Colleen Kane, CNBC.com -November 10, 2011 Skinny homes are built for any number of reasons. It could be space constrictions, tax or code restrictions, the creative muse, or even for the vengeful-minded to grind an axe with a family member. What does it mean to say a house is skinny? You know you’re in one [...]
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From: Wall Street Journal, by Nick Timiraos April 25, 2011 Falling home prices should give aspiring homeowners the upper hand this Spring, but in a growing number of locations, it doesn’t feel like a buyer’s market. Blame the nearly five-year slide of home prices. Those declines, which accelerated over the past two quarters, have left [...]
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The U.S. unemployment rate crept back up to 9% last week, but some cities are feeling the pain far worse than others. Roughly 112 metro areas in the U.S. are still dealing with 10% unemployment or greater. That’s down from 166 at the same time last year, but tell that to folks in El Centro, [...]
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From the Austin American Statesman, May 9, 2011 by: Shanda Novak A failed downtown-area condominium project could be revived as apartments, and a fast-food restaurant could give way to a boutique hotel-condominium project, as developers move to take advantage of Austin’s strengthening economy and an improved climate for construction financing. Crescent Resources is evaluating whether [...]
Read More...Austin #1 Best City For Jobs
Austin Community, Austin economy, Austin Jobs, Austin News, Real Estate
These may be far from the best of times, but they are no longer the worst. Last year’s annual “Best Cities for Jobs” list was by far the most dismal since we began compiling our rankings almost five years ago. Between 2009 and 2010, only 13 of 397 metropolitan areas experienced any growth at all. [...]
Read More...While housing, and homebuilding in particular, have taken a massive hit due to the Great Recession, many housing experts do not expect this trend to continue long term as more unemployed Americans get back to work, empty-nesters begin to downsize or build their dream homes, and ‘boomerang kids’ who were “doubling-up,” or living with their [...]
Read More...From: Austin Business Journal - April 7, 2011 A Central Austin condo project on Enfield Road will soon be complete after sitting half finished for three years. The project at 1603 Enfield Road has gone untouched since developer Tadd Coates of Bolter Corp. fired contractor Qmet Building Co. in August 2008, and the two wound through [...]
Read More...Source: Austin Business Journal - March 31, 2011 Austin city officials recently announced a proposed deal with San Jose-based eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) to create 1,000 jobs over the next 10 years. The jobs would actually come from eBay subsidiary PayPal, which employs more than 250 here already. The city is offering a $1.2 million incentive [...]
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1. Jobs. Housing follows jobs. Period. And while the job market is still slow or non-existent in many areas (nationally as well as regionally), we all know Austin continues to be the leading market in the nation for job growth. 2. Jobs. At the risk of being redundant, housing follows jobs. Consumer confidence is close [...]
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Picky, picky, picky! Are today’s first-time home buyers passing up great deals because they insist on flawless “move-in ready” houses requiring little or no changes – even at the starter-home price levels at which shoppers traditionally have been willing to factor fix-ups and renovations into their offers? Or are they simply reflecting market realities? They [...]
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