November 20, 2008

As a Realtor® and owner of a nationwide relocation company, I am daily faced with the effects of the economic meltdown on our real estate members all over the country. Consumer confidence is at an all time low which is adding to the current housing crisis. Buyers who have stable jobs and good income are postponing purchasing a home due to fear.

We need action by lawmakers NOW - not in January. Hopefully the lame duck Congress will listen to reason, and pass some meaningful bills! Bills that will RESTORE CONSUMER CONFIDENCE so that homebuyers are not frozen by fear! Even in areas which have a strong economy (low unemployment, healthy job outlook, no real estate bubble bursting) buyers are holding off buying – waiting for a lower interest rate, or the assurance that they'll buy at the absolute bottom price. They are also frustrated with the current lending environment that places a variety of barriers to getting a mortgage. This further impedes sales and price stabilization of the housing market.

A recent consumer survey conducted by Realogy Corp. (a National Association of Realtors ® member) stated how important housing is to this country's economic recovery. The survey found that nine out of 10 homeowners believe that owning a home is still the best long-term investment. But this same survey said that most people are not buying right now because of uncertainty about the market.

Recently the National Association of Realtors® sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson outlining steps he could take to stabilize the housing market. They also presented this plan to the House Financial Services Committee on November 18th. The four steps the recommended are:

1) Make the $7,500 first-time homebuyer tax credit available to all homebuyers and eliminate the repayment requirement.
2) Make the increased 2008 FHA, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac loan limits permanent so that all American families can find a safe and affordable mortgage when buying a home.
3) Get the $700 billion Treasury relief program back on track and focused on providing stability to the nation's housing markets and reducing foreclosures.
4) Bar banks from real estate brokerage and management activities permanently, to avoid exposing consumers and the economy to more unnecessary risks.

NAR also provided an economic analysis demonstrating that a reduction, or a buydown, of interest rates by just 1 percentage point could result in up to 840,000 additional home sales and reduce the inventory of homes by as much as 20 percent. Substantially lower mortgage rates would stimulate both existing- and new-home sales.

These are great first steps to getting home sales going again.

It was Richard Nixon who said, "A recession is anytime people lose confidence in the future." Now is the time to restore confidence, people!

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Local Information for Austin, TX

Latitude: 30.300474 -- Longitude: -97.747247

ZIP Codes for Austin, Texas	73301 73344 78701 78702 78703 78704 78705 78708 78709 78710 78711 78712 78713 78714 78715 78716 78717 78718 78719 78720 78721 78722 78723 78724 78725 78726 78727 78728 78729 78730 78731 78732 78733 78734 78735 78736 78737 78738 78739 78741 78742 78744 78745 78746 78747 78748 78749 78750 78751 78752 78753 78754 78755 78756 78757 78758 78759 78760 78761 78762 78763 78764 78765 78766 78767 78768 78769 78772 78773 78774 78778 78779 78780 78781 78783 78785 78786 78788 78789 78799
Area Code for Austin, Texas	512
Time zone for Austin, Texas	CST

Other Area Cities: Leander, TX Cedar Park, TX Round Rock, TX Elgin, TX Austin, TX Hutto, TX Manchaca, TX Pflugerville, TX Kyle, TX Dripping Springs, TX

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Austin is the state capital of Texas and the county seat of Travis County. Situated in the region of Central Texas, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 16th-largest in the United States. As of the 2005 U.S. Census estimate, Austin had a population of 690,252.[1] The city is the core cultural and economic center of the Austin–Round Rock metropolitan area with a population of 1.4 million. The first documented settlement of current-day Austin occurred in 1835, and the site was named Waterloo in 1837. In 1839, Mirabeau B. Lamar renamed the city in honor of Stephen F. Austin. Its original name is honored by local businesses such as Waterloo Ice House and Waterloo Records. Austin is situated on the Colorado River and on the Balcones Fault, which in much of Austin runs roughly the same route as the MoPac expressway. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Texas 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Austin	Texas	United States
Population	656,562	20,851,820	281,421,906
Median age	29.6	32.3	35.3
Median age for Male	29.1	31.3	34
Median age for Female	30.2	33.4	36.5
Households	265,649	7,393,354	105,480,101
Household population	636,432	20,290,711	273,643,273
Average household size	2.4	2.74	2.59
Families	141,589	5,247,794	71,787,347
Average family size	3.14	3.28	3.14
Housing units	276,842	8,157,575	115,904,641
Occupied units	265,649	7,393,354	105,480,101
Vacant units	11,193	764,221	10,424,540

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November 20, 2008

Local Information for Austin, TX

Latitude: 30.300474 -- Longitude: -97.747247

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