AUSTIN TX - Dec. 19, 2014 - Austin Board of REALTORS® releases real estate statistics for November 2014



   The Austin-area continued to break records in home sales and median price for single-family homes last month, according to the November 2014 Multiple Listing Service (MLS) report released today by the Austin Board of REALTORS® (ABoR). In November, home sales and median price were the highest ever recorded in the month of November for the Austin area. During the month, single-family home sales increased six percent over the prior year to 1,934 homes sold and the median price for Austin-area homes was $245,000, an 11 percent increase from November 2013.
   Additionally, Austin-area housing inventory was 2.4 months in November 2014, a small increase of 0.1 months compared to the prior year. Housing inventory remains consistently tight despite an increase in new listings of five percent over the prior year and an increase in active listings of nine percent compared to November 2013. Housing inventory in Austin has remained below 6.5 months of inventory for more than three years, which is the inventory figure cited by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University as a market in which supply is balanced with demand. In November 2014, homes spent an average of 54 days on the market, three days longer than the same month of the prior year.
   Bill Evans, 2014 President of the Austin Board of REALTORS¬®, explained, “As the new year approaches, demand for Austin-area homes remains strong. Fortunately, listings are up year-over-year to meet some of that need, but demand continues to outpace supply, placing a continued strain on housing inventory and pushing up home values. That’s great news for Austin homeowners looking to sell, but as we’ve discussed all year, it continues to present challenges for affordability in our market. With the newly elected Austin Mayor and City Council, ABoR looks forward to continuing to advocate for the interests of all homeowners, ensuring our market can meet the needs of our residents and Austinites can continue to afford property in this great city.”

   November 2014 Statistics

   1,934 – Single-family homes sold, six percent more than November 2013.

   $245,000 – Median price for single-family homes, 11 percent more than November 2013.

   $311,222 – Average price for single-family homes, six percent more than November 2013.

Leasing:
   In November 2014, a total of 1,175 properties were leased in Austin, which is six percent more than November 2013. The median price for Austin-area leases was $1,420, which is two percent more than the same month last year.

Thursday Dec. 4, 2014 - By Michael Theis - Digital Editor - Austin Business Journal

   Austin is the third-fastest growing big city in America since 2000, according to data released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
   The new data, from the 2013 five-year American Community Survey, shows Austin with an estimated population of 836,800. That's a 27.4 percent increase over the city's population of 656,562 recorded during the 2000 decennial census.
   When ranked against 30 other cities with populations of 500,000 or more at the turn of the 21st century, only two other large cities – Fort Worth and Charlotte, North Carolina – grew their populations faster than Austin. Fort Worth tops the list, growing its population by 42.3 percent, from 534,694 to 761,092. Charlotte ranks No. 2 on the list, growing by 40 percent from 540,828 to 757,278.
   Meanwhile, Central Texas' smaller cities also saw rapid growth. In fact, Pflugerville has grown its population at a staggering 206.8 percent since 2000, expanding from 16,335 to 50,127. That's the 10th-fastest population growth rate seen in that time for cities with populations of between 10,000 and 500,000, according to the data.
   Here's how other Central Texas cities stacked up in population growth:
   • Schertz has grown by 80.5 percent, seeing its population boom from 18,694 to 33,758.
   • Georgetown has grown by 77 percent since 2000, with its population increasing from 28,339 to 50,380.
   • Round Rock grew by 70 percent from 61,136 to 104,070 between 2000-2013.
   • San Marcos, which the Census Bureau recently found was the fastest growing city in America between 2012-2013, grew at 39 percent, expanding its population from 34,733 to 48,291.

   Here's how Texas' other major cities fared in population growth:
   • San Antonio ranks behind Austin at No. 4 on the list for large city growth. The Alamo City grew by 18.7 percent, its population expanding from 1,144,646 to 1,359,033.
   • El Paso ranks No. 5 on the list for large city growth, expanding its population by 17.2 percent to 660,795 from 563,662.
   • Houston ranked No. 14 with a 9.2 percent population gain, growing from 1,953,631 to 2,134,707.
   • Dallas' growth rate ranked No. 24 but saw only a 2.8 percent population increase since the turn of the century, expanding from 1,188,580 to 1,222,167 residents.


   Source: Michael Theis - Digital Editor - Austin Business Journal

Nov. 20 2014 - By Shonda Novak - American-Statesman Staff

   October was a record-breaking month for the Central Texas housing market, with home sales and home prices seeing significant year-over-year increases.
   Home sales climbed 16 percent in October compared with October 2013, while the median sales price and average sales price both increased by 11 percent, the Austin Board of Realtors said Thursday.
   October’s 2,403 sales was the highest number on record for an October. Half of the homes sold for more than $240,000 and half for less. The average price was $311,028. All three of those figures are the highest ever recorded for the month of October, the board said.
   “It’s always exciting to see a record-breaking month in real estate, but let’s remember that high demand often leads to high prices,” Bill Evans, president of the Austin Board of Realtors, said in a written statement. The latest figures, he said, “underscore the importance of housing affordability as a key issue going into 2015.”
   “This month’s results show that it costs a typical homeowner $23,000 more to buy a home than one year ago. For some Austinites, that kind of price increase could mean looking at homes smaller in size, further outside the Austin area, or not being able to afford to buy a home at all,” Evans said.
      
   Leslie Gossett, a broker associate with Austin Portfolio Real Estate, said that although the market has cooled lately, likely due to the usual seasonal tapering, “demand without a doubt is still there.”
   In general, demand appears to be strongest for homes priced at less than $700,000, and a “2,000-square-foot home for under $500,000” is difficult to find in many Central Austin neighborhoods, Gossett said.
   Eldon Rude, a local housing market expert, said supply-and-demand forces continue to push prices higher.
   “Strong local job growth coupled with a low unemployment rate continue to result in robust demand for housing in the region, and with the available active listings still low the result is higher home prices,” said Rude, principal of 360 Real Estate Analytics, a research and consulting firm.
   This week, the online real estate site Trulia for the first time ranked Austin among the nation’s metros that are least affordable for middle-income households. Trulia based its ranking on the local median household income for each market.
   Trulia said that 40 percent of homes for sale in Austin are within reach of the middle class compared with 50 percent last fall. Miami also debuted on the list with a drop in affordability. Trulia ranked San Francisco as the least affordable metro, with only 15 percent of the homes for sale within reach of middle-class households.
   Charles Heimsath, an Austin-based real estate consultant, said that with “constant and growing demand, and little new supply, prices will continue to escalate.”
   That continuing trend of rising home prices, he said, “does not bode well for new residents, or those hoping to move from rental housing to home ownership.”
   As Austin heads toward a new form of city governance with representation by geographic area, “what is needed is a city government that will take the risk of offending some existing homeowners by allowing some ‘medium’ density owner housing to be built in existing neighborhoods,” Heimsath said. “This would go a long way toward maintaining affordability, and our current quality of life in Austin.”


   Source: Shonda Novak - American-Statesman Staff

Saturday Nov. 15, 2014 - By Kirk Ladendorf - For the American-Statesman

   The real estate industry in Austin has changed dramatically with the city’s growth over the past four decades, but JB Goodwin Realtors remains as a constant.
   The company calls itself the “oldest and largest independent real estate broker in Austin.”
   The owner and namesake of the company was 22 years old when he founded it in 1972.
   “He is still here every day,” said Judy Alloway, the company’s relocation director. “He doesn’t let us rest on our laurels. He is looking for ways to do things differently and better.”
   JB Goodwin Realtors ranked No. 1 among midsize employers in the American-Statesman’s 2014 Top Workplaces of Greater Austin project.
   The company’s hometown image resonates with agents like Tish Darey and Wes Womack.
   Darey, who grew up in San Angelo and Fort Stockton in West Texas, says she was drawn to the agency when she got her real estate license in 2000 because of its deep Austin roots.
   “I wanted to be part of what was happening in Austin,” she said. “I wanted to work with a person and not a name.”
   Womack, who joined the real estate business just a few years ago, says he likes the founder’s strong personal ties to the business and the town.
   “There is a lack of pretension and flash when it comes to JB Goodwin,” he said. “He is just a good blue-collar guy who works to take care of people and does it in a humble way. He has a down-to-earth approach that I like.”
   The agents say they like the professional and technology support the company gives them as they do their jobs.
   The company has revamped its website and invested in relevant mobile applications to help its agents. It also invested in Docusign, a mobile-friendly secure software that enables real estate documents to be signed remotely by agents and clients, which can save time and paperwork.
   Darey credits the agency’s senior management for listening to agents and accommodating their needs. “They are a huge resource,” she said. “They are also showing us how to use the data that is available online and get it to clients.”
   Womack spent most of his adult life working in his family’s bar and restaurant business before moving into real estate with his wife, Prima Womack.
   “It was the scariest year of my life,” he recalls. “But we jumped off the cliff, and it worked out for us.”
   “I have worked harder and later in residential real estate than when we had a dozen bars and restaurants.”
   And when he needs to talk with his broker, the response is quick.
   “It will be 9:30 at night and, if I have a question, I can call my broker and he answers the phone. That is huge, especially in a market that moves as fast as this one does.”
   That service mentality is one that works for him, Womack said.
   “When you treat people the right way, you can be doing business with their family and friends for years to come,” he said.

About JB Goodwin Realtors
Founded: 1972
What it does: Residential and commercial real estate
Austin employment: 352
Locations: 4, including headquarters at 3933 Steck Ave.


   Source: By Kirk Ladendorf - For the American-Statesman

Nov. 4, 2014 - Michael Theis, Digital Editor- Austin Business Journal

   Gov. Rick Perry has appointed Austinite J.B. Goodwin, of JBGoodwin Realtors, to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, which manages the state's housing and community development issues, according to a Tuesday announcement.
   Goodwin is a member of the National, Texas and Austin associations of Realtors, and is a certified relocation specialist through the Worldwide Employee Relocation Council.
   He is also a University of Texas graduate, and was formerly a co-chair of the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce Economic Development Council. His term is set to expire on Jan. 31, 2015.


   Source: Michael Theis, Digital Editor- Austin Business Journal

Oct. 21 2014 - By Shonda Novak

   After a two-month decline, Austin-area home sales rebounded last month, rising 10.3 percent compared to September of last year, the Austin Board of Realtors said Tuesday.
   Both the median sales price — $240,000 — and average sales price — $308,514 — rose to their highest levels ever for a September, the board said.
      
“Austin should end the year as the best sales year ever and median home prices should end as a record high,” said Jim Gaines, a research economist at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.
   While housing demand remains strong in the region, there’s a downside for some home shoppers. The record prices mean Austin-area homes are becoming more difficult for some folks to afford, board officials said.
   “Local experts continue to point to our region’s strong economic and population growth as foundations of a healthy market, debunking recent reports of an overvalued market, but the real issue Austin is facing is whether the large amount of people moving to Austin every day can afford to buy a home here,” said Bill Evans, president of the Austin Board of Realtors.
   The board said buyers closed on 2,524 home sales in September. The median price was up 7.6 percent, with half the homes selling for more than $240,000 and half for less.
   Prices are rising amid continued demand for housing, but a limited supply of both newly built and pre-owned homes, experts say.
   A number of factors could help explain September’s sales uptick. Here are the views of several Austin-area agents and housing market experts:
   Eldon Rude, a local housing industry consultant: “While logic might tell you that area home sales should slow given the strong prices increases we have seen over the last several years, the data continues to show that buyers in this market will pay more for the home they want in the location they desire,” said Rude, principal of 360 Real Estate Analytics in Austin.
   “September employment information from the Texas Workforce Commission indicates there were 31,400 new jobs created in the Austin metro in the last year, and with an unemployment rate of 4.2 percent, that translates into continued in-migration into our area. All of these new residents have to live somewhere, and certainly some percentage of them are purchasing a home which ends up in these statistics.”
   Cederick Harris, a local real estate agent. ”I think the big scare went away. There are buyers out there who still want to buy and…it’s finally dawned on them, it is what it is, we still want to purchase something. Prices are going to continue to go up regardless.”
   Yvette Evans, a real estate agent with Redfin in Austin: “I had a lot of buyers who didn’t want to get into multiple-offer situations and they had stopped looking (during the sizzling spring and summer buying season) and now they’re looking again. There doesn’t seem to be the sense there’s not going to be enough inventory, which fueled the spring and summer buying frenzy. Now I think that people are realizing there are going to be more homes that come on the market and they’re not willing to overpay for them and they’re willing to wait.”
   Brian Talley, a real estate broker who owns Austin-based Regent Property Group LLC: “This is a seasonally slower time of the year so buyer activity has slowed. That has meant less multiple offer situations, which has resulted in lower buyer urgency. There is pent-up demand for buyers that didn’t want to participate in the sales frenzy this summer. Now there are more good options available for them to buy with the added benefit of low interest rates.”


   Source: By Lori Shonda Novak - American-Statesman Staff

Oct. 10, 2014 - By Shonda Novak

   Developers are about to break ground on what will be downtown Austin’s fifth-tallest building.
   The 39-story condominium tower is planned for the northeast corner of West Fifth Street and West Avenue, where the building that housed the Texas Press Association sits. Demolition on that building will start this month to make way for the new tower, which will bring 154 new luxury units to market when it opens in the fall of 2017. Units will start in the $500,000s, said Scott Dunaway, a spokesman for the developer, Riverside Resources.
   Riverside Resources is an Austin-based firm that is leaving a significant imprint on the local market. The company built the Whitley apartment high rise downtown, which it has since sold, and is under construction with a new office building near Capital of Texas Highway (Loop 360) and Bee Cave Road, among other projects.
   Called Fifth & West Residences, the project will be the second condo tower under construction downtown, joining the 30-story Seaholm Residences at the former Seaholm Power Plant on West Cesar Chavez, a site that is being redeveloped with housing, dining, office and retail space. Seaholm’s developer said prospective buyers reserved all 280 condos at Seaholm in one week, calling it a record for a downtown residential project.
   Riverside Resources isn’t disclosing the cost of its new condo project, or how much money is being invested by its capital partner, the Carlyle Group.
   The tower will include conference spaces, outdoor and lounge areas, a pool, a fitness center, a yoga studio and a dog park — complete with an indoor lounge and coffee bar.
   At 448 feet, the tower will be the fifth-tallest downtown, after the Austonian, the W Hotel & Residences, Spring and Frost Bank Tower.
   Charles Heimsath, a local real estate consultant, said that other than the Seaholm Residences — which originally was designed to be an apartment tower — downtown Austin hasn’t seen any new condo projects start since 2009. Demand for downtown condos remained strong — even during the recent recession — and the limited supply of units on the market bodes well for additional successful development of condo towers in the downtown market, he said.
   “If you want to buy a new unit (not a resale) today, the only option is the Austonian, which is too expensive for most buyers,” said Heimsath, president of Capitol Market Research. “This is a proven location, across the street from Austin City Lofts, close to Whole Foods and an easy walk to Congress Avenue and Second Street.”
   Fifth & West will have 56 one-bedroom units; 47 two-bedroom units; 50 three-bedroom units; and one 4-bedroom unit, the penthouse with more than 5,200 square feet.
   For other units, sizes are expected to average 910 square feet for a one-bedroom unit; 1,700 square feet for a two-bedroom; and 2,682 square feet for a three-bedroom.
   The site at 718 West Fifth is slightly less than one-quarter of a city block. It has some restrictions designed to preserve views of the state Capitol that will limit the garage podium height and create the building’s unique triangular shape, Dunaway said.
   Downtown Austin’s condo building boom took a breather during the downturn, prompting some developers to predict that Austin could end up with a shortage of units rather. Since the recession, financing has returned but mostly for apartment construction, as evidenced by the hundreds of new rental units being added both in and near downtown.
   There is, however, another condo project in the pipeline that Austin developers Constructive Ventures and Aspen Heights plan to build next to Seaholm. At 50 stories or higher, that building, which is due to start late next year and cost more than $200 million, could become the second-tallest on the skyline after the 56-story Austonian condo tower at Congress Avenue and Second Street.


   Source: By Shonda Novak - American-Statesman Staff

Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014 - By Lori Hawkins

   Taulia, a California-based software maker, is the latest out-of-state company to open an office in Austin to target engineering talent here.
   Founded five years ago, fast-growing Taulia develops software that helps suppliers more quickly collect payments from the large companies they serve.
   Taulia is based in San Francisco and has 175 employees. Its 75 customers include Coca Cola, Johnson Controls and Hallmark Cards.
   The company is expanding following a recent $27 million investment from backers including QuestMark Partners, Trinity Ventures and Matrix Partners. It has raised a total of $60 million.
   Taulia doesn’t disclose specific financial information, but said revenue has grown 300 percent annually for the past two years.
   Austin will serve as Taulia’s second engineering hub, said Joe Hyland, chief marketing officer. The company also has offices in Park City, Utah, London and Dusseldorf, Germany.
   Taulia plans to grow by opening offices in U.S. software hot spots where it can tap into the engineering workforce, Hyland said.
   “Early on we decided if we were going to continue our growth rate we couldn’t rely on just one location,” he said. “Our plan is to select other regions that have great talent pools, so Austin fits that perfectly for us.”
   The company currently has 10 employees at its offices in Northwest Austin and plans to double that over the next several months. “Our office in Park City is an example of how we plan to grow in Austin. We started with one employee in what was meant to be a client services center, and now we have 50 people there,” Hyland said.
   Taulia is among a growing list of companies based outside of Austin that have announced expansion plans here. Earlier this week, Arkansas marketing technology firm Acxiom announced plans for an Austin office. It intends to hire 150 people here, primarily in engineering, network architecture and project management.
   Other companies that have launched hiring initiatives in Central Texas include California Web hosting firm Metacloud, Finnish design firm Idean, New York-based software maker Signpost and Australian software maker Atlassian.


   Source: By Lori Hawkins - American-Statesman Staff

Daily Real Estate News | Tuesday, March 25, 2014

   While mortgage rates have been rising the last few months, they are still historically low compared to the trend over the last four decades, Freddie Mac says in a blog post.

   But rates as low as they were in November 2012 — when the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage reached an all-time low of 3.31 percent — aren’t likely to return any time soon, the mortgage giant says. Still, Freddie assures borrowers that the all-time record high of 18.63 percent reached in October 1981 isn’t on the horizon either. (At 18.63 percent, monthly mortgage payments on a $200,000 loan would be $3,117, compared to $992/month at today’s 4.32 percent average.)

   With mortgage rates at 4.32 percent, 123 of the 157 metros that Freddie Mac tracks remain very affordable to households earning the median income. In order for affordability to be hampered in the majority of markets, interest rates would have to reach 7 percent, according to Freddie Mac.

   “Stubbornly high unemployment over the last several years coupled with stagnant income growth exacerbates declining affordability in a rising interest rate environment,” according to Freddie's blog post. “More jobs and income growth would help blunt the effects of higher interest rates and make buying a home more accessible. While jobs and income have shown some improvement in recent months, they continue to be challenged.”

Mortgage Rates Through the Years
Here’s an overview of mortgage rates in the past four decades, as well as the approximate payment on a $200,000 mortgage and how it changes with the rise and fall of rates, according to Freddie Mac.

1970s
Average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage: 8.86%
Approximate payment on a $200,000 mortgage: $1,589

1980s
Average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage: 12.70%
Approximate payment on a $200,000 mortgage: $2,166

1990s
Average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage: 8.12%
Approximate payment on a $200,000 mortgage: $1,484

2000s
Average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage: 6.29%
Approximate payment on a $200,000 mortgage: $1,237

2014
Average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage: 4.36%
Approximate payment on a $200,000 mortgage: $997

   Source: “Mortgage Rates: From Dirt Cheap, to Cheap,” Freddie Mac (March 24, 2014)

By Shonda Novak | Saturday, March 1, 2014

   If you’ve been apartment-hunting in the Austin area in the past few years, here’s something you already know: The market hasn’t been tilted in favor of renters.
The supply of apartments hasn’t kept up with demand, and that has pushed up rents and made bargains rare. The imbalance was brought on as the economic downturn halted apartment construction, and now the thousands of new units under construction represent the market trying to play catch up even as it tries to keep pace with continued new demand amid the region’s job and population growth.
But for those who remain in the rental ranks, 2014 could bring a welcome change, some local housing experts say.
With 11,000 new apartment units due to come into the market this year, the basic laws of supply and demand should keep rents flat, or headed up only up slightly, for the first time in recent years.
That’s the outlook from real estate consultant Charles Heimsath, who as president of Capitol Market Research has been tracking the apartment market since 1988. Heimsath’s crystal ball calls for rents to rise “0 to 1 percent” following an 8 percent jump in average rents citywide in 2013 over 2012. He thinks rents will tick up the first half of the year, then stabilize or decline during the final six months, balancing out to end the year about even with this year.
“From a tenant’s standpoint, I guess that’s good news,” Heimsath said.
Overall, the average rent across the Austin area was $1,057 per month at the end of 2013, compared with $981 at the end of 2012. On a price per square foot basis, that was an increase of $1.12 to $1.21 in one year, a leap Heimsath termed “remarkable.”
The pace of rent growth, however, is expected to moderate as more and more new apartment units come into the market, Heimsath and other experts say.
Currently, 13,712 apartment units are under construction in the Austin area, with 11,000 of those due to open this year. Next year, Heimsath expects about 6,000 to 7,000 rental units to come online.
In the past two years, just over 4,200 units and nearly 6,700 units units were completed in 2012 and 2013, respectively.
FirstService Residential Realty, an Austin-based residential property management firm, said Austin’s apartment market grew by 2.9 percent in 2013, the third largest amount of growth in the country. This year, the market is expected to increase another 6.7 percent, leading the country for projected inventory growth, FirstService says.
Despite the new wave of supply, the area’s apartment occupancy rate is holding its own, Heimsath said.
Even if only half the 11,000 units get leased, the area’s average occupancy rate should still end the year above 93 percent, which is still a market leaning in landlords’ favor, he said.
In 2013, the year-end occupancy wrapped up at 96.9 percent, compared with 97.4 at year-end 2012. The 2012 figure was the highest occupancy since 2000, when it hit 97.6, the all-time high since Heimsath has been keeping tabs.
In its most recent national apartment report, commercial real estate brokerage Marcus & Millichap said that the surge in new apartment supply in Austin this year will push up its apartment vacancy rate some. However, “Austin’s penchant for attracting technology firms will pay dividends for the apartment market this year” despite that jump in new supply, the firm said.
“Heading into 2014, Austin is better positioned to absorb new units as payrolls grow at the fastest pace in the nation. Many of the jobs forming in the metro are high-paying technology positions, which will attract younger employees seeking a live-work environment… White-collar jobs will be more critical to absorbing the current wave of development as rents begin the year 23 percent above the year-end 2009 level.”
The report said 32,200 positions were created in 2013, and area employers are forecast to add 40,200 jobs this year, a 4.6 percent increase.
Officials at some of the newly opened complexes say leasing is going well. Gables Residential’s new 24-story tower downtown near North Lamar Boulevard and West Cesar Chavez is more than 30 percent leased, with the first residents moving in lass than a month ago, Gables’ Jennifer Wiebrand said. Rents for the 223-unit property start at $1,795.
At the 704 — the apartment project surrounding the Broken Spoke music venue on South Lamar Boulevard — 44 people have moved in, with 103 of the total 378 units completed, said Lincoln Property Co.’s Brian Little, residential manager for the project. Rents for a studio with 543 square feet start at $1,210 a month, while rents for the largest 2-bedroom unit start in the $2,400 range.
With construction still ongoing, the 704 is offering a special of one month’s free rent for tenants signing a 15- to 18- month lease, and a half-month’s free rent on a 12- to 14-month lease.
By December, the 704’s occupancy is expected to be in the mid-90 percent range, Little said. He said that with an estimated 158 people a day moving to the Austin area, most industry experts think the new supply will be absorbed. Little’s rent forecast differs from Heimsath’s: Little projects they will rise 2 percent to 3 percent this year.
“Austin’s a booming city, a very desirable city to live in,” Little said. “I don’t see the rental market slowing down,” at least not until possibly 2015 amid more new deliveries.
Roxana Hannah is one of the newcomers who was attracted to Austin. Her new home is two-bedroom apartment with a spacious kitchen and balcony in The 704 apartment project near the Broken Spoke. In addition to the apartment community’s amenities, “I couldn’t resist their offer of a free month,” said Hannah, an Internet marketing consultant who moved here Jan. 1 from the Portland area.
She said her rent — $2,100 a month for a unit with about 1,200 square feet — is “easily comparable” to new apartments in other hot markets like Santa Monica, Portland and Seattle.
“It’s a lifestyle,” she said. “I’m here to enjoy my life and I’m willing to pay for it.”
With her laptop affording her the freedom to “move anywhere in the world,” Hannah said she chose Austin for its vibrancy, culture, hospitality and friends who live here.
“Austin feels alive when you come here, without having a big-city coldness to it,” she said. “It’s warm and welcoming. I’m absolutely loving it.”


   Source: By Shonda Novak - American-Statesman Staff

By JJ Velasquez | Thursday, February 13, 2014

   Kyle is the second-best city in Texas for home ownership, according to a report released Jan. 31 by a national consumer advocacy website.
NerdWallet compiled a list of the top 20 cities in the state for owning a home based on each municipality’s home inventory, affordability and population growth.
Little Elm, a northern suburb of Dallas, was ranked no. 1.
Three other Austin suburbs—Leander (no. 3), Cedar Park (no. 6) and Pflugerville (no. 8)—made the list, composed mostly of towns in the outlying areas of major metropolitan cities.
“I think it would be fair to draw the conclusion that these areas have what it takes to be good areas for home ownership,” Maggie Clark, analyst for NerdWallet, said.
San Marcos, however, came in 113th out of 115 total communities studied by the website.
Clark said San Marcos’s poor rating stems from its high cost-to-income ratio. San Marcos homeowners spend about 61 percent of their income on housing-related costs, she said.
Homeownership costs in Kyle account for 23 percent of the median household income, according to the report. The city is among the three lowest in that category.
Kyle’s 81 percent homeownership rate means many who settle in the area feel comfortable setting roots there.
With rapid population growth, the city has been a hub for economic development.
In October 2009, Seton Medical Center Hays opened, and major retailers and restaurants have followed suit. In 2015, a Walmart store near the medical center is expected to open its doors.
The economic development stimulated more population growth, said realtor Bruce King.
“All of a sudden, here we are with all these new people moving in,” he said. “We’re expected to have a whole bunch of people move in here by 2020, and the growth is going to be crazy.”
King described the good interest rates, healthy home inventory and employment opportunities in Kyle as a “perfect storm” for people to move to the city.
King himself was drawn to the real estate profession when Seton Hays arrived, he said.
“I knew we were going to grow and recognized it’d be a good community to live in,” King said.
Only cities with populations of 25,000 or higher were considered for the study.

Daily Real Estate News | Friday, February 14, 2014

   The five-week streak of falling mortgage rates took a break this week, with the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage moving up slightly to average 4.28 percent, Freddie Mac reports.

   Freddie Mac reports the following national averages for mortgage rates for the week ending Feb. 13:

   30-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 4.28 percent, with an average 0.7 point, up from last week’s 4.23 percent average. Last year at this time, 30-year rates averaged 3.53 percent.

   15-year fixed-rate mortgages: averaged 3.33 percent, with an average 0.7 point, holding the same average as last week. A year ago, 15-year rates averaged 2.77 percent.

   5-year hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages: averaged 3.05 percent, with an average 0.5 point, dropping from last week’s 3.08 percent average. Last year at this time, 5-year ARMs averaged 2.64 percent.

   1-year ARMs: averaged 2.55 percent, with an average 0.4 point, rising from last week’s 2.51 percent average. A year ago, 1-year ARMs averaged 2.61 percent.

   Source: Freddie Mac