According to Mark Dotzour, who is the director of Texas A&M University's Real Estate Center, it looks as if the state of Texas may have reached the bottom of its housing market a few months back. As such, he is ready to proclaim the inventory of homes through Texas - both unsold new homes and existing homes - are in a promising position.
“I feel now is the time to buy a house in most Texas cities,” said Dotzour through RECON, which is the center’s online newsletter “Housing affordability has never been higher, and I never thought I would see 5 percent mortgages in my lifetime. If you plan to live in the house for at least two or three years, now is the time to buy.”
Dotzour isn't the only one who sees a positive upswing in the economy's future. In fact,
It certainly isn't uncommon to hear Austinites complain about the traffic they experience while traversing the city. But, according to a report recently released by the Texas Department of Transportation, Austin does not rank at the top of the list of congested traffic areas throughout the state. In fact, within its list of the top 100 most congested roadways in the State, downtown's Austin’s I-35 was ranked at number 26. Highways and interstates running through Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, on the other hand, were listed far ahead of Austin's I-35.
I-35 wasn't the only Austin highway to make the list. MoPac between US Highway 290 and US Highway 183 also made the list, ranking in at 44th. US183 from Mopac through to I-35 was also listed, coming in at
News just in from the Texas Real Estate Center – A total of 19,347 existing single-family homes were sold in Texas last month, a 15 percent increase from October 2008, according to MLS data compiled by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.
The median price rose 1 percent to $143,300 during the same period, and the state finished the month with a 6.9-month inventory of existing homes.
Here is how select Texas cities fared in October (data current as of Nov. 24, 2009):
For homeowners around the country, facing foreclosure became an unfortunate reality during the recession. While a number of homeowners have been forced into foreclosure on their homes in Austin, the good news is that RealityTrac Inc. has determined that foreclosures in Texas were actually down 7% during the month of August.
For the month of August, the state recorded a total of 11,261 default, bank repossession and auction notices. While this number may sound a bit disheartening, it is actually 6.8% less than the numbers that were posted in July. In fact, during July, these sort of filings were occurring at the rate of one out of every 838 households throughout the state, which put Texas as the 27th highest state in the country in terms of auctions,…
Americans have long believed that purchasing a home is a good investment. Thanks to the recession, many experts hypothesized that many would no longer view home ownership as a great investment. According to a recent study conducted by Bankrate Inc., however, home ownership is still viewed as a solid investment by most.
According to the study, more than 9 out of 10 people who participated inn the survey still feel that owning a home is a good investment. This may seem like a bit of a shock considering that 25% of Americans currently owe more on their homes than what their homes are worth.
In addition to still believing that home ownership is a good investment, the recession does not seem to be making much of an impact on Americans in other areas of the…
By now, everyone looking at Austin real estate is well-aware of the first time homebuyer's tax credit incentive. Through the program, first time homebuyers can enjoy a tax credit of up to $8,000 when purchasing a home, with the total amount of the credit being equivalent to 10% of purchase price of up to $80,000. While this tax credit has certainly helped inspire many to purchase new homes and has also given the real estate market a bit of a boost, the unfortunate reality is that homebuyers are running out of time to take advantage of the credit.
According to a survey conducted by Realtor.com, 10.8% if homebuyers have cited the tax credit as the most important reason for buying right now. In addition, approximately 1.4 million people have already filed
The recent stimulus package included a great deal of funding that is to be used toward the development and implementation of renewable energy initiatives. For Texas residents, however, this new push toward the use of renewable energy is nothing new. In fact, according to the American Wind Energy Association, the state ranks number one in terms of new wind power generation capacity.
Thanks to the fact that the state added 454 additional megawatts of wind energy to its generating capacity in the second quarter of 2009, the state is now able to generate more than 8,000 megawatts of energy. According to the American Wind Energy Association just 1,210 megawatts of new wind power has been added nationwide, but even this amount is able to power 350,000 homes.
A new analysis recently conducted by the Capital Area Council of Governments has determined that the Austin real estate region will likely begin to see signs of economic improvement later this year.
The analysis, which involved taking a closer look at IHS Global Insight data, determined that the Austin - Round Rock region's gross metropolitan product - which is the value of all of the goods and services produced in the area - should be back in the positive range by the time the fourth quarter rolls around.
According to the data, the GMP growth rate in Austin was at 5.1% when the recession officially started during the fourth quarter in 2007. This number steadily declined for every quarter afterward, until it finally fell into the negative range during…
Located in the sought after River Place golf course community, this home features panoramic views from the front and back, a spacious backyard with enough room for a pool, and a terrific location near the golf course and country club. The home has recently been updated and includes a gourmet kitchen with stainless appliances and granite counters. The master bath has also been updated with travertine and granite counters, and the home has wood floors throughout the main living areas. It is priced to sell at only $489,000!
Call Crystal Guthrie at 512-422-3452 for a private tour of this home.
Call Crystal Guthrie at 512-422-3452 for a private tour of this home.
According to a survey conducted by the ETC Institute, Austin's residents rank the city's services at above the national average. The survey considered a number of different services, including:
• Curbside recycling
• Drinking water quality
• Parks
• Swimming pools
• Youth athletic programs
The survey was conducted by taking a random sample of 1,293 households throughout the city and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.8%. When compared to cities with populations of over 250,000, Austin ranked particularly high for its "overall quality of customer service provided by city employees." The city also ranked highly for the condition of its streets, the condition of its public areas and for being a great place to raise children.
