Real Estate is an industry with local markets, but as a follow-up to my last post, “Austin Real Estate & The Austin Economy,” I thought I’d share a few more bits of information illustrating how Austin compares to the rest of Texas as well as the rest of the nation in this changing market. This graphic by USA Today should (of course) be taken with a grain of salt. For example, I find it surprising the Oklahoma is listed as expanding after losing GM. I do, however, think that this graphic is a strong illustration of what I keep coming back to in my blog posts about the economy and Austin’s real estate market. You can see California is completely off the charts followed by Florida, Nevada, and Arizona (Michigan has other factors as play). These are the markets I keep referring to in post after post after post. A lot of people made a LOT of money in these markets in the past 10 years during the boom in the warm coastal areas and now a lot of people are LOSING a lot of money because the boom as busted.

Texas (and more specifically, Austin) has remained strong with a steady growth rate of 2-4% during this decade. While some areas are in danger locally, the state as a whole is strong and Austin makes the top 3-5 of healthy market lists.

So what’s all the fuss about? When some markets are in trouble, the news is spread nation-wide. The media are big business — never forget that! They make money if they can get you glued to TV news channels, newspapers, and news websites. They’re feeding you what you need to hear to tune in daily. So please, when you would like to be an educated consumer about Austin’s real estate market, keep it local and keep with the facts. I’m not against media entirely, I do think they have their place. But a truly educated consumer will check data and statistics to supplement their daily regiment of news.

Now stay tuned because in 30 minutes, after sports, weather, and entertainment news, we’ll let you know why this cute puppy could be in mortal danger.

… Just kidding.

The puppy is as safe as your real estate investments in Austin.