Austin Real Estate Blog 
New Property Appraisal Laws in Effect in Texas
Saturday, March 13th, 2010 at 1:56pm. 46 Views, 0 Comments.
Several new laws affecting homeowners went into effect on January 1 of this year. Although there are numerous new laws that Texas residents should learn more about, those that specifically affect homeowners include new laws that are meant to lower property taxes as well as those that are meant to improve the home appraisal process.
Several new pieces of legislation related to property taxes were passed by lawmakers last year. One of these includes legislation that will limit what is known as a "comparable sale" as well as creating a new arbitration process. Additional legislation…
City of Austin Working Toward Teaming with Google
Saturday, March 13th, 2010 at 1:49pm. 37 Views, 0 Comments.
Austin is planning to make a bid on becoming one of the sites for the ultra-fast broadband network that is being considered by Google Inc and that will significantly increase the speed of Internet access throughout the city.
Earlier this month, Google announce plans to build one or more high-speed networks in an effort to demonstrate the advantages of having fast Internet access. Through the proposed project, the system would be 50 to 100 times faster than the fastest commercial broadband services typically available in the United States. By offering this super fast service, the…
Austin Enjoys an Increase in Home Sales
Sunday, March 7th, 2010 at 4:29pm. 103 Views, 0 Comments.
According to the Austin Board of Realtors, home sales in central Texas increased by 5% in January when compared to home sales from just one year ago. In fact, the median sale price of homes rose by 1% to $179,250.
Seeing an increase in the median price of homes is certainly good news, as it is a positive sign that the economy in Austin is working toward rebounding as real estate prices start to move in an upward direction. Or course, the increase in prices is also an indicator that those who were looking to take advantage of the fall in prices may have lost out on the opportunity to…
Pictures of Austin’s Recent Snow
Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 12:42pm. 156 Views, 1 Comments.
Snow is a rare event for Central Texas, but the Austin area recently had some of the best snow we have seen in years. This last Tuesday the snow started to fall in the morning and by the end of the day some areas had up to two inches of snow on the ground. The northwest side of Austin saw the most accumulation. Here are some pictures:
Austin Housing Market Showing Signs of Stability
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 9:27am. 160 Views, 0 Comments.
As the country works toward digging its way out of the recession, all eyes have been focused on the housing market. After all, the fall out of the housing market was the biggest contributor to our current economic situation and, therefore, stabilizing the market is the key to enjoying a full economic recovery. Unfortunately, many markets are still continuing to struggle throughout the country, but others are starting to show signs of stabilization. In fact, according to the Austin Board of Realtors and the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin, Austin's home market has neared…
Construction Starts in Austin Predicted to Increase in Value by 30%
Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010 at 9:23am. 147 Views, 0 Comments.
According to McGraw-Hill Construction, construction activity is expected to pick up some momentum in 2010, with the city of Austin enjoying the greatest growth. In fact, the 2010 Texas Construction Outlook predicts that construction starts will increase in value by 16 percent this year, with a total statewide value of $52.5 billion. Austin will nearly double the statewide prediction, with the report forecasts indicating that the city's construction starts will increase in value by 30%.
Austin isn't the only city that will surpass the statewide predictions, but some other major Texas…
Austin-Round Rock Area Experiences a Drop in Unemployment Rates
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 at 8:00pm. 169 Views, 1 Comments.
According to the Texas Workforce Commission, unemployment levels within the Austin and Round Rock area fell by 6.9% in November. While this is still up from the 4.9% rate that the area was experiencing just one year ago, it does represent a decline in unemployment when compared to the previous month.
Previous data indicated that the unemployment rate in the Austin and Round Rock area was 7.2% in October. Compared to the state average of 7.9%, the Austin and Round Rock area is doing quite well with its 6.9% rate. This pattern remains true to the rates from the previous month, with the…
Survey Finds the State of Texas is Showing Signs of Economic Improvement
Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 5:00am. 210 Views, 0 Comments.
According to the most recent Beige Book survey to be released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, economic conditions in the state of Texas are showing signs of improvement. In fact, the report found that economic conditions through November had "firmed" and that a number of industries are showing signs of improvement.
The Beige Book survey, which is conducted on a periodic basis and evaluates the economic conditions of the Federal 11th district that includes Central Texas, found that the paper, high-tech manufacturing, housing, staffing, energy and petrochemicals industries are…
Foreclosure Rates Enjoying a Downward Trend
Thursday, January 21st, 2010 at 4:07am. 280 Views, 2 Comments.
A recent report released by RealtyTrac Inc, which is a foreclosure seller based in Irvine, California, has found that the national foreclosure rate has gone down by 8% in November when compared to the previous month. On the other hand, the housing market still has a long way to go before it can be considered recovered, as the foreclosure rate is still a disheartening 18% higher than it was just one year ago.
According to the report, which was released in November of 2009, there have been 306,627 foreclosure filings this year. This includes scheduled foreclosure auctions as well as…
Austin Realtor James Brinkman discusses the situation in Haiti on KEYE News
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 at 8:34am. 543 Views, 0 Comments.
Cantera Real Estate Team member James Brinkman is an active member of North Hills Community Church and has traveled to Haiti on missionary trips in the past year. He has been planning a return trip to the country and was set to leave again next week. James was interviewed on KEYE-CBS News today about the situation in Haiti.
Here is a link to the video and text: http://weareaustin.com/content/news/story/?cid=45691
And you can donate here: http://www.rminet.org/
Text from the Keye news story:
Central Texans want to get involved to help Haitians affected by the massive earthquake…
