Develop Austin Texas

I just watched the Texaplex video that has been floating around lately. It presents some great facts about our strong economy, job growth and population in the triangle formed by Houston, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Austin and San Antonio. I don’t agree with the blanket term “Texaplex” used to describe the triangle since these are all vastly different cities with their own economies and more importantly their own social and cultural identities. Watch the video and let me know your thoughts…

According to the Austin Board of Realtors, last month, June ‘09, Austin’s home sales were at their highest level in a year.

April’s sales in ‘09 were down 18% from April ‘08. May ‘09 sales were down 19% from May ‘08. But June had a 4% decrease from ‘08, the smallest decrease since the 2% drop in June ‘o8 from June ‘07.

Also in June, Pending Sales (sales set to close in July) were up 4%.

Reasons for the upturn include

• $8,000 tax credit (for homes closed on before December 1)
• Population increase – numbers of people moving from other cities or states
• People looking for lower risk investment opportunities (Real Estate is historically considered a strong investment choice)
• Builders have been building fewer new homes, affecting the balance of supply and demand, and putting more demand on resales.