Develop Austin Texas

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.

South by Southwest is a 10 day event every spring in Austin that brings together people from all over the world for great music, films and related events. Many people from in and out of Austin are familiar with the shows to see, but many are less familiar with many of the events also occurring during the week that shine the spotlight on business and technology news.

SXSW Interactive includes a tradeshow for business and technology insiders to display their new gadgets and services, as well as conferences and panels discussing news and issues both locally and globally. Many travel from around the country or further for these exclusive Interactive events, particularly from Silicon Valley and the West Coast. This year especially, many of these visitors were discussing staying.

For “Making the Move from California to Austin,” local software developer and journalist Jason Levitt and Chair of Urban Transportation Commission and CEO of Less Networks Richard MacKinnon led an interactive panel of about 25 people, half from Austin and half from the West Coast. The two panelists presented information presenting Austin’s strong economic growth (that made it the “Best City for Jobs” and the only metro area to grow in the past year), the low recession impact and pro-business environment, and local high-tech industry.

Lake Travis Acreage

An informal vote following the panel showed that the west coast visitors considered Austin an upgrade. One participant, considering a wine-import company start-up, said, “I want to live somewhere with people who are friendly, laid-back and accepting. Even in the few days I’ve been here, talking to the locals, I know Austin has these qualities.”

Moving your business or home to Austin, big or small, is a strong choice with many benefits. Ask us today about information on relocation.

Pictured: Lake Travis Acreage

The 2010 Texas Construction Outlook, released last week my McGraw-Hill, expects a 30% increase in Austin’s construction starts, and a 16% increase statewide, for a $52.5 billion industry. Austin is leading the other metropolitan areas, with Houston expecting a 17% boost, Dallas 16%, El Paso 8% and San Antonio 6%.

The biggest category for growth is expected to be in residential housing. Single family housing starts will increase by 31%, and multifamily by 34%. Nonresidential housing construction is expected to slip 1%, but public works and utilities should increase by 21%, boosted by federal stimulus funding.

For more than 100 years, McGraw-Hill “has compiled project and product information, plans and specifications and industry news and forecasts” to make their predictions.

Now is a great time to invest in development land in Austin and central Texas.

Pictured: The Falls – 315 Acres on Lake Travis

Beginning in February, the run down airport corridor on East 7th Street between 183 and downtown will be undergoing major renovation. A year of planning and $11.5 million are going into the project which should improve traffic, businesses, and general conditions in the area.

“East Seventh is considered a gateway to our airport, if not the gateway,” said developer Perry Lorenz. “If you think of it as a gateway for first-time visitors, ‘sad’ is what comes to mind.”

Developers and businesses are already interested in the renovation in the area. Project managers from the two Austin firms who won the project (Capital Excavation and Cash Construction) say to expect the difference to be “like day and night,” with cracked pavement replaced by brick layers, and palm trees lining the streets.

Two .2 acre lots on Tammye Lane in Austin are available for development or workspace opportunity. To be built on each are 2,000 sq ft garage/office spaces – 1,800 sq ft of storage space with 16 ft ceilings, 200 sq ft separate entry office, and 8 ft garage door.

The land is cleared of cedars and brush, with no zoning and no restrictions. Just minutes to Lohmans and 1431, this area is surrounded by development. Additional land available.

See the listing here.

As the Austin Business Journal reported on Monday, a new Grubb and Ellis Co. forecast ranked Austin as  the number one market “for long term office, industrial, retail, and multi-housing investment potential.”

One other city in Texas, Houston, appeared on the list, in the sixth spot.

Says Bob Bach, Grubb and Ellis Senior Vice President and Chief Economist: “The good news is that the freefall we saw in 2009 is over and the future is more certain, giving owners and users of real estate the confidence to begin making decisions again.”

Grubb and Ellis Co. is a real estate and investment services firm out of Santa Ana, California.  You can view their entire 2010 Forecast for the whole US or your local area. Now is the time to look at the commercial real estate opportunities Austin has to offer.

The Falls: 315 Acres on Lake Travis

This stunning piece of property features Lake Travis waterfront and views, with cleared fields and mature trees.

This property includes frontage on two paved, maintained county roads with a hard corner. The land gently slopes to the approx. 3700 feet of waterfront on deep Bee Hollow Cove on the Lake. Many waterfront and lake view build sites sit on the property, that is surrounded by high-end waterfront homes and ranches.

Lake View

Located in the Lago Vista, water and sewer will be provided by the city. Lago Vista ISD is an exceptional school district, with Lago Vista High School rated as one of the top ten high schools in Central Texas (Austin Monthly). With the completion of the 183A Tollway, this area will not just be attractive to second home buyers from around Texas, but for primary residences as well.

This location would make an excellent personal ranch or land investment. Take your chance to see the listing today.

Sandy Ranch

CNN Money’s article “What Housing Bust?” covers what areas of the nation have done well in the housing market, and why. According to writer Les Christie, areas with plenty of available developable land have smaller swings between home price highs and lows. This is because, when the demand for housing spikes, home builders are able to build more homes and keep the housing prices in check. Speed is also of the essence here, home builders need to be able to build quickly, thus, the need for available land.

“Elasticity of supply,” this is called, according to Mark Fleming, chief economist for First American CoreLogic. And Christie says, it is the definition of Texas real estate, and similar throughout all the metro areas.

“Texas is the poster child for these ‘steady Eddie’ states. House prices during the past three years rose in all 26 metro areas with gains ranging from 2.8% for Dallas, the second largest metro area, to 9.7% in Houston, the largest, to a whopping 32.5% in Odessa.”

This is part of what is causing the metro areas in Texas, including Austin, to grow so rapidly. Landowners in the Austin area should continue to see their investments in high demand for buyers and developers.

Palmco Inc., a south Texas developer with an office in Austin, is proposing to build Capitol Terrace, a 12 story mixed use development. In it would be 30 upscale apartments aimed at lobbyists and other government employees, five floors of office space, a white tablecloth restaurant and shops. They plan on adding wide, tree-lined sidewalks to encourage pedestrian use and vibrancy, says their attorney. The development will also have five levels of parking, two underground, and will sit on four lots on one fourth of a city block on the southwest corner of 14th Street and Lavaca.

The one catch: the developer plans on a building up to 163 feet high, where current city zoning only allows buildings up to 120 feet in height. The group is requesting a zone change, which will go before City Council on December 10th. Pending approval, building should begin in second quarter 2010. It is Palmco’s first project in Austin.

Yesterday, Forbes released their feature on US Cities on the Rise: vibrant cities welcoming the most newcomers. They’re not the big cities you’d think they are – in fact, New York is at the bottom of the list. It turns out Americans are most attracted to “job growth centers,” and college towns.

Three of the cities on the list are home to major universities, including Austin, Texas. Many young professionals, and everyone in thes areas, are very welcoming to newcomers. “If there are lots of newcomers, it’s easier to make friends; there’s a sense of vibrancy there,” says a senior fellow of the Brookings Institution, about these areas. “Places that don’t have a lot of new migrants tend to be older and more stagnant. They’re also more close-knit.”

Another draw to these cities are the universities themselves: universities are top employers and offer a steady flow of jobs. The population is educated, and it helps cities like Austin thrive. Says a senior fellow at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard, “these places retain people after they’ve graduated, and attract like-minded people.”

Austin sits at #4 on the list of US Cities on the Rise, with a population just over a million people and just over 6% of them having relocated to the area in 2008.