November 20, 2008

It's getting to be more and more difficult to find good news on TV. Reporters seem to be reveling in stirring up as much "doom and gloom" news as they can – after all it's been proven that bad news sells better than good. Our addiction to news tickers and 24 hour coverage was solidified during horrific news events of the last decade. But there IS positive news to be found if you dig hard enough.

28 Metropolitan areas showed increases in median existing single-family home prices from the same quarter in 2007. Areas such as Elmira NY, Tulsa OK, Wichita KS and Urbana IL.

But even in areas where average home sales have dropped drastically, there is good news. Buyers who have been shut out of the home ownership market, are now finding that they can afford to buy. And they ARE buying. Three states where the ‘housing bubble' has burst are seeing some of the highest increases in sales. The largest sales gain during the third quarter was in Arizona, up 28.3 percent from the second quarter, followed by California which rose 28.1 percent and Nevada, up 26.2 percent. These areas have seen some of the strongest sales gains with some reports of multiple bidding.

And there's also good news for sellers. The typical seller purchased their home six years ago and is still experiencing net equity gains, even in today's depressed markets. The national increase in value since the third quarter of 2002 is 18.3 percent, which is a median gain of $31,000. Even with the current downward price distortion, 90 percent of metro areas are showing six-year price gains.

So while we are definitely in turbulent economic times, there is GOOD NEWS to be found if you look for it. Hopefully, some home buying incentives will be passed soon to stimulate even more home ownership. Lawrence Yun, the chief economist at the National Association of Realtors, said that, "A pattern of sharply higher sales in areas with large price declines is well established," Yun said. "Affordability conditions have consistently been a major factor in driving sales. Historically during recessions, buyers have responded to incentives and it's important for government to keep that in the forefront of stimulus decisions."

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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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