Austin Real Estate Blog http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/austin-real-estate-statistics/ Learn about Austin real estate, latest news and events around Austin. http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/austin-is-a-top-10-fittest-city.html http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/austin-is-a-top-10-fittest-city.html realtor@realtyaustin.com (Realty Austin) Austin Is a Top 10 Fittest City fittest-fit-index-austin-txMapMyFitness, a mobile app that helps users track workouts, releases a Fittest of the Fit Index once a month which ranks the fittest US states and cities. Each month, MapMyFitness updates the rankings from almost 2 million exercisers actively updating fitness activities on their fitness profiles. This month, Austin ranked 9th fittest city in the large city category. In January, Austin ranked 8th fittest city. With over 18,000 MapMyFitness members, almost 115,000 recorded activities, and a lower-than-average overweight and obese BMI, Austin remains one of the Top 10 fittest cities month over month. 

Click here to see a full list of fittest US cities and states.

]]> Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:03:36 -0600 http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/austins-positive-housing-trend-to-continue-in-2012.html http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/austins-positive-housing-trend-to-continue-in-2012.html realtor@realtyaustin.com (Realty Austin) Austin's Positive Housing Trend to Continue In 2012 The beginning of the year is usually a good time for experts to interpret trends from last year and forecast trends for the new year. Many investors want to know how is the real estate market in Austin. To predict trends in this year's real estate housing market, last week ABOR and Home Builders Association of Greater Austin held the Fourth Annual Housing Forecast, an event totally dedictated to discussing trends in the Austin real estate housing market in 2012. And so far it's looking positive. Some even say that Austin's housing market is the best real estate market to invest in 2012. It definitely helps that Austin is a Best Performing City going into 2012.Austin's upward trend in the housing market last year is expected to increase this year according to some housing forecast experts. Housing experts interpret that job growth and population growth along with a shrinking inventory of rental units will increase housing demand. Home prices will see an increase as well as new home starts which are expected to increase for a second year in a row in 2012. In 2011, Austin home starts increased by 5% compared to 2010's inventory. New home starts will continue to see an increase in the Austin housing market as long as strict mortgage underwriting criteria, supply of developed lots, weather and water resources, and investor confidence remain stable.Read more about Austin's positive housing trend here.

Special thanks to Bruce Turner via Flickr for the incredible photo!

]]> Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:16:38 -0600 http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/austin-still-best-city-for-young-adults.html http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/austin-still-best-city-for-young-adults.html realtor@realtyaustin.com (Realty Austin) Austin Still Best City for Young Adults Austin is still the best city for young adults starting their careers, according to an On Numbers report from American City Business Journals based on data from U.S. Census Bureau. The study affirms last year's reports by Portfolio.com and Kiplinger.com which also ranked Austin as the best city for young adults in 2010. Cities which ranked high on 2011's list had high populations of adults between 18-34, increasing job growth rates and low unemployment rates for educated young adults, and affordable costs of living. Austin ranked #1 on ACBJ's list with young adults making up 29.3% of its population, 1.73% job growth rate, 10% unemployment, and 29.3% with higher education. Two other Texas metros dominated the top 5 best cities for young adults. Houston ranked 2nd followed by Washington D.C., Raleigh, and Dallas. Click here for a complete list of Austin's rankings and how the city compares nationwide.Related articles:

]]> Fri, 24 Jun 2011 11:22:39 -0500 http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/why-do-college-grads-love-austin.html http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/why-do-college-grads-love-austin.html realtor@realtyaustin.com (Realty Austin) Why Do College Grads Love Austin? With a recession-proof and stable economy, Austin is the most attractive city to college grads. According to new research from William Frey at the Brookings Institution, 2010 was a record-slow year for interstate migration, or migration from one state to another, for everywhere except Austin. From 2007-2009, Austin increased its college graduate populations by an average migration gain of 2.81% annually (up from 2.31% in 2005-2007), while the national average declined.  This national stall in migration is due to a brutal job market and housing crisis, forcing college graduates to move home or stay put. As the only large metro with an increase in college graduate migration gains of more than 2 percent, Austin's healthy job market and affordable housing wiil continue to attract college-educated adults.

]]> Mon, 14 Feb 2011 16:21:23 -0600 http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/austin-2011-2012-forecast-predicts-booming-job-growth.html http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/austin-2011-2012-forecast-predicts-booming-job-growth.html realtor@realtyaustin.com (Realty Austin) Austin 2011-2012 Forecast Predicts Booming Job Growth According to Angelos Angelou, local Austin economist, the Austin economy is expected to gain more jobs in 2011 and 2012 and stabilize back to pre-recession growth trends. This past year, only 8,200 jobs were added to the Austin workforce, a measly growth rate of 1.1%. In 2011, the Austin economy is expected to pick up 18,800 more jobs at a 2.5% job growth rate. And in 2012, Austin's job growth rate is predicted to be in the 3% range with predictions of 25,100 more jobs!  Industries with the most job growth include leisure and hospitality, and information. Job growth will remain strong in government, education and health care services, and retail.

For more information about the Austin 2011-2012 Economy Forecast, consult AngelouEconomics.

This blog is in reference to this week's Free Lunch Fridays, a trivia contest featuring bars and restaurants in Realty Austin's new neighborhood in Downtown Austin. The winner gets a free lunch for two at a restaurant nearby our new headquarters off West 5th and Lamar. "Like" us on Realty Austin's Facebook Fan Page to join the fun and win free lunch for two! This week's FLF is sponsored by 24 Diner, a local restaurant near Downtown Austin on 6th and Lamar.

]]> Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:26:05 -0600 http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/austin-job-market-is-one-of-the-best-in-the-us.html http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/austin-job-market-is-one-of-the-best-in-the-us.html realtor@realtyaustin.com (Realty Austin) Austin Job Market Is One of the Best in the U.S. In Forbes' recent study on U.S. cities with the best job markets, Austin came in third! The study ranked cities based on their unemployment rate and available jobs. Austin's unemployment rate is at a steady 7.1% and continues to decrease due to its healthy government, education and technology job sectors. Not only is Austin's job market one of the best in the nation, it's also one of the best places to live.

Want to live in Austin? Contact us today and let us help you make your next move.

]]> Tue, 11 Jan 2011 13:50:27 -0600 http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/single-family-homes-lease-fast-in-2010.html http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/single-family-homes-lease-fast-in-2010.html realtor@realtyaustin.com (Realty Austin) Single-Family Homes Lease Fast in 2010 Going, Going, Gone! Single-Family Home Leases Are Flying Off the Market

View the original article by George Mora here on his Austin Real Estate Blog.

Now would be a great time to consider, or reconsider, investing in single-family homes as a “passive” income investment opportunity in your retirement strategy.For the second time in a row, my same young clients have missed an opportunity to put an application on a lease house because another lease application was submitted first. Not only were we beaten to the punch, but the first submitted application actually looked acceptable. Both leases were for $1195 / mo, both houses were in great condition, and both went Pending approval status in days. These are very nice homes that did not get the offers they wanted when they were on the market for sale. So, rather than take a loss in this challenging market when there is so much inventory out there, the owners decided to lease. This has been happening all year. And, with the mortgage qualifying criteria not getting any easier, I expect this trend to continue for years to come. Good houses at strong market rent rates will lease quickly. Good, qualified prospective home owners will continue to lease a house first while they save for a house and improve their credit standing.Although mortgage loan rates are at historic lows hovering under 4.5%, qualifying for a loan continues to be a challenge for prospective borrowers on the bubble. So, think about all those home buyers who qualified for a loan back in the hey-day of “no document” loans, and interest-only ARM loans. (Interest-only homes allowed borrowers to qualify because it raised their income ratio against the mortgage debt.) The difference between those who qualified then and those who qualify now is their desire to continue living in a house, not an apartment.

Single-family Lease Houses built since 2005 that leased for over $1000
Austin, Cedar Park, Round Rock, Pflugervillesingle-family-lease-houses-austin-2010_288Source: Austin Board of REALTORS® Multiple Listing Service deemed to be reliable but data is not guaranteed;Graph by George Mora, REALTOR ® The dark pink/bottom line of the graph is the number of days on market of homes leased in 2010. This shows that houses for lease this year from April through August leased faster than in any of the same months since 2006. September and October were not bad either with only 2007 showing shorter days on market.If you are an investor you can appreciate that having a house on the market for less than a month will save you significant amounts of money and stress.I am continuing to analyze the lease market for these four cities and breaking down the top rentable areas by subdivisions. I am looking for the best neighborhoods where investors can get the best cash flow for the newest houses and least amount of time on the market. Because of the shift in the sales market, I am finding some shifts to areas where the number of houses that have lease have increased significantly over the past two years, in some cases nearly doubling. These are subdivisions where families have always flocked to for schools and community.

 

George Mora of Realty AustinThis article is provided by George Mora of Realty Austin. George works in Austin, Texas, as an Austin real estate agent with expertise in buying and selling Austin homes. Contact George by filling out his Reatly Austin agent contact form on his agent profile, or find homes in Austin on RealtyAustin.com.

]]> Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:39:49 -0600 http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/newsweek-ranks-austin-as-top-place-poised-for-recovery.html http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/newsweek-ranks-austin-as-top-place-poised-for-recovery.html realtor@realtyaustin.com (Realty Austin) Newsweek Ranks Austin as Top Place Poised for Recovery Austin #1 among top 10 list of best performing cities during this nation's economic recovery.

A recent Newsweek article ranked the 10 best performing American cities in recovery after the recession.

Out of 10 of the best, Austin ranked #1 claiming the title as the best of the best.

The study was based on the number of jobs, average salary, unemployment rate, affordable housing and low cost of living. Austin continues to have the strongest job growth holding this rank over the last decade. With its plethora of government, education and tech jobs, it's no wonder the city has faired well in the recession. Both international businesses and local startups thrive in Austin. The low cost of living and affordable housing secure a high quality of life and also make Austin the best contender in this time of recovery.

Three other Texas cities boasted their economic recovery success on the list. Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston also ranked high making Texas the No. 1 state for job-seeking Americans. Texas cities boast a healthy energy industry and tend to attract succuessful entrepreneurs. Because of Texas' success, Newsweek is calling this highly sought-after state the Texaplex, a quadraplex of top performing cities in today's economy.

Read more about Austin's Economy and why you should live in Austin here.

]]> Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:50:37 -0600 http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/austin-leads-the-nation-are-you-keeping-up-with-austin.html http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/austin-leads-the-nation-are-you-keeping-up-with-austin.html ( ) Austin Leads the Nation in Economic Recovery - Are You Going to Miss Your Chance to Buy? Will You Take Advantage of Austin’s Resurgence, or Will You Read about It 2 Months Later?

By almost all reports, Austin leads the nation in attracting businesses and people. When we finally read about the national economic recovery, Austin will already be riding the curve up, ahead of all but a handful of local economies around the nation. That means mortgage rates will have started rising, houses will be selling just a little better, and chances are you will have missed the opportunity to buy closest to the bottom of the real estate market if you haven’t already bought or refinanced your mortgage.

So, we find ourselves here in Austin at the forefront, the vanguard, the leading edge of coming out of the economic slump our state and the nation seems to be in. While national reports have our country at 9.9% unemployment, Texas Labor Market Information (www.twc.state.tx.us) shows our state unemployment rate over the summer at around 8.5%, Austin and Round Rock 6.7% , Cedar Park 5.7%, and Pflugerville 5.9%. Isn’t that awesome!? (These are from the "not seasonally adjusted" numbers.)

Update: I wrote this in October 2010. Since then the September numbers have come out (again, not adjusted) Texas: 7.9%, Austin 6.7% unchanged, Round Rock 6.2%, Cedar Park 5.4%, Pflugerville 5.3%. Perhaps the surrounding cities show movement because of the smaller economies, and they are moving in the right direction.

As awesome as that is, it also means that all this economic reporting we are reading and hearing tends to be dated. It would make more sense for us who live here to find our own indicators to focus on. If you read any article that talks about the economic recovery, they talk about consumer spending leading the recovery, and reduced unemployment as a necessity. As a professional in the residential real estate business, I believe that people need to feel more confident about keeping their current job, or getting a job they don’t have. Many of my real estate colleagues have voiced agreement.

That is why I have come up with a project for myself to keep track of consumer spending, employment, and pending residential sales (for houses only) at the local level. I would also like to hear from any readers about what you can observe that might indicate people are spending more or people are getting confident about their employment.

People in line at Starbucks: My first favorite thing will be counting people in line at my local Starbucks. I plan to make it a point to go to the Anderson Mill / 183 Starbucks regularly two days out of the week, Mondays and Saturdays between 8am and 9am, and count the people in line. The Anderson Mill and 183 location will be a great indicator for northwest neighborhoods like Anderson Mill, Milwood, The Mountain (Park at Spicewood Springs), Spicewood at Balcones, Barrington Oaks, even Avery Ranch, Forest/Silver Oaks, and others in that area.

Online job postings: The other easy-enough-thing-to-do is to get a count of the job openings on some of the public web sites for job hunters. Using no other criteria but “Austin TX”, at http://www.indeed.com/ and http://www.simplyhired.com/, those searches returned counts of 29,696 and 27,934 respectively. For the same search, workintexas.org showed 425, and http://www.dice.com/ showed 912 for postings within the last 30 days. I am thinking postings on these types of site will increase as companies begin to hire again. (I tried http://www.monster.com/, but it limited the results to 1000 records.)

Pending residential real estate contracts: Since I am an Austin real estate agent with a constant pulse on the market, I am also going to keep track of Pending sales. Lately a big story in local real estate has been the record setting inventory of Active listings for single family homes on the Austin Board of REALTORS® multiple listing service. I want to be on top of the story when Pending contracts begin to surpass new listings over a given period of time. With the current hold up on foreclosures, we should also see something happening in these numbers whether they continue to be stopped or released.

The Austin area markets are going to lead the way out of this economic slump. Stay tuned with me to see how it moves.

George Mora of Realty AustinInformation prepared and provided by George Mora of Realty Austin. George is an Austin real estate agent who lives and works in Austin, Texas. Find George's contact on his Realty Austin agent profile, or search Austin real estate and all Austin homes for sale in Austin, Texas on RealtyAustin.com.

]]> Wed, 03 Nov 2010 12:08:59 -0500 http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/is-now-the-time-to-buy-a-home-in-austin.html http://www.realtyaustin.com/blog/is-now-the-time-to-buy-a-home-in-austin.html realtor@realtyaustin.com (Realty Austin) Is Now the Time to Buy a Home in Austin?

20-year history of mortgage rates in Austin is proof that this is the time to buy in Austin.

We're continually bombarded with news of the housing market in today's economy, and sometimes it's difficult to filter out the important facts. As a buyer, you might be on the fence and saying to yourself, "I'll wait until the rates go even lower before I buy". Well, you might want to take a look at this chart that shows the average 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate over the past 20 years (Source: Freddie Mac) and ask yourself if this is indeed a good time.

Over the past 20 Years, the average mortgage interest rate has been 7.20% (Source: Freddie Mac). In the 3rd Qtr of 2010, the average rate was only 4.44% (Source: Freddie Mac). Fluctuations in the housing market are normal over time, and there will always be adjustments in mortgage rates. Fortunately, we live in Austin where our market has not seen wild swings & major corrections like some parts of the country. While Austin has not been fully immune to some market corrections, our market is still strong and it's still a great time to be a buyer.

Mortgage rates are at one of the lowest points in modern history, and owning a home is still considered to be one of the best investments that you can make. Whether you are on the buying side or the selling side, this is an opportunity that is too good to pass up. The deals are out there, and these rates will help keep your payments lower than ever.

If you're curious about how you can take advantage of this wonderful opportunity, call today and let's talk about it. I can put you in touch with some of our lender partners, and we can work together to help you find the right home & the right mortgage.

Kevin Wilhelm of Realty AustinInformation prepared and provided by Kevin Wilhelm of Realty Austin. Kevin is an Austin real estate agent who lives, and works, in Austin, Texas.

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