market growth

Texas’ attraction for business

A new high ranking for Texas as a business destination, and new announcements from California companies coming here … Continue reading →

Updated Austin Market Dashboard

The key “unknown” at this point is whether we have more volatility ahead. Locally and regionally, conditions remain good, but without a broader recovery in the national economy and housing sector, continued strong in-migration and the ability of those new Austinites to buy homes is more limited than it should be. Continue reading →

Growth culture in Austin

Innovation, entrepreneurship, investment, and growth are cultural mainstays in Austin. Being the Live Music Capital and all that that means to the community is an important part of this city, as is the moderate weather, Texas Hill Country, the Highland Lakes, and our central location with easy access to the rest of the state. All of these factors work together to make Austin the dynamic community it is, and these articles and many others tell the stories that make the future look bright. Continue reading →

Recession? Yes, but it’s great to be in Austin!

“Since we know Austin went into the recession later, emerged earlier, and lost fewer jobs than most other major metros, it may be helpful to put this month’s performance ranking in perspective by also looking at where Austin and these metros are currently vis-à-vis peak pre-recession employment.” Continue reading →

Case-Shiller Update — Keep an eye on Austin

Despite ups and downs over the past year, we saw the lowest average home sale price in seven months in January 2011. On the other hand, the average price in January 2011 was up 5.2% compared to one year earlier — much stronger than even the strongest of the Case-Shiller cities. Continue reading →

Time to invest in Austin

The strength of current gross rents, and the stability in multifamily pricing for most of last year, suggest that we have seen the bottom of this cycle. New project announcements and building permits for multifamily construction (including substantial additions to the inventory of available apartment units) show that large investors and developers are betting on coming growth. Now is the time for smaller investors to take advantage of the trend as well. Continue reading →

Austin and other cities – sales and median price growth

Austin was one of only two cities to experience positive growth in both prices and unit sales over this 12-month period. Austin’s 5% increase in median price was below the 7.8% average rate of increase since 1990, but still a strong performance. Couple that with growth in unit sales of more than 3x the national average, and this is really impressive. Continue reading →

Who’s adding jobs in Austin?

I have written frequently over the past year or so about many analyses in which Austin ranked at or near the top in terms of economic strength. This Chamber report includes some details of growing employers that I have not seen summarized in one place previously.

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Manufacturing Growth in Texas

The Austin Chamber of Commerce posted an interesting report today based on the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey. The outlook is optimistic. I want to comment on just a couple of charts from the Chamber’s article, and one from the source report.
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Benefits Of Home Ownership

Times and markets may have changed in recent years, but the benefits of being a home owner rather than a renter are still the same. (And it’s a great time to buy now!) Continue reading →