Though 48 states predicted budget shortfalls at the beginning of the year, with Texas projecting a 9.5 percent deficit, it is the only state among the seven Sun Belt states covered by BBVA Compass to forecast a balanced budget in 2010.

“Texas has fared the best with revenue growth exceeding the U.S. average,” the report said. “The higher than average growth throughout 2008 could be one of the reasons that Texas is better positioned with a smaller than average budget gap going into FY2010 and no expected gap for FY2011.”

For the full story visit Austin Biz Journal.

© Albert Cheng/Shutterstock 

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.

It's no secret that, in general, jobs are tight: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Aug. 7 that non-farm payroll employment sank further in July, and unemployment is entrenched at 9.4%. But some job markets manage to remain healthier due to one or more factors, like a concentration of top companies a resulting prospective annual jump in job growth. Such is the case for the Texas towns on our list.

See the full article at Forbes.com.

Samsung to Upgrade 8" Memory Fab Over Next Year
Samsung Austin Semiconductor recently announced that it will upgrade its existing eight-inch semiconductor fabrication plant to a state-of-the art 12-inch facility. The upgrade will necessitate current Fab 1 operations to stop in October to allow reconstruction of the manufacturing area and the re-equipping of the tool set. Samsung's Fab 2, a two-year-old 12-inch wafer fabrication facility, will remain fully functioning while the scheduled remodeling of Fab 1 will begin next year with the new facility ready for initial operation in 2010.
              
"The conversion of the old 8-inch plant to a new 12-inch facility is good news for Austin," said Mike Rollins, President of the Austin Chamber.

An economic analysis of such a conversion and the operation of the complex as a 12-inch fab show that the total economic impact, including the ripple effect throughout the community, would likely be about $1.3 billion annually and create as many as 5,500 jobs with an estimated payroll of $196 million.

See Austin Human Capital for story.

With new appraisal guidelines and stricter loan processes it can often times take 45 days from contract to close. That will give you a fair amount of time to shop and still put in an offer by mid September and still be OK.

Click here for a comprehensive list of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 guidelines.

Check out our buyer resources page and or search page to see what is out there. It truly is a great time to buy a home and the tax incentive may be a once in a lifetime chance as well.

Feel free to contact us with any questions. Email is great and you can always call our office.

The gain over May was much greater than expected. A consensus of housing industry analysts had forecast seasonally adjusted sales of 352,000, according to Breifing.com.

However, sales are still 21% below the levels of a year ago, when new homes sold in June at an annualized rate of 488,000, according to the report released by HUD.

The median price paid for a house sold in June 2009 was down about 3% to $206,200; the mean price was $276,900.

For the full story visit CNN.com

Many people know about the $8,000 home buyer tax credit, but did you know that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 also established a number of tax breaks for current homeowners who want to improve their home’s energy efficiency?

Energy-efficient improvements to exterior windows, skylights and doors as well as certain metal and asphalt roofs qualify for 30 percent of the project cost, up to $1,500. The credit covers installation costs for HVAC, gas, oil and propane water heaters and biomass stoves. These improvements qualify for the credit through December 31, 2010.

Owners who go a step further by adding geothermal heat pumps solar energy systems or small wind energy systems will qualify for 30 percent of the entire cost, including installation, and the tax credit doesn’t expire until December 31, 2016.

For more infoormation on green building click here.

"We've seen the year-over-year gap in sales volume close steadily throughout 2009 and that momentum continues this month," said Jay Gohil, Chairman of the Austin Board of REALTORS®.

Home prices in the Austin area have also continued to gain momentum from the beginning of the year. Over the first two quarters of 2009 (January 2009 to June 2009), the average sale price for a single-family Austin home has increased $20,824, while median sales price has increased $24,400.

Also, from January 2009, sales volume is up 61 percent and active listings are up 14 percent. “This signifies a healthy Central Texas real estate market and good news for both local home buyers and sellers,” said Gohil.

June 2009 Statistics

• $537,981,570 was the dollar volume of single-family properties sold

   

• $199,900 was the median price, unchanged from one year ago

   

• 2,135 was the number of homes sold, a 4 percent decrease compared to June 2008

Find the report at ABOR.com

   This bodes very well for our market as a whole compared to other markets across the country. That doesn't mean that some neighborhoods aren't taking a beating or that the houses are flying off the shelf like no tomorrow; it simply means that as a whole we are holding strong.

   This is do to a lot of factors around the Austin area, including jobs, unemployment rates, and the fact that Austing is a desirable place to live and we are still growing at a rapid rate.

Absolute® Software Corporation (“Absolute” or the “Company”) (TSX: ABT), the leading provider of firmware-based, patented, computer theft recovery, data protection and secure IT asset management solutions announces that it has opened its new U.S. headquarters in Austin, Texas. The new office is home to Absolute's U.S.-based sales team and Consumer business.

"Austin is known for its well-educated, talented professionals with expertise in technology and business," said John Livingston, chairman and CEO of Absolute.

The company is best known as the creator of the computer theft recovery market and is the maker of the popular Computrace® and Computrace® LoJack® for Laptops product lines.

To mark the occasion the new office opening, Absolute will be hosting a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house on July 16. More information about the open house can be found at http://www.absolute.com/landing/austin-open-house  

Absolute is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada with offices in the U.S., U.K. and Western Europe and partner sales offices in Australia, Latin America, the Caribbean and South Africa.

View the full story at Abolute Software

I don't think that it is any big secret that Austin is the place to be. Obviously we all know that and more and more businesses are figuring this out as well.

All of these factors make for a ripe enviroment for Austin real estate to appreciate. Currently there are some great deals but with the city growing as fast as it is prices are bound to go up.

The new store will serve a growing East Riverside area where hundreds of apartments and condominiums are under construction, some of which will open by mid-2010.

The new store is scheduled to open in March or April, the day after the current store closes.

It will be 104,000 square feet, compared with the 60,000 square feet of the current store. The company's Plus format stores are larger and offer a wider array of merchandise than its traditional stores.

It will have about 350 employees, compared with 215 who work at the current store.

In 2008, nearly 266,000 people lived within five miles of the store, with average household incomes of $71,647 a year, according to Pitney Bowes Mapinfo demographic data provided by the Weitzman Group, a retail brokerage.

For the full story visit the Austin American-Statesman

This is further proof of the rapidly developing East Riverside Area. We recently listed two beautiful, new construction condominiums (click links to see virtual tours 1500 Summit #1 and 1500 Summit #2)  with gorgeous views of the Austin Downtown Cityscape and just a stones throw from the river.

Most Americans still consider having enough money for downpayment and closing costs to be the biggest obstacles to buying a home. That’s according to the 2009 National Housing Pulse Survey, an annual survey released July 9th by the National Association of Realtors®.

The survey, which measures how affordable housing issues affect consumers, also found job security concerns to be the highest in seven years of sampling. Two-thirds of Americans think job layoffs and unemployment are a big problem; eight in 10 cite these issues as a barrier to homeownership.

Click the link below for the full story: http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2009/07/obstacles_homeownership