Although home sales are still down in the Austin area, the figure are steadily showing signs of improvement. Furthermore, prices of homes in the Austin area continue to hold steady, which is one reason why Forbes.com has named Austin as the city most likely to make the fastest economic recovery.
According to the Austin Board of Realtors, a little more than 2,100 single-family home sold in the Austin area in June. This represents a 4% decline when compared to June of 2008, but the year-to-year gap continues to close each month.
Unlike much of the housing market around the country, the median price for single-family homes in the Austin area has not changed when comparing it to a year ago. In fact, with the median home price coming in at just under…
A recent survey conducted by the ETC Institute found that 45% of Austin's residents were not happy about the traffic flow on major streets. Yet, another study conducted by the Texas Transportation Institute at Texas A&M University found that traffic may not be as big of an issue as many seem to believe.
According to the university's "Urban Mobility Report," Austin residents spent approximately 22.7 million hours on the road in 2007, which places it at 32 out of 90 metro areas in terms of traffic. This puts the city behind other Texas metro areas, including Dallas-Fort Worth, which ranked 5th. Houston came in the 9th place position on the list, while San Antonio ranked 27th.
In addition to determining the amount of time the drivers spent on the road,…
The Watershed Protection and Development Review Department is reporting that the city of Austin may be closing the popular Barton Springs pool for a period of time. Apparently, the pool is in need of receiving some critical structural repairs and, in order to successfully make these repairs, the pool will need to be closed for up to eight months.
The process of repairing Barton Springs is still in its early stages, as the Watershed Protection and Development Review Department is still to determine just how much the repairs will cost and how long the pool will need to be closed. Currently, the Department is estimating that it will cost anywhere from $2.5 million to $4.7 million to complete the repairs. In addition, the department estimates the project…
Although Austin has been ranked by Forbes.com as the city that is most likely to experience the fastest economic turnaround, it doesn't mean the city is quite ready to proclaim that all is well. In fact, home sales still remain down year-over-year, but they are showing improvement when compared to earlier this year.
According to the Austin Board of Realtors, a little more than 1,700 homes were sold in May 2009, which is down by 19% when compared to May of 2008. In addition, the median price for single-family homes declined by 1% when compared to one year ago, resulting in a median price of $193,000. At the same time, there are signs that sales and prices are picking up when compared to the beginning of the year. In terms of volume, the number of homes…
According to Directorship, which is a publication with a mission "to provide corporate boardroom's and governance committees with the best intelligence on the U.S. business environment," the state of Texas has once again been named the number one state in the country for businesses.
The publication selected Texas as the number one state for businesses largely because of the state's proven ability to attract Fortune 500 companies, but also because of its affordable cost of living, its solid economy and its pro-business tax climate. The magazine also cited some real-life examples of major corporate locations to the state, such as Comerica's decision to move from its location in Detroit, Michigan to Dallas as well as Caterpillar's decision to create a new…
The city of Austin and its residents have long been recognized for their commitment to live a "greener" lifestyle. As such, it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that the city was recently listed as one of the top 10 greenest cities by The Mother Nature Network.
Founded in 2008 by Chuck Leavell, who is the keyboardist for the popular band Rolling Stones, The Mother Nature Network is dedicated to educating people regarding eco-friendly business practices, transportation options, lifestyle choices and more. The network included Austin in its list of green cities largely because of the city's Climate Protection Program, which is the city's plan to be carbon-neutral by 2020, as well as its electric utility Austin Energy. Austin Energy is a leader in…
According to Forbes.com, Austin's economy is expected to grow by a whopping $5 billion from now until the end of 2010. These figures, combined with the fact that Austin has a relatively subdued unemployment rate, are the two greatest reasons why Forbes.com has identified Austin as the city that is likely to experience the quickest recovery from our current economic troubles.
Several economists are already predicting that our national economy will start to grow again by the end of this year, if not sooner. This will not, however, be the case for every city. In fact, many cities will be faced with a slow recovery, with many likely to need several more years to recover.
Austin isn't the only city in Texas that is poised for a relatively fast turnaround, as…
Although quite a few wineries have popped up in Austin over the past 10 years are so, there are also plenty of wineries that have been around for much longer. Each of these wineries has been around for so long for one simple reason: they produce a great product. So, whether you live in Austin or you are planning a visit, a stop at one of these tried and true wineries is certainly worth your time.
Fall Creek Vineyards
Fall Creek Vineyards has been around since 1979 and is located in Tow. This winery’s specialty style is classic chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, viognier, cabernet sauvignon, and shiraz that has been perfectly blended in a “New World style” with “Old World grapes.” The showcase wine of Fall Creek Vineyards is its 2004 Meritus, which is a…
Although the Austin metro area is fairing well than most of the country in terms of foreclosures, the city of Austin as well as the State of Texas have decided not to sit back and simply “ride out” the wave of foreclosures that have taken place throughout the state. As such, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs recently applied for a grant from the National Foreclosure Mitigation Counseling Program and won a $387,000 grant.
The grant monies will be used to help bring more stability to Texas families, including those in the city of Austin, who are struggling to make their mortgage payments. It is also intended to bring assistance to neighborhoods as well as to help stabilize government finances. As such, the Texas Department of Housing…
Everyone knows that the housing market has been on the decline throughout the entire country, but according to research conducted by Metrostudy, the decline is not as rampant in the Austin area as it is in other parts of the country. In fact, when looking at the number of housing starts in the area, Austin is doing much better than other metro areas.
According to a report released by Metrostudy, Austin has actually experienced the smallest decline out of the 81 markets that were studied. Still, the Houston-based research group does acknowledge that the Austin area experienced a 66% decrease in housing starts when figures for the end of 2008 were compared to the area’s peak third quarter in 2006.
