Health of Austin Market

Austin gets an "A" for overall health! Over the years Austin consistently garners top marks for economic growth, vitality, livability and innovation. The Brookings Institute recently ranked Austin the third most recession-proof city in the U.S. And Texas itself is ranked by more than 600 CEOs as the top state to do business. You can easily see why Austin is a great place to invest in real estate.

Following are several articles that illustrate Austin's strengths and appeal.

Kiplinger Personal Financial Magazine recently ranked Austin as No. 1 in their list of 10 Best Cities For the Next Decade. http://www.kiplinger.com/magazine/archives/best-cities-2010-austin-texas.html They found Austin is a hotbed for small business and music.
Known as "Silicon Hills" for its growing tech sector industries, Forbes placed Austin in second place in their first-ever ranking of America's Most Innovative Cities. http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/24/patents-funding-jobs-technology-innovative-cities.html
Out of the top 50 metros, Austin is projected to be the best performing economy in terms of the quickest recovery. In Central Texas Economy In Perspective, Beverly Kerr, Austin Chamber Vice President of Research, summarizes reports from several excellent economic sources that report on Austin. [need link to article online] Austin Chamber of Commerce - http://www.austin-chamber.org
In April of 2008, Forbes ranked Austin the third most recession-proof city because of a lack of a housing bubble, low median home price, low unemployment, and strong job growth segments that would recover more quickly. Now, over two years later, the Brookings Institute released their quarterly in-depth analysis, which ranks Austin the third most recession-proof city in the U.S. Click here for the full report [link]. http://www.brookings.edu/metro/MetroMonitor.aspx You can also view interactive reports for employment, REO properties and other economic measurements.
According to Austin Board of Realtors statistics, Austin home sales in April 2010 were up 31% and condos were up 63% compared with April 2009. Read the Austin Business Journal article. http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2010/05/17/daily45.html?ed=2010-05-20&ana=e_du_pub
Austin shows the greatest increase in sales tax collection out of the top 20 Texas cities, showing that retail is alive and well. One of the best leading indicators is sales and use tax trends provided by the Texas State Comptroller's office. Austin shows the top improvement followed by Round Rock at 4th best. Other Texas leading indicators can be found at Comptroller Leading Indicators [link]. http://www.texasahead.org/economy/tracking/index.html#indicators
Texas Workforce Commission [http://www.tracer2.com/] and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics [http://www.bls.gov/sae/home.htm] releases of March 2010 workforce numbers show Austin narrowing the year-over-year jobs deficit. Austin was placed as the best performing job market in major metros rankings. See Central Texas Economy In Perspective article here http://app.e2ma.net/campaign/26685.9a6ee691c1b4b6c2e28cf697c29f74d3
Texas is the second-most populous state and the world's 12th largest economy. In Chief Executive magazine's annual survey of more than 600 CEOs, for the fifth consecutive year Texas ranked as the top state to do business. California was deemed worst. Read the article here [link] http://chiefexecutive.net/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications::Article&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=59FD13C5177B40B0B2D3EBA9E4384572&AudID=72E5923167534E2FA8CAC760727D0426