Develop Austin Texas

New numbers just released by the Austin Chamber of Commerce show that Austin has gained 11,400 jobs over the past 12 months for a 1.5% growth rate.  This ranks Austin 15th in the nation as far as growth rate – down from December when the Brookings Institute had Austin at #1 for job growth. While this may sound disappointing to some, Austin is experiencing growth while other cities are still losing jobs.  Austin is ranked 1^st in terms of having lost the least number of jobs from our peak employment month of November 2008. Other markets have lost many more jobs so they have a much longer way to go to get back to their peak – we only need to gain 16,700 jobs to be back to our November 2008 peak.

Another big indicator, the unemployment rate, shows Austin has the lowest unemployment rate in the state of Texas and the 3rd lowest in the entire nation.  Follow this link to see more data from the recent Austin Chamber of Commerce Report.

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.

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.

The monthly Texas Economy Review, from the Real Estate Center (at Texas A&M University) uses employment data, by area and industry, to rank growth and economy health throughout 26 metro areas in the State of Texas.

The data places Austin-Round Rock as 5th for employment growth, and ahead the state average. The report also places Austin-Round Rock as 9th lowest unemployment rate, almost a full percent below the state average.

The reason for some of these numbers may be behind what industries are hiring: the government sector, for one, added 40,600 jobs in the past year. With the capitol being in Austin, the State of Texas was already Austin’s biggest employer (followed by the 5th largest employer, the US Government; the 6th largest employer, the City of Austin; and the 13th largest, Travis County).

59,000 jobs were added in health care and social assistance. Four of Austin’s top 25 employers are healthcare networks or hospitals, including Seton, the largest non-profit healthcare network in Texas. Also gaining 3,000 jobs in the past year is the arts/entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food service industry.

While Texas has experienced a negative job growth of 2.6%, it has fared better than the rest of the nation’s loss of 4.2% of non-farm jobs. Austin, with a negative job growth of 0.2%, is one of the first and largest areas to show strong signs of recovery, and continues to be a great area to invest in.