Despite the national economic downturn, the Austin real estate market has been holding steady. Although the sales volume for 2009 continues to be 5% to 20% lower than the previous years month to month sales data, prices in the $300,000 and under market continue to hold their own. Builders continue to cut back on the number of building starts, which is a contributing factor for why the market has remained relatively stable. The green building movement has been strong and seen positive growth in Austin. The city has adopted an Energy Audit policy for all single family homes that are 10 years old and older. These homes must have an energy audit performed prior to title being transferred. The energy audit not only indicates what needs to be done to the existing home to bring it up to current Austin Energy green building standards, it also estimates how much it would cost to install and construct these energy saving upgrades. As a result of the mandatory energy audit, builders have been offering new homes with standard energy efficient features, like Energy Star appliances, insulated double pane low E windows, and water saving plumbing fixtures. The downtown condo market has been over built, and as a result several of the new construction condo projects have been resorting to auctions to sell the remainder of their units. Two recent projects that held auctions were Brazos Place and Bel Air. If you are looking for a great deal on a down town condo, now would be a great time to buy.
ZIP Code: 78731 Approximate Location Boundaries: Austin/Round Rock and surrounding suburbs
Location Characteristics: Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 15th-largest in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation from 2000 to 2006 According to the 2009 U.S. Census estimate, Austin had a population of 757,688. The city is the cultural and economic center of the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Area, with a population of 1,652,602 as of the July 2008 U.S. Census estimate—making it the 36th-largest- and 2nd-fastest-growing metropolitan area in the nation. Austin is home to many companies, high-tech and otherwise, including three Fortune 500 corporations, Dell, Whole Foods Market, and Freescale Semiconductor.Austin was selected as the No. 2 Best Big City in "Best Places to Live" by Money magazine in 2006, and No. 3 in 2009, also the "Greenest City in America" by MSN. According to CNN Headline News and Travel & Leisure magazine, Austin ranks No. 2 on the list of cities with the best people, referring to the personalities and attributes of the citizens. Austin was also voted America's #1 College Town by the Travel Channel. Austin was ranked the fifth-safest city in America.
