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Don’t mess with Texas: More Americans moving in

January 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

From CNN Money

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Americans, it seems, still have a love affair with the West. Texas and Wyoming were the big winners in the Census Bureau’s annual population estimates, which were released on Wednesday.

In the year ended July 1, Texas added more people than any other state, and Wyoming had the highest growth rate in the nation.

The population of the United States has grown more than 9% to 307,006,550 since the 2000 census. The population grew 0.86% since last year’s estimates.

Just three states shrank during the year. Michigan’s population fell by 0.33%, Maine dropped 0.11%, and Rhode Island lost 0.03%.

Other Sun Belt states have fared much better. Texas, for example, never went through the boom-and-bust housing cycle that devastated the Sand States. Home prices remained affordable, and the state’s unemployment rate was 8% in October, a full two percentage points below the national average.

So, it’s no surprise that Texas added more than 3.9 million residents during the 2000s. Its population also grew by the greatest number of people (478,000) during the 12 months ended July 1.

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Austin Makes Number 3 of America’s Fastest-Recovering Cities

December 1, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Diversified industry and relatively stable housing give residents in these metros a measure of economic security.

Lone Star Luck
In No. 2 city San Antonio, home to four military bases, and Austin, our third-ranked city and the state seat of government, municipal jobs supplement Texas’ robust energy sector. In Dallas (No. 6), it’s a thriving tech industry that buffers it from energy highs and lows. Although Houston (No. 8) is invested mostly in oil, it has diversified its energy industry beyond oil rigs into refining and chemicals manufacturing.

What’s more, the state’s housing prices never ascended to the unsustainable levels the rest of the country hit at the peak of the housing bubble. Thus, it didn’t crash as hard. These factors have toughened the local economy against a recession that is inextricably tied to real estate.

“Texas didn’t have as big of a boom,” says James P. Gaines, research economist at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. “So we’re not having anywhere near the kind of bust.”

Top 5 Fastest Recovering Cities

1. Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA Metro Area

2. San Antonio, TX Metro Area

3. Austin-Round Rock, TX Metro Area

4. Pittsburgh, PA Metro Area

5. Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA Metro Area

Full list…

Recovery City Ranking MSA GMP Rank Unemployment Rank Home Price Rank Foreclosure Rank Sales Rate Rank
1 Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA Metro Area 33 1 12 8 16
2 San Antonio, TX Metro Area 13 14 8 36 2
3 Austin-Round Rock, TX Metro Area 2 18 17 35 15
4 Pittsburgh, PA Metro Area 46 24 2 12 5
5 Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA Metro Area 51 23 37 3 32
6 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX Metro Area 25 35 4 51 16
7 Rochester, NY Metro Area 47 30 22 9 18
8 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX Metro Area 53 40 1 43 32
9 Raleigh-Cary, NC Metro Area 22 42 32 22 30
10 Baton Rouge, LA Metro Area 58 14 9 15 75
11 Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR Metro Area 65 4 13 41 44
12 Tulsa, OK Metro Area 41 13 14 78 37
13 Oklahoma City, OK Metro Area 6 4 25 40 28
14 Colorado Springs, CO Metro Area 5 18 42 61 22
15 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metro Area 18 51 77 19 5
16 Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY Metro Area 33 38 5 5 44
16 Syracuse, NY Metro Area 30 31 6 2 40
18 Madison, WI Metro Area 25 3 38 13 79
19 Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN Metro Area 25 54 35 17 4
20 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC Metro Area 51 12 57 30 61
21 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metro Area 11 8 72 71 22
22 Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC Metro Area 18 56 20 23 54
22 Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT Metro Area 91 29 65 29 37
24 Albuquerque, NM Metro Area 15 28 59 25 66
25 Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH Metro Area 18 46 50 31 29

Click here for the full article…

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Austin Makes Another Forbe’s List: U.S. Cities on the Rise

November 4, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Forbe’s released another list mentioning Austin, “U.S. Cities On The Rise”.

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Among the places in America that have welcomed the most newcomers in 2008, three are home to major colleges and universities: Raleigh, N.C., Provo, Utah, (home to Brigham Young University, one of the country’s largest private colleges), and Austin, Texas, home to the University of Texas at Austin.

“If there are lots of newcomers, it’s easy to make friends; there’s a sense of vibrancy there,” says William Frey, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. “Places that don’t have a lot of new migrants tend to be older and more stagnant. They’re also more close-knit.”

Intellectual centers like the above-mentioned college towns, however, reliably attract new residents because universities are large, relatively stable employers–and a steady flow of students keeps the population young.

“You have an educated population, and you have a large youthful population,” says Alexander von Hoffman, senior fellow at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University. “These places retain people after they’ve graduated, and attract like-minded people.”

Click here to view full story at Forbe’s.com…

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Austin Makes #2 of Business Week’s Forty Strongest U.S. Metros

November 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment

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Austin took the #2 spot in this national top-40 list for its economic strength.  Interestingly, 8 of the remaining top 10 on this list are in driving distance of Austin.  It’s no accident that these areas continually make these top-10 lists from various sources, the Texas area has economic strength and stability!  It’s what draws so many to the area as well.

  1. San Antonio, TX
  2. Austin, TX
  3. Oklahoma City, OK
  4. Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR
  5. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
  6. Baton Rouge, LA
  7. Tulsa, OK
  8. Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA
  9. Houston-Sugarland-Baytown, TX
  10. El Paso, TX

Austin, a high-tech center, is also home to the University of Texas. Employment in the Austin metro peaked in the fourth quarter of last year. Gross metropolitan product peaked in the second quarter. Home prices grew 2.5% in the second quarter compared with the same period a year earlier. And the unemployment rate in June was 7.1%, up 2.6 points from a year earlier.

Job growth (since peak) rank: 2
Gross Metro Product (since peak) rank: 2
Unemployment change (year over year) rank: 16
Home price change (year over year) rank: 18

Click here to see the entire story…

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Austin & San Antonio to Lead State, National Rocovery

October 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

From the Houston Business Journal…

Four Texas markets will be among the first in the nation to recover from the recession, says a nationwide forecast by IHS Global Insight.

Austin and San Antonio will lead the way, bouncing back to their pre-recession job levels sometime next year, according to the Lexington, Mass.-based economic forecasting firm, while Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth are among eight other metropolitan areas predicted to recover by 2011.

texasmuscle2010
  • Austin
  • San Antonio
2011
  • Houston
  • Dallas-Fort Worth
  • Kansas City
  • Oklahoma City
  • Raleigh
  • Salt Lake City
  • Virginia Beach-Norfolk

Click here to continue reading

  • Washington
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    Austin has best housing market in U.S.

    October 12, 2009 By 1 Comment


    A note from the Austin Home Pro…
    The Austin real estate market has long been the economist’s stronghold on optimism, because our strong local economy centered in an economically strong state continues to beat the “doom and gloom” odds.  Despite falling home prices around the nation, Austin has held strong.  Due to Austin’s slow and steady growth even during booms elsewhere in the country, Austin has little of a boom to bust.  Although national economic feats have affected our local market, the stability of Austin real estate continues to impress top experts around the country.

    Ranked the healthiest by online industry magazine

    AUSTIN (KXAN) – A homebuilding industry online magazine has ranked Austin the nation’s healthiest housing market. Builder Online cites low unemployment and high demand as reasons why the Austin market is making a comeback.

    Home prices in Austin were still going up last year, unlike most of the country, but they have finally started to fall. The latest numbers show home prices down 4.6% in 2009.

    “Clearly we’re not as good as we’d like, obviously we’d like for things to be better but still it gives you some feeling of assurance that things aren’t as bad as some people are having,” said Harry Savio with the Greater Austin Homebuilders Association.

    Builder Online notes that Austin’s population grew by more than 4% during the first half of this year which created demand and will help to firm up home prices.

    “The fundamentals are there for housing to continue to grow,” said Savio. “We don’t have a lot of inventory, we don’t have a lot of excess houses on the ground.”

    Click here to continue reading

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    Austin’s Economy in Perspective: Fastest Growing Economic Metro in the Nation

    October 6, 2009 By Leave a Comment

    The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis just completed a statistical study that ranked the top 50 fastest growing economical metros in the U.S. I am proud to report that Austin beat out New York City, Denver, Houston, Chicago, Dallas and Seattle…actually I am being modest…Austin beat out EVERYONE!!! While new statistics released yesterday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis show that the slowdown in U.S. economic growth was widespread, Austin has been holding strong. 60 percent of metropolitan areas saw economic growth slow down or reverse…NOT AUSTIN. Real GDP growth slowed in 220 of the nation’s 366 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in 2008 with downturns in construction, manufacturing, and finance and insurance restraining growth in many metropolitan areas…NOT AUSTIN. Growth in real U.S. GDP by metropolitan area slowed from 2.0 percent in 2007 to 0.8…AUSTIN GREW BY 4.4%!

    To Read More CLICK HERE

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    Austin Makes Another Top 10 List: Best Cities To Earn A Living

    September 15, 2009 By Leave a Comment

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    I’ve lost count of how many top-10 lists that Austin has made over the past year, and we’ve made yet another one!  Forbes published an article on Best U.S. Cities to Earn A Living.  Austin was among two other Texas cities, Dallas and Houston, giving Texas yet another great showing in a positive economic national news story.

    For the exasperated job-seeker to whom employment opportunities seem bleaker than ever, salvation may lie in the Lone Star State. Texas, home to dozens of energy heavyweights and nearly as many innovative small companies, has three of the best cities to earn a living: Dallas, Houston and Austin.

    When taking into account the cost of living, strength of industry, economists’ predictions for the future state of employment and, of course, salary, these are some of the best U.S. cities in which to take home a paycheck.

    4. Austin, Texas

    Number of Forbes’ 400 Best Big Companies: 1

    Number of Forbes’ 200 Best Small Companies: 1

    Median Income: 28,826

    ACCRA Cost of Living Index # (100 Median): 95.9

    Five-Year forecasted Annual Job Growth: 2.4%

    To read more, click here >>

    1. Dallas, Texas
    2. Houston, Texas
    3. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota
    4. Austin, Texas
    5. Washington, D.C.
    6. St. Louis, Missouri
    7. Seattle, Washington
    8. Atlanta, Georgia
    9. Kansas City, Missouri
    10. Denver, Colorado

    Do you think that Austin deserves it’s spot on this list?

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    Austin Makes Headlines in Entrepreneur Magazine

    August 13, 2009 By 1 Comment

    Where to be an Entrepreneur?
    Austin tops the list in Entrepreneur!

    austin

    The Cross-Pollinator: Austin, Texas
    “What you have to realize about Austin is that it’s a city of scenes,” explains Bijoy Goswami, founder of the in-person and online community Bootstrap Austin, and Austin’s entrepreneurial culture guru. “We have a music scene, a food scene, a film scene, a tech scene. Recently we’ve gotten to critical mass with an entrepreneur scene, and there are a lot of things going on.” What’s happening is a commingling of creatives facilitated by events like High Tech Happy Hour where participants share their new ideas, Rise Austin seminars where experienced entrepreneurs share their journeys, and the popular South by Southwest Interactive conference. All of that is bolstered by a strong slate of resources like the Tech Ranch and Capital Factory incubators, as well as traditional and boutique VC firms and angel networks. “Theoretically, people here are competing, but the opposite is happening,” Goswami says. “Part of that Texas ethos has percolated into the entrepreneur scene: People in Austin just treat each other well.”

    To continue reading, move on to entrepreneur.com.


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    In the News: Austin makes another ‘green cities’ list

    July 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

    From the Austin Business Journal, see the full story here:
    http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2009/07/13/daily14.html

    green building ATXEnvironmental news and information group The Mother Nature Network has named Austin as one of the nation’s 10 greenest cities.

    The network praised the city of Austin’s Climate Protection Program, a plan to go carbon-neutral by 2020; and the city’s electric utility Austin Energy, the nation’s largest provider of renewable energy, among its reasons for naming Austin a leader in green.

    “Austin is a green city because of our engaged community, and we hope our residents will continue to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions,” said Ester Matthews, director of the Austin Climate Protection Program.

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