The HBA held the 2010 Mid-Year Economic Housing Forecast yesterday.
The program was presented by Dr. Ted C. Jones, PhD, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist for Stewart Title Guaranty Company. After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from Colorado State University, Ted earned a PhD in finance with a minor in statistics and a master’s degree in land economics and real estate from Texas A&M University, where he served as chief economist at the university’s Real Estate Center, the nation’s largest publicly funded real estate research group.
According to Jones, the growth of the regional housing market is directly tied to the area’s ability to create and maintain jobs and positive consumer confidence. While the US lost 1.37 million jobs since June 2000, Austin grew 94,700 net new jobs between May 2000 and May 2010. The region has gained 9,900 jobs year-to-date through May 2010 with 1,000 of those jobs gained in May 2010 alone.
“Simply stated, Austin is a job-growing machine,” says Jones.
The population of the Austin Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is forecast to grow by roughly 273,000 people every five years; doubling our current population of approximately 1.7 million by 2035.
“The current rate of new construction of all types of residential dwellings is just 10,000 per year. This is not even close to keeping up with the forecast population growth of the region,” says Jones.
Buyers who may be “on the fence” are encouraged to buy now. If interest rates were to tick up just 1%, the price of a home would have to decline by 10% to make up the difference. Home prices are already on the rise in the greater Austin region. Expected population growth coupled with the lack of new home starts that will keep up with the region’s growth will likely cause prices to rise further.
It’s great when Austin ranks number one for a month or for the year but how does Austin (and Texas) hold up over the long term? And what is projected for the next Decade?
Here’s a list of articles from this year discussing the long term demographics and economic strengths of both Austin and Texas:
- Austin is Kiplinger’s number-one Best City for the Next Decade – “Austin is arguably the country’s best crucible for small business.” … It has
“a huge angel-financing network, billionaires who will freely offer you advice,” plus a culture that “attracts the best and brightest.” - Texas is the big winner in population growth for the decade – Brookings Institute study: Big Texas metros have done well because they avoided a lot of the pitfalls of the housing boom and bust. Six Texas counties are among the 25 fastest-growing from 2000 to 2009: Rockwall, Williamson, Collin, Hays, Fort Bend and Montgomery. The Houston metropolitan area, which has a population of 5.9 million, is the USA’s sixth-largest, up two notches since 2000. Austin, the 35th-largest metro at 1.7 million, moved up five spots and San Antonio ranks 28th, up one rung, at 2.1 million.
- Texas job growth tops nation for the decade – Texas continued to make strides in private sector job growth during the past 10 years. Texas led the nation with 724,300 more net private sector jobs in December 2009 compared with one decade ago. Over the last 10 years only two of the 10 largest states, Texas and Florida, had positive job growth. “Texas’ business, tax, and economic policies created an environment where businesses can succeed and create jobs.” (Source: Austin Business Journal, U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics and Texas Workforce Commission)
- Ten boom towns with resilient economies, growing industries, and lots of job potential. Knowledge workers, take note. – BNET ranks Austin number one for job growth over the next decade. “Over the next decade, the best jobs are going to go to the cities with the industries and the entrepreneurial incentives in place to support a highly educated, tech-savvy workforce.”
- Best Cities for Jobs – Moster.com ranks Austin number one for jobs in 2010 and lists the criteria needed for creating jobs in the future that are a great match for Austin: 1) Tech companies are moving there, 2) Universities and research parks collaborate with the local business community. 3) The political climate is business-friendly. 4) There’s a high concentration of entrepreneurs. 5) A large proportion of the residents have a bachelor’s degrees or higher.
- Texas gains the most Jobs over the Decade – Another Brookings report showed that Texas gained the most jobs with more than 40 percent more jobs at the end of 2009 than at the end of 1999.
They’re prosperous, innovative, and they’ll generate plenty of jobs, too.
By the Editors of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine
From Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine, July 2010
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, Tex.
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.
2. Seattle, Wash.
Rain City? We’d say Brain City. Home to a well-educated workforce, a world-class research university, über innovators Microsoft, Amazon and Boeing, and a host of risk-taking, garage-tinkering entrepreneurs, Seattle crackles with creative energy. “We only have two products here: smart people and great ideas,” says Mark Emmert, president of the University of Washington.
3. Washington, D.C.
Every tourist knows postcard D.C., the city that is home to the White House, the Capitol and all those free Smithsonian museums. But those who live in D.C. know better. The region is chock-full of job prospects, entertainment venues and great neighborhoods, and it is booming. Eleven of the 25 richest counties in the U.S. are located in the region, which also boasts a low unemployment rate.
4. Boulder, Colo.
Boulder is a wealthy, intellectual hot spot where environmental and scientific ideas blossom into businesses. Three economic drivers power Boulder: the University of Colorado, federal research laboratories and more than 6,600 small businesses and corporations, all woven into an entrepreneurial fabric. The city is also a mecca for those seeking healthy, active lifestyles.
5. Salt Lake City, Utah
You can’t beat the cost of living and doing business in Salt Lake City. Utah has relatively low wages, taxes and operating costs. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that “our offices are 15 minutes away from four ski resorts,” says one local employer.
6. Rochester, Minn.
Rochester is built on the world-renowned Mayo Clinic’s rock-solid foundation, and, in return, the community serves as great hosts and hostesses to 2.7 million visitors each year (many of them Mayo patients). Synergy among the city’s resources has been well cultivated and is paying dividends. Rochester opened the Minnesota BioBusiness Center in spring 2009 — providing room to grow in the form of 150,000 feet of office space. The center, located a block from both the Mayo Clinic and the university, represents the city’s aspiration to build an even stronger bioscience and medical-research community. “If there’s a theme to what we’re doing here, it’s collaboration. . .”
7. Des Moines, Iowa
There’s more to Des Moines than agricultural jobs. A likely worker shortage sparked by retiring baby-boomers has lit a fire under Des Moines’s civic leaders. The city is working to lure back young Iowans and attracting global talent by developing its downtown and promoting the jobs available in the many industries that flourish there. Other big draws: low-cost housing, plus the city’s long-touted reputation for family-friendliness and a “19-minute commute.”
8. Burlington, Vt.
Burlington’s local-food movement perhaps best tells the story of how environmentalism drives much of the city’s economic growth. Many shops and restaurants along Burlington’s Church Street Marketplace, the famous pedestrian mall, serve up local goodies. A couple blocks over, the City Market/Onion River Co-Op, a community-owned grocery store, offers more than 1,000 Vermont products. (And atop the supermarket, generating 3% of the Co-Op’s energy needs — enough electricity to power six Burlington homes — are 136 solar panels from groSolar, another Vermont-based company.) And the crown jewel for locavores: The Intervale Center is a nonprofit organization that has managed 350 acres of family-owned farmland in Burlington since 1988 and provides 10% of the town’s food. “We’re 30 years ahead of the country with the local-food movement. . .”
9. West Hartford, Conn.
Community is key in West Hartford, a place where you actually know your neighbors. But this once-sleepy suburb of Connecticut’s capital is not content to be merely an idyllic place to live and raise a family (it is, by the way). West Hartford made our list because it is transforming itself from a suburb into a destination — in this case, a regional destination for shopping and dining. Small business is the new game in town, and everyone is playing.
10. Topeka, Kan.
In its reserved, midwestern way, Topeka has engineered a prosperity that most cities of similar size would envy. As the capital city of Kansas, nearly 25% of Topeka’s workforce is employed by the government, providing a stable job market where unemployment has stayed around 7%. The city boasts quality schools, friendly people, good hospitals, a university and — one of its biggest selling points — low housing costs.
By Les Christie, staff writerJune 15, 2010: 2:08 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — As the nation struggles to shrug off the worst housing crash since the Great Depression, it may be hard to believe a housing shortage could be on its way.
The nation is simply not building enough homes to keep up with potential demand. Just 672,000 new homes were started in April, an annualized rate and less than half the long-term run rate needed to meet the nation’s natural population growth.
“It is ironic, but there is a growing consensus that there may be a new housing shortage coming,” said James Gaines, a real estate economist with Texas A&M.
So far, the shortfall has been masked by a weak economy that has put a damper on home buying. Once the job market rebounds, however, people will look to have their own homes again. This pent-up demand could get unleashed on unprepared markets, causing shortages and rising local prices.
Should you rent or buy?
Household formation — the technical term for people moving in together — has been on hold during the past few years as young people, especially, have been unable to find jobs. In the past, an average of more than 1.3 million households were formed each year, causing demand for 1.5 million new homes. (More homes than households are needed to replace those destroyed by fires, floods, teardowns and neglect.)
In 2009, only 398,000 new households were formed, according to the Census Bureau. That is much lower than average and a quarter of the number formed just two years earlier.
“The decline in household formation is artificial,” said Gaines. “The young are moving in with their parents. There’s even doubling up among working class people. There’s a pent-up demand coming if and when the economy recovers.”
Those doubting a new bubble is near point to a large inventory overhang. As many as 7 million homes are vacant but not for sale, according to the Census Bureau, which should provide cushion to offset increased demand.
“The housing market hasn’t been this way before,” said Nicolas Retsinas, director of Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies. “The gravity of the problem is deeper and the challenges different. You have to get through that inventory.”
The inventory number, however, can be deceiving for two reasons: People may not want to live in hard-hit areas where the houses are (think: California exurbs and Detroit neighborhoods) or the homes may be beyond repair.
“Many of these vacant homes may not be habitable or are in locations where nobody wants to live,” Gaines said.
Building out of the lows
Ordinarily, the nation’s homebuilders can react quickly to meet surges in demand. But several factors are preventing them from being nimble. The biggest is the difficulty getting loans, according to Jerry Howard, CEO of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
“When we came out of past recessions, there wasn’t the difficulty of obtaining financing that there is now,” he said.
Many small builders have been unable to obtain construction loans or lost their financing in mid-project. That has prodded NAHB to support federal legislation that would make $15 billion in lending guarantees available for private builders.
Hard times also persuaded builders to postpone purchases of land they could prep for future development. It will take them that much longer to gear up production once the housing market improves.
Too, many builders went out of business in the bust, so there will be fewer companies out there to do the building. The survivors will confront a transformed regulatory environment, according to Howard, that will make new homes harder to build and more expensive.
“There is an increased focus on smart growth that will create regulatory barriers to the kind of sprawling development that has characterized a lot of recent building,” said Retsinas.
The regulations come under two categories, according to Susan Asmus, NAHB’s senior vice president for advocacy, covering where new homes are built and how they’re built.
One category is storm water runoff. The Environmental Protection Agency tightened requirement governing how builders handle that. Builders will have to install controls such as catchments or retaining ponds that slow the flow of storm runoff into the local watersheds.
“It could add as much as $15,000 to $30,000 an acre in extra costs, depending on the soil,” said Asmus.
Another proposed regulation mandates sprinkler systems in each new home. This is already state law, starting January 2011, in California, Maryland and New Jersey. That adds as much as $10,000 to the cost of construction.
Where the shortages will be
Previous overbuilding one-time boom towns, such as Las Vegas and Miami, should provide enough inventory of like-new homes to counter any strong pent-up demand that breaks free.
It’s the more constrained markets, where it’s particularly hard to build — such as New York, San Francisco and Seattle — that will field the bulk of the new bubble problems, according to Retsinas. He, however, is less worried about the purchase market than about rentals, the usual entree for the young buyers expected to lead the new housing market charge.
“Nobody is building any rental inventory,” said Retsinas
by JESSICA VESS & STEVE ALBERTS / KVUE News
kvue.com
Billions of federal dollars are being spent in Central Texas to spur the economy and push job growth. A chunk of the money is going toward the construction of the new U.S. Courthouse in Downtown Austin. The construction began late last year. It’s funded by the Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Since the work began the noises on the site have remained loud and continuous. The construction hasn’t slowed down. “This building could not be happening right now if but for the Recovery Act,” said Congressman Lloyd Doggett. “The Recovery Act provided all of the money that is going into the work.” Hundreds of people earned jobs when construction started on the new courthouse. The Recovery and Reinvestment Act covers the cost it takes to hire those workers.
“We’re talking about a couple thousand jobs that were a result from the construction of this building,” said Doggett.General Services Administration, GSA, is helping lead the project. GSA invested $5.5 billion through the Recovery and Reinvestment Act to convert and build federal buildings like the one in downtown Austin. White Construction Company is overseeing the Austin based project. “It’s the largest of the federal projects that are coming up under the Recovery Act,” said Doggett.
White Construction says its focus is to continue the growth the Act and GSA spurred. The materials and employees White Construction is using are based out of Central Texas. ”It’s the right thing to do. If you live in Central Texas; trade with Central Texas. You have good crafts here. You’ve got good people here. There’s no sense. We have been in Austin for 22 years. We have done enough work here to have a very good alliance with sub-contractors probably over 4-6,000 vendors here,” said Bill Farnum. Lawmakers passed the Recovery and Reinvestment Act in 2009. President Obama signed it into law just four days later. The goal all along has been to rebuild from the economic turmoil many were facing. It has three purposes: create new jobs, spur economic activity, and do so in a transparent manner so that others can see exactly where the money is going. As the progress continues on the U.S. Courthouse in Austin the impact of the funding is easy to see. Management on the site says the project is on time. The building is being designed to achieve a silver certification level for sustainable and green design.
Interior landscaping continues…
BartonPlace’s 300 yr old 60 ft pecan tree…
North gate installation almost complete…
Pool lanscaping begins…
In an announcement that appeared on Formula One’s official website, F1 is scheduled to return to the U.S. on a purpose-built track in Austin, Tex. in 2012. At a time when New York and New Jersey were most prominently mentioned as the site of an F1 race, the choice of Austin came as a major surprise after a long period of confidential conversations.
No financing sources for the track or the fee paid to F1’s commerical rights holders have not been identified by Tavo Hellmund, owner of a local marketing firm which has been officially designated the promoter of the U.S. Grand Prix. The event in the state capitol of Texas has the blessing of the city’s mayor, Lee Leffingwell, but none of the statements of the principals in Austin or at F1 included any mention of how the project will be financed. Current hosting fees paid by cities in the Middle East and Asia have exceeded $25 million annually for races run on multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art facilities.
“We are extremely honored and proud to reach an agreement with the F1 Commercial Rights Holder,” said Hellmund in the official announcement. “We have been diligently working together for several years to bring this great event to Austin, the State of Texas and back to the United States. All parties involved have a great amount of trust and confidence in each other and are committed to establishing the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas as a prestigious global event.”
“This will be the first time a facility is constructed from the ground up specifically for Formula One in the US,” said Bernie Ecclestone, President and CEO of the Formula One Group, which administers the commercial rights of F1. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosted F1 for eight years on its combined infield and oval circuit, a run that ended in 2007. Prior to that, F1 has been hosted at Watkins Glen, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Detroit, Dallas and Phoenix.
Although the agreement was announced for 2012 through 2021, no date was set for the race. The last and lone F1 event in Texas was in Dallas in July of 1984, where temperatures were above 100 degrees in a race won by Keke Rosberg.
By many accounts, Austin has the right demographics and infrastructure to host an F1 event as well as being located in a state long supportive of open-wheel racing in the form of Indy cars. The city sometimes known as “Silicon Hills” is within easy access of the Dallas-Ft. Worth metro area, San Antonio and Houston.
“This is a case of the right timing in the right place,” said Hellmund. “As many Americans know, Austin has earned a reputation as one of the ‘it’ cities in the United States. Austin features that rare combination of ideal geographic location and beauty. Its fine dining, world-renowned hospitality and excellent transportation infrastructure make Austin ideally suited to host and manage an event of this magnitude. Few cities if any in America could rival the connectivity of all the key elements needed for hosting a Formula 1 event as well as Austin. Now, many people around the world will have the opportunity to experience a world-class event, facility and city.”
The online story in the Austin American-Statesman was flooded with a variety of comments, many concerned about the cost and location of a facility as well as others enthusiastic about the event.
Financing for F1 events in the U.S. has historically been a problem. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway withdrew after 2007 as a result of the dramatic increase in rights fees from the $12 million annual payment for the first F1 race at Indy in 2000. The Indy race failed to draw major sponsorship, despite an incentive for both the track and F1 to sell one. More recently, the US F1 team failed to make the grid at the season-opener in 2010 in part due to a lack of sponsorship.
By the Editors of Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine
May 25th, 2010
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, Tex.
Austin is arguably 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.
2. Seattle, Wash.
Rain City? We’d say Brain City. Home to a well-educated workforce, a world-class research university, über innovators Microsoft, Amazon and Boeing, and a host of risk-taking, garage-tinkering entrepreneurs, Seattle crackles with creative energy. “We only have two products here: smart people and great ideas,” says Mark Emmert, president of the University of Washington.
Seattle is revising its tax, zoning and permit policies to make them more business-friendly. Meanwhile, this sophisticated Pacific Rim city has other qualities to recommend it, including great food, a glorious setting, an outdoorsy culture, and, yes, enough rain to keep the locals’ complexions looking dewy.
3. Washington, D.C.
Every tourist knows postcard D.C., the city that is home to the White House, the Capitol and all those free Smithsonian museums. But those who live in D.C. know better. The region is chock-full of job prospects, entertainment venues and great neighborhoods, and it is booming. Eleven of the 25 richest counties in the U.S. are located in the region, which also boasts a low unemployment rate.
4. Boulder, Colo.
Boulder is a wealthy, intellectual hot spot where environmental and scientific ideas blossom into businesses. Three economic drivers power Boulder: the University of Colorado, federal research laboratories and more than 6,600 small businesses and corporations, all woven into an entrepreneurial fabric.
The city is also a mecca for those seeking healthy, active lifestyles. Outdoors enthusiasts can grab a lunch-hour workout on the city’s 150 miles of hiking and biking trails located throughout the 45,000 acres of open-space land surrounding the city.
5. Salt Lake City, Utah
You can’t beat the cost of living and doing business in Salt Lake City. Utah has relatively low wages, taxes and operating costs. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that “our offices are 15 minutes away from four ski resorts,” says one local employer.
The Salt Lake valley offers a variety of distinctive neighborhoods that boast walking-friendly centers. They provide a small-town feel within steps of the heart of the city. For those who crave a busier setting, downtown living is about to get a lot more popular.
6. Rochester, Minn.
Rochester is built on the world-renowned Mayo Clinic’s rock-solid foundation, and, in return, the community serves as great hosts and hostesses to 2.7 million visitors each year (many of them Mayo patients).
Synergy among the city’s resources has been well cultivated and is paying dividends. Take, for instance, the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics, formed in 2003 between Mayo and the University of Minnesota at Rochester to spawn new businesses. More than 20 technology-related firms have opened up in Rochester over the past ten years. Recognizing the depth of resources in the area, the city opened the Minnesota BioBusiness Center in spring 2009 — providing room to grow in the form of 150,000 feet of office space. The center, located a block from both the Mayo Clinic and the university, represents the city’s aspiration to build an even stronger bioscience and medical-research community. “If there’s a theme to what we’re doing here, it’s collaboration.”
7. Des Moines, Iowa
There’s more to Des Moines than agricultural jobs. A likely worker shortage sparked by retiring baby-boomers has lit a fire under Des Moines’s civic leaders. The city is working to lure back young Iowans and attracting global talent by developing its downtown and promoting the jobs available in the many industries that flourish there. Other big draws: low-cost housing, plus the city’s long-touted reputation for family-friendliness and a “19-minute commute.”
8. Burlington, Vt.
Burlington’s local-food movement perhaps best tells the story of how environmentalism drives much of the city’s economic growth. Many shops and restaurants along Burlington’s Church Street Marketplace, the famous pedestrian mall, serve up local goodies. A couple blocks over, the City Market/Onion River Co-Op, a community-owned grocery store, offers more than 1,000 Vermont products. (And atop the supermarket, generating 3% of the Co-Op’s energy needs — enough electricity to power six Burlington homes — are 136 solar panels from groSolar, another Vermont-based company.) And the crown jewel for locavores: The Intervale Center is a nonprofit organization that has managed 350 acres of family-owned farmland in Burlington since 1988 and provides 10% of the town’s food. “We’re 30 years ahead of the country with the local-food movement.”
9. West Hartford, Conn.
Community is key in West Hartford, a place where you actually know your neighbors. But this once-sleepy suburb of Connecticut’s capital is not content to be merely an idyllic place to live and raise a family (it is, by the way). West Hartford made our list because it is transforming itself from a suburb into a destination — in this case, a regional destination for shopping and dining. Small business is the new game in town, and everyone is playing.
10. Topeka, Kan.
In its reserved, midwestern way, Topeka has engineered a prosperity that most cities of similar size would envy. As the capital city of Kansas, nearly 25% of Topeka’s workforce is employed by the government, providing a stable job market where unemployment has stayed around 7%. The city boasts quality schools, friendly people, good hospitals, a university and — one of its biggest selling points — low housing costs.
Austin Business Journal – May 20th, 2010
Austin home sales continued to rise last month, increasing 31 percent compared with April 2009, according to Austin Board of Realtors statistics released Thursday.
Home sales for the month totaled $486 million with 2,043 single-family homes sold, according to the Multiple Listing Service report. When compared to April 2009, the median price of real estate was unchanged in Austin at $190,700. Most promising, pending sales increased 47 percent to 2,813.
Home sales also increased month to month compared with the March $422 million sales total, or 1,784 single-family homes sold. The median price also rose by $10,700 from March to April this year.
“The considerable increase in sales and pending sales indicates increased activity among buyers trying to beat the April 30 tax credit deadline,” Austin Board of Realtors Chairman John Horton.
“Although the tax credit has expired, we are entering a growing economic, real estate and seasonal cycle which we hope will continue to provide momentum to carry our market upward.”
Condo and townhouse were also strong in April, increasing 63 percent to 213 sold compared with the same month 2009. Also during the same period, pending sales for condos and townhouses increased 70 percent to 338.
“The significant increase seen in the condo and townhouse market can most likely be attributed to the first-time homebuyer tax credit,” Horton said. “The median price for condos and townhouses is approximately $30,000 less than the median price for a single-family home; and therefore, these properties can be a more affordable alternative for first-time buyers.”
Realtors are still holding their breath to see if sales drop this month with the tax credit ending, but Horton remains optimistic because the month’s supply of inventory in April was approximately 6.5 months, which represents a balanced market.
“There are a lot of buyers who have been waiting to purchase until they were confident in the economy,” Horton said. “Now that we are seeing recovery in the economy and real estate market, in combination with historically low interest rates, those potential buyers who have been on the fence are now taking the leap and entering the housing market.”
