Develop Austin Texas

According to the Austin Business Journal, the commercial real estate market seems to be stabilizing.  The retail and office markets seem to be doing well but industrial vacancy rates remain dismal.

The second quarter saw vacancy rates in office space decrease for the first time since 2007 due to the fact that new construction in office space has slowed significantly and the market is catching up.  The biggest mover is the downtown Austin Central Business District where rates have been falling steadily since the 4th quarter of 2009.  New plans for high density developments are in the works.

Occupancy rates for retail buildings has also increased to just under 92% making the Austin area the only Texas metro area to show an increase in the first 6 months of 2010.  Minimal amounts of new construction will see those occupancy rates increase even more over the next few months.

Meanwhile, industrial vacancy rates are at a high not seen since the big crash of the late 1980s.  The citywide vacancy rates increased from 22% at the end of 2009 to the present rate of 24%.  However, experts are predicting this to slow down soon as there are several large leases pending.

Overall area brokers are reporting an increase in the volume of deals getting done in the marketplace.  This has lead to an increase in optimism and an sense that things are turning around.

The Austin-American Statesman reported last Thursday that new home starts in the Austin area were up 11% in the second quarter of this year.  The new home starts were mostly in the $200,000-$400,000 dollar range, with many people taking advantage of the recently expired tax credit.  According to Residential Strategies, the median price of a new home increased 3 percent to $203,476 in the second quarter but that’s still off 4.3% from the same quarter last year.

The Austin market has remained one of the strongest real estate markets in the country.  We have not seen the big dips in prices that other markets across the country have seen.  This can be attributed to restraint by area builders who did not create an oversupply of housing and to our strong local economy which is still creating jobs.  Just recently Samsung announced they were investing $3.6 billion to expand its semiconductor business here.

Although it’s going to be a slow recovery, it’s good to see that signs are definitely pointing in the right direction.

Business is booming and we need some help! We are looking for a sharp, witty marketing person who can handle marketing our listings and who is on top of new and emerging technologies – especially as they relate to the real estate business.

Who We’d Like to Meet:

You have experience in the real estate business and have a real estate license or a getting a real estate license

You are highly proficient in all Microsoft Office products

You have enviable Photoshop/Creative Suite skills

You love to blog and are very familiar with blogware such as Wordpress – you want to show us your very successful blog

Familiarity with tracking and compiling web site data

When you’re not working (or sometimes when you are), you’re networking on Facebook, Twitter and that newest site that no one’s discovered – yet

You listen well and don’t want to be told what to do over and over again

Your friends and family envy your organizational skills

You like to take the ball and run but don’t mind a little direction along the way

You have a reliable form of transportation

Please submit resume and cover letter by clicking on this link!

Thanks,

The Dave Murray Team

www.DMTX.com

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…