Austin: #2 Metro Economy in the U.S.

I just posted on my Local Market Information page (http://www.ehomesbymorris.com/custom3.shtml) an article from Business Week this morning, ranking the Top 40 metropolitan economies in the United States.  Five of the Top 10 are in Texas:

• #1 — San Antonio
• #2 — Austin
• #5 — Dallas/Ft. Worth
• #9 — Houston
• #10 — El Paso

Their comments about Austin:

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.

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

See the complete list and slideshow:  http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/10/1022_40_strongest_us_metro_economies/3.htm

There are a lot of reasons to love being in Austin, but in these challenging times, this is encouraging news.