Local News

Austin is named one of the Best US Cities to Earn a Living by Forbes.com, Sep 2009
Austin is named among the Top 5 places to buy and sell a home by ABC News, August 2009
Austin is ranked #8 in the Best Cities list by Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine, July 2009
Austin is named among the Top 10 places to live by US News, June 2009
Austin is awarded the top spot for a city with job growth by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, June 2009
Austin is named as one of the best cities for recession recovery by Forbes.com, June 2009
Austin ranks #7 on the list of America's Top Tech Centers by American Cities Business Journals, May 2009
Austin is ranked #6 for New Jobs by New Geographer, April 2009
Austin is ranked 2nd as the Healthiest Housing Market 2009 by builderonline.com, February 2009
Austin is named among the Best Places to Live in the US in 2009 by MSNBC, January 2009
Austin is listed among the top 25 Strongest Housing Markets in the Country by Forbes Magazine, January 2009

Falling Home Starts Indicate Market Bottom

Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. Used with permission.

1/5/2010

The area's 1,389 home starts in fourth quarter 2009 were down slightly from the year ago period, according to Residential Strategies Inc.

We view this market performance favorably as indicating that the bottom of the market has been, or will soon be reached, Residential Strategies Austin Division Manager Tommy Tucker said.

Austin home starts totaled 6,784 last year, 60 percent below the 2006 peak of 17,128 starts and 25 percent less than in 2008.

New home median prices dropped from $206,888 in the third quarter to $201,481 in the last. This quarter's new home price is off 8.35 percent compared with the same period one year ago.