Austin Market Stats :: Week Ending August 14

Properties For Sale

[compared to the same week in 2009]

Active Listings + 18.10%

New listings - 8.02%.

Pendings - 30.81%

Solds units - 37.13% [!]

Average Prices:

[compared to the same week in 2009]

Sold average sales prices + 13.83% to $272,883.

In 2009 it was $239,726.

Austin had 11,548 active listings during the same week in 2009.

Today there are 13,638 active listings!

That is + 18.10% from last year.

GET PERSONALIZED STATS FOR YOUR OWN HOOD.

BUY BUY AUSTIN!

Austin Region Likely to See Shortage of New Homes with Continued

Population Growth on the Horizon

AUSTIN, TX., July 15, 2010 - The Home Builders Association (HBA) of
Greater Austin held the 2010 Mid- Year Economic Housing Forecast this
morning at the Phillips Event Center. The program was presented by Dr.
Ted C. Jones, PhD, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist for Stewart
Title Guaranty Company. After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in
Agricultural Economics from Colorado State University, Dr. Jones earned
a PhD in finance with a minor in statistics and a master's degree in
land economics and real estate from Texas A&M University, where he
served as chief economist at the university's Real Estate Center, the
nation's largest publicly funded real estate research group.

According to Dr. Jones, the growth of the regional housing market is
directly tied to the area's ability to create and maintain jobs and
positive consumer confidence. While the US lost 1.37 million jobs since
June 2000, Austin grew 94,700 net new jobs between May 2000 and May
2010. The region has gained 9,900 jobs year-to-date through May 2010
with 1,000 of those jobs gained in May 2010 alone. "Simply stated,
Austin is a job-growing machine," says Dr. Jones.

The population of the Austin Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is
forecast to grow by roughly 273,000 people every five years; doubling
our current population of approximately 1.7 million by 2035. "The
current rate of new construction of all types of residential dwellings
is just 10,000 per year. This is not even close to keeping up with the
forecast population growth of the region," says Dr. Jones.

Buyers are encouraged to buy now. If interest rates were to tick up just
1%, the price of a home would have to decline by 10% to make up the
difference. Home prices are already on the rise in the greater Austin
region. Expected population growth coupled with the lack of new home
starts that will keep up with the region's growth will likely cause
prices to rise further.

Austin Market Stats :: Week Ending August 7

Properties For Sale:

[compared to the same week in 2009]

Active Listings + 17.78%

New listings - 19.66%.

Pendings - 12.53%

Solds units - 45.06% [!]

Average Prices:

[compared to the same week in 2009]

Sold average sales prices + 21.68% to $290,727.

In 2009 it was $238,935.

Austin had 11,581 active listings during the same week in 2009.

Today there are 13,640 active listings!

That is + 17.78% from last year.

GET PERSONALIZED STATS FOR YOUR OWN HOOD.

Making Moving a Little Easier On The Young Ones

THANKS TO WALLY TINGLY AT CHICAGO TITLE FOR THIS POST! Moving can be an exciting time in any family's life, but it can also be a time of worry and uncertainty for the smallest members of your clan. To make the transition a bit easier on everyone, here are a few popular children's books to read with your little ones.

The Berenstain Bears series has a book entitled, "Moving Day" (Random House). This book follows the Bears as they make a move to a home with better soil for their farm. Children may have a hard time understanding where their toys are going, and if they'll ever see them again. As parents, it's a hard, but important job to make the transition of moving easy. These books may help to open a dialogue with young children. To open up conversation, consider "Moving House" by Anne Civardi (Usborne Books). One parental review says, "This book is great to make moving to a new house, school, or city easier. It isn't one that we read again and again, but it did give a great opening for conversations of topics related to the move." Another preschool geared book is "We're Moving" by Heather Maisner (Kingfisher). Receiving a 5 star review on Amazon.com, "I'm Not Moving, Mama," by Nancy White Carlstrom (Aladdin Publishing), is the story of a little mouse who refuses to leave his room on moving day. And finally, for your own reading, check out Lori Collins Burgan's "Moving with Kids: 25 Ways to Ease Your Family's Transition to a New Home". Library Journal writes of the work, "A no-nonsense, compassionate guide to helping children deal with the stress, trauma, and potential excitement of relocating...there are no other comparable titles in print. Easy to read and eminently useful, this is the ideal parents' helper when faced with a move across town or across the world."

Self Respect

"The willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life is the source from which self-respect springs."

Joan Didion

“Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect.”

Marcus Aurelius

“True humility is intelligent self respect which keeps us from thinking too highly or too meanly of ourselves. It makes us modest by reminding us how far we have come short of what we can be.”

Ralph W. Sockman

self-re·spect (sĕlfˌrĭ-spĕktˈ)

noun

Due respect for oneself, one's character, and one's conduct.

The following movies have a special place in my life. There are so many others I can't think of at the moment, but this is a start. In no particular order:

Happiness Is (2009),

This Boy's Life (1993),

Good Will Hunting (1997),

La vita è bella (1997),

Inglourious Basterds (2009),

Se7en (1995),

Crash (2004),

Killing Zoe (1993),

Reservoir Dogs (1992),

Jerry Maguire (1996),

The Departed (2006),

Return to Paradise (1998),

Wedding Crashers (2005),

A Cool, Dry Place (1998),

Stand by Me (1986),

The Godfather: Part II (1974),

The Godfather (1972),

Kalifornia (1993),

Pulp Fiction (1994),

True Romance (1993),

This Boy's Life (1993),

Breaking the Rules (1992)

What are some of your "must see" movie titles?

Austin Market Stats :: July 2010 + Week Ending July 31

JULY 2010

Properties For Sale:

[compared to July 2009]

New listings - 1.97%.

Pendings - 20.30%

Solds - 25.80%

Average Prices:

[compared to July 2009]

Sold average sales prices - 17.30% to $284,443.

In 2009 it was $242,498.

Week Ending July 31

Properties For Sale:

[compared to the same week in 2009]

Active Listings + 17.58%

New listings - 5.37%.

Pendings - 21.19%

Solds units - 23.49 %

Average Prices:

[compared to the same week in 2009]

Sold average sales prices + 25.16% to $308,295.

In 2009 it was $246,316.

Austin had 11,613 active listings during the same week in 2009.

Today there are 13,655 active listings!

That is + 17.58% from last year.

GET PERSONALIZED STATS FOR YOUR OWN HOOD.

FAMILY DOCTOR :: James Hahn, MD

Hahn, James S MD

Category: Family Practice

631 W 38th Street

Austin, TX 78705

Neighborhood: University of Texas

(512) 459-3177

Dr. Hahn is top notch.

I grew up in a home where we had no doctors, dentists, etc. that we could call "ours." Colds and scrapes got prayer not care. Bleeding might get you to the the clinic, but probably not. So I didn't develop strong habits for seeking out good pre-emptive and routine care. Until my son was born.

For the last few years, I have been proud to call Dr. Hahn "my" doctor. He is never rushed in our appointment. He talks to me like I am as smart as he is. He does not rush to drugs to fix every problem. He takes a holistic approach without having an ounce of hippy-dippy in it.

I feel like Dr. Hahn cares about me and my well being. Strange how that needs to be stated these days- like it's unique from a DOCTOR. Well, it is.