in your neck of the woods.

Here in the Austin area, we saw a 4% median price reduction - and we're down 10% in the number of transactions closed.  It will be interesting to see the data from September - November.  With the rush of many first time home buyers closing before the Dec. 1 deadline, I anticipate we'll see the number of transactions increase - and the median price to remain fairly steady.   

	Sales	Change from Last Year	Median Price	Change from Last Year	Months' Inventory
Austin	1,996	down 10%	$187,000	down 4%	6.7
Dallas	4,183	down 15%	$161,500	up 1%	6.5
Fort Worth	756	down 17%	$116,300	down 4%	6.8
Houston	5,555	down 11%	$159,700	up 1%	6.8
Killeen–Fort Hood	262	up 19%	$127,100	up 1%	9.8
Laredo	72	down 19%	$116,400	down 10%	9.4
Lufkin	48	down 20%	$95,000	down 17%	na
Odessa	92	down 39%	$118,700	down 13%	7.9
San Antonio	1,808	up 1%	$146,500	down 2%	8.3
Texarkana	85	down 11%	$111,000	up 25%	8.7