Austin, TX and Surrounding Area Blog
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Texas Cities Dominate List of Top Performers
LOS ANGELES (Milken Institute) ? Texas metros, led by number one Austin?Round Rock, claimed four of the top five spots and nine of the top 16 in the 2009 Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners Best-Performing Cities Index. Also making the list were Killeen?Temple?Fort Hood (2), McAllen-Edinburg-Mission (4), Houston?Sugar Land?Baytown (5), San Antonio (11), Fort Worth?Arlington (12), [...]
Major Victory for Consumers, and the Austin Housing Market.
The $8,000 tax incentive for first-time home buyers, which had an expiration date of November 30, has been extended by Congress through April 30 of next year. The tax break has been expanded to include a new category of buyers - those who have lived in their current home for at least five years, but [...]
Austin-Round Rock metro area ranks No. 2 strongest in U.S.
Business Week, using data from the Brooking Institution’s MetroMonitor study, reports the Austin-Round Rock metro area is the nation’s second strongest economy, based on job growth, employment, economic growth and home prices. Employment was measured by the change from the peak quarter for each metro to the second quarter of 2009. The peak was the quarter [...]
Austin-area real estate market shows improvement
According to the September 2009 Multiple Listing Service report by the Austin Board of REALTORS®, activity in the Austin-area real estate market has shown signs of improvement from September 2008. In September 2009, 1,780 homes were sold, a six percent increase from 1,673 homes sold in September 2008. The median home price for Austin in September [...]
Interest rate drop fuels demand
According to Freddie Mac, 30-year-fixed-rate mortgage average fell further to 4.87 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending Oct. 8 from 4.94 percent last week. ?Such low rates are spurring mortgage demand,? said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, in a statement. “Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate loans were the [...]
Austin recognized as a top city for young adults
Austin got a nice nod in a recent Wall Street Journal as one of the top five cities that are attractive to recent college graduates looking for a place to work and live. The Journal asked six experts, including demographers and economists, to rank cities that qualify as “post-recession meccas” for young (18 to 29), [...]
Austin-area real estate market slows slightly
According to the August 2009 Multiple Listing Service report by the Austin Board of REALTORS®, the Austin-area real estate market has slowed slightly during the first month of fall. In August 2009, 1,793 homes were sold, a 10 percent decrease from 1,994 homes sold in August 2008. The median home price for Austin in August 2009 [...]
Pending Home Sales on a Record Roll
Contract activity for pending home sales has risen for six straight months, a pattern not seen in the history of the index since it began in 2001, according to the National Association of Realtors®. The Pending Home Sales Index, a forward-looking indicator based on contracts signed in July, increased 3.2 percent to 97.6 from a reading [...]
Texas Tops U.S. in Housing Affordability
COLLEGE STATION ? Texas beats the rest of the country when it comes to housing affordability, according to first quarter 2009 Texas Housing Affordability Index (HAI) numbers compiled by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. The numbers reflect the ability of a median-income family to purchase a median-priced existing home in their area. Texas had [...]
Austin-Area Home Sales Volume Continues Momentum
According to the July 2009 Multiple Listing Service report by the Austin Board of REALTORS®, the volume of Austin-area home sales reached 2008 levels for the first time this year.In July 2009, 2,069 homes were sold, statistically unchanged from the 2,068 homes sold in July 2008. The median home price for Austin in July 2009 [...]
