“I think this report shows there is life for Austin real estate after tax credits,” said John Horton, who is the chairman of the Austin Board of Realtors. “Sales volume was down only 4 percent compared to June 2009, which was last summer’s peak month.”

Horton further reported that that the average time it took to sell a home went down once again in June, which is the sixth month in a row the Austin area has experienced this positive trend. When compared to June of last year, the time homes spent on the market fell by 14 percent. In addition, while the volume of homes sold did decrease, the median price of the homes sold in June 2010 grew by 4% when compared to June of the previous year. The total dollar volume of properties sold also increased by 6 percent to $554 million, a phenomenon that is largely contributed to the fact that there was a larger demand for higher priced homes.

“The federal tax credits were most successful in getting first-time homebuyers into the real estate market, with most purchasing ‘entry-level’ homes,” said Horton. “This helped existing homeowners purchase ‘move up’ homes, which in turn helped spur activity in higher price ranges.”

Pending sales did decrease by 23% when comparing June 2010 to June 2009, but new listings went up by 2 percent during this same time period. Furthermore, active listings went up by 16 percent.

Although the federal first time homebuyer tax credit has expired, those interested in purchasing a home in Texas may still be able to take advantage of the $500 million Bond 77 program that was launched by the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs in May. Through this program, eligible first-time homebuyers can obtain mortgage loan assistance. For example, Texas homebuyers may be able to use the program to help them obtain a lower interest rate or they may be able to receive assistance with making a down payment.

“It appears that we are seeing some stabilization and the office market is turning the corner,” said Rick Whitely, who is a partner at Oxford Commercial, in a recent Austin Biz Journals article. “Most of all new construction has come online already so the vacancy rate should stabilize more easily.”

The Central Business District within the downtown area is showing particular promise, as its direct vacancy rate has now fallen for the third straight quarter in a row. In fact, during the fourth quarter of 2010, the rate was at 15.05%, but it fell to 14.98% during the first quarter of 2010 and then to 14.53% in the second quarter.

The retail market is also showing promise, with the Austin retail market being the only major Texas metro to show an increase in its retail occupancy rates during the first half of 2010. At the end of 2009, the retail market was reporting an occupancy rate of 91.5%. By the middle of 2010, the rate was just under 92%.

“While the increase remained small, it was still positive, thanks in part to the continued absorption of major vacancies on the market, as well as a major new project that opened substantially leased,” said Ian Pierce, who is a spokesman for Weitzman.

The largest vacancies within the Austin market were reportedly caused by the failure of the national chain Circuit City, which occurred in 2009, as well as the 2008 failure of national chains Shoe Pavilion and Linens ‘n Things. Many of these retail spaces, however, are now being re-used or have been backfilled. Furthermore, the capital city is on track to add another 600,000 square feet of new retail space in 2010. Most of the new space will be developed in phases and are part of projects that have already been set into motion, such as those involving the relocation or expansion of existing retailers. This still falls short of previous growth, such as the 2.8 million square feet that was added in 2008 and the 1.4 million square feet that was added in 2009.

While Austin certainly has earned its bragging rights when it comes to being a great city for young professionals, the city still has room for improvement in terms of its volunteer rates. In fact, according to a report released by the Corporation for National Community Service, the Austin-Round Rock area ranked number 36 out of 51 metro areas when it came to the volunteer rates of large cities. When it came to Baby Boomer volunteers, Austin ranked number 14 out of 51 cities, but the city came in the number 40 position when it came to the volunteer rates of young adults and teenagers. In all, just 25.3% of the city’s residents volunteered for a total of about $885.5 million worth of volunteer services being provided from 2007 through 2009.

Although researchers aren’t certain why Austin has such low volunteer rates, one theory is that the lower homeowner’s rate may be a contributing factor. With the national homeowner’s rate being 66.6% compared to the 60.6% rate in Austin, this is certainly one possible explanation. On the other hand, Austin has a lower-than-average poverty and unemployment rate as well as a higher-than-average education rate, both of which tend to be associated with higher volunteer rates.
According to the results of the report, Austin appears to be following the dominant trend found throughout the state of Texas. In fact, Austin has the second highest volunteer rate when compared to other metropolitan areas in Texas. Dallas, which took the number 19 spot, has the highest ranking in Texas, while Houston and San Antonio tied for 40th and San Antonio took the 46th position. As a whole, the state of Texas took the number 40 position.

In all, $2 billion was set aside by the stimulus package for use with federally-qualified health centers, with Lone Star Circle of Care receiving $3 million and the Texas Association of Community Health Centers receiving $983,000. Both organizations will be using the funds to help purchase equipment as well as to train and hire staff in the use of new technology.
Dell Inc is also taking steps to participate in the electronic medical record movement. In fact, Austin Biz Journals reports that Dell is partnering with San Francisco-based electronic medical record company, Practice Fusion, in an effort to improve medical electronic communication.

Currently, Practice Fusion provides a free electronic medical record service to approximately 40,000 doctors and health care providers. Dell has made plans to offer the product to small and mid-sized primary care practices that are interesting in installing digital records. The new bundle will combine the Web-based electronic medical records developed by Practice Fusion with the suite of health record hardware that Dell has already developed. The bundle will include desktop and laptop computers as well as specialized scanners, broadband hardware and printers. According to Dell and Practice Fusion, the bundle will make it possible for health care providers to replace their paper systems with electronic scheduling and charting while also making it possible for them to fill prescriptions and lab orders electronically.

In related news, Dell also formed a partnership with the American Medical Association. Through this partnership, Dell will supply hardware support and hardware to health care practices using the new electronic medical records platform established by the AMA.

It is because of partnerships such as this one that Dell, which currently employs about 16,000 people in Central Texas, was recently named the number one health care information technology services provider in the world by Gartner Inc.

This isn’t the only green initiative currently underway, however, as four locations in Austin were also recently chosen to pilot a sustainable landscape rating program as well. The program, which was launched in 2005 in partnership with the American Society of Landscape Architects, United States Botanic Garden, and the University of Texas’ Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, was created in an effort to fill the gap that exists between green construction, design and maintenance.

A number of voluntary guidelines, which serve as performance benchmarks, are in place for this initiative. Areas which are addressed within these guidelines when it comes to creating, constructing and maintaining sustainable landscapes include:
• Water usage
• Soil
• Vegetation
• Materials
• Human health and well-being
• Construction and maintenance

Those sites participating in the program will receive star ratings according to their performance in each of these areas. Yet, despite the rigid standards that are set for those participating in the program, competition to participate in the program was quite tough among businesses and agencies around the country.

“We received hundreds of applications from an impressive array of federal agencies, international companies, major universities and non-profit organizations, among many others, to participate in the pilot program,” said Nancy Somerville, who is the vice president and CEO of the American Society of Landscape Architects. “The selected projects represent an elite group covering a diverse range of size, project type and geographic location.”

In the end, only 150 businesses, universities, agencies and organizations were chosen to participate. Those Austin locations that were selected to participate in the project include the National Instruments headquarters, the Austin Children’s Center, the city of Austin’s Rutherford Lane Campus and the Walmart Four Points. Blue Hole Regional Park in Wimberley was also selected to participate in the program.

According to the figures recently released by RealtyTrac, which is a private marketer of foreclosure properties, one in every 593 properties in the Austin area are either in foreclosure or are in danger of being foreclosed upon in April. These figures represent a 45% increase when compared to the figures from one year ago.

In all, RealtyTrac found that 1,109 homes were either foreclosed upon, in default or scheduled for Austin in Apri. This is a 1.6% decrease when compared to March, at which time 1,127 homes were foreclosed upon. In addition, Austin still comes in at number 115 out of 203 areas with the highest foreclosure rates that RealtyTrac keeps track of.

Overall, the state of Texas is doing better than other states when it comes to avoiding foreclosures. According to reports from April, 1 in 731 homes in the state received a foreclosure filing. On the national level, on the other hand, 1 in 387 homes have received a filing. In all, 333,837 foreclosure filings were reported throughout the country in April. While these are still large figures, this does represent a 9% decrease when compared to March of this year and a 2% decrease when compared to April of 2009.

According to James J. Saccacio, who is the CEO of RealtyTrac, these figures offer hope that foreclosure activity has started to plateau.

“April was the first month in the history of our report with an annual decrease in U.S. foreclosure activity,” said Saccacio. “Secondly, bank repossessions, or REOs, hit a record monthly high for the report even while default notices dropped substantially on a monthly and annual basis. We expect a similar pattern to continue for most of this year, with the overall numbers staying at a high level and ripples of activity hitting the various stages of the foreclosure process as lenders systematically work through the backlog of distressed properties.”

As things even out throughout the country, Austin residents can take confort in knowing that things are looking pretty stable within the area’s housing market. In fact, Austin still remains among the top markets expected to bounce back quickly from the recession.

Currently, the tax credit provides up to $8,000 in credit to first-time homebuyers and up to $6,500 to repeat homebuyers. According to most experts, the credit was the primary force behind tens of thousands of sales that have taken place throughout the country over the last several months. Therefore, some are concerned that home sales will slow down significantly when the program ends. Currently, in order to qualify for the credit, the sale needs to be under contract by April 30 and the closing needs to take place by June 30. As such, there are literally only days left for buyers to take advantage of the deal.

When it comes to looking at the Austin area specifically, the Austin Board of Realtors reports that 70% of the homes sold were priced at $249,000 or less during the first three months of 2010.

Sales of townhouses and condos were also strong in the Central Texas area in March of this year, with sales jumping 129% when compare to March of 2009. This increase continues the trend that started in September 2009, at which time there was an 86% increase in year-to-date sales.

“A softer condo market at the beginning of 2010 provided a good opportunity for buyers, and we are now seeing the results with an increase in activity,” continued Horton. “Condos can be attractive properties for first-time homebuyers, so it’s possible this increased demand is also related to both the first-time homebuyer tax credit as well as an increased supply of condos in Austin in recent years.”

In order to determine its rankings, the EPA considered the number of buildings within the metropolitan area to earn the organization’s Energy Star rating by the end of 2009. With 133 star-rated buildings, Houston took the number 6 position. The Dallas/Ft. Worth area, on the other hand, landed the number 8 position with 113 Energy Star buildings. With 55 Energy Star facilities, which cover a total of 8 million square feet, Austin took the number 55 position. With 293 buildings encompassing 76 million square feet of space, Los Angeles, California took the top spot.

According to the EPA, there are nearly 9,000 buildings throughout the United States that had earned the Energy Star rating by the end of 2009. This represents a 40% increase when compared to the number of star-rated buildings from the previous year, despite the fact that the program was established in 1999. The EPA reports that Energy Star rated buildings are more efficient at saving energy and money than those that are not rated. In fact, according to the agency’s estimates, the Energy Star buildings saved nearly 1.6 billion in one year while also reducing enough greenhouse gas emissions to be equal to those that are emitted by over 1 million homes in one year.

For those who are interested in finding an eco-friendly job, whether it is within the construction industry or elsewhere, the Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association has recently gone live with a green jobs board. Although the organization has been around for 25 years, this move represents the first time it has made such a concerted effort toward helping others find eco-friendly employment.

Positions that will be posted on the board include any that are considered to be within a environmentally sustainable field. These include:

· Solar electricity generation
· Solar hot water heating
· Large- and small-scale wind electricity generation
· Biomass electricity generation
· Liquid renewable fuels
· Geothermal electricity generation
· Geothermal heating and cooling
· Sustainable building design and construction

The system already has more than 1,000 jobs posted, so there is no doubt that more Energy Star buildings are on the horizon throughout the state of Texas.

According to John Horton, who is the Chairman of the Austin Board of Realtors, the sales increase is likely due to the fact that the area has been experiencing moderate job growth coupled with a relatively lower unemployment rate.

“It appears we’re beginning to see an impact from this steady improvement, particularly in increases in pending sales and new listings, as well a decrease in the length of time homes are staying on the market, all of which are indicators of future demand,” said Horton.

According to the Austin Board of Realtors report, homes were on the market for an average of 77 days in February. This figure is down 13 percent when compared to February of last year. Horton further reports that this is a significant decrease when comparing one year to the next. In fact, when comparing the figures to the fall of 2009, the average number of days homes spent on the market changed by less than 5 percent when compared to the previous year.

The Austin Board of Realtors also reports that pending sales in Austin totaled 1,738 last month, which represents a 24 percent increase. New listings were also up to 3,067, which represents a 16 percent increase, while active listings remained unchanged at 9,335.

While the Austin housing market still has some ground to make up in order to get back where it was before the economic troubles, there is no doubt that things are moving in the right direction.

In order to conduct the study, J.D. Powers and Associates surveyed more than 12,100 passengers who had flown sometime in 2009. Despite giving high ratings to the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, many of those who were surveyed expressed an overall level of dissatisfaction regarding the airline industry. Poor baggage delivery, difficulty with navigating through the airport and failure to consistently meet comfort needs were among the biggest complaints.

The concerns of passengers that were brought up in the J.D. Powers and Associates survey is consistent with those found by another survey conducted by the Airport Council International. According to its Airport Service Quality passenger survey, which questioned 275,000 passengers from 118 different airports around the world, those airports that received high marks were those that best met the basic needs of their passengers.

Some of the qualities that passengers listed as being the most desirable included the general ambience of the airport, the courtesy of the staff and the cleanliness of the airport. Travelers also placed the most emphasis on airports where good shopping facilities were readily available, where the waiting areas were comfortable and where washrooms were clean and readily available. Of course, having a courteous staff was also of high importance to those who were surveyed.

In the Airports Council International Airport Service Quality passenger survey, 30 different areas of service were assessed. In the end, the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport came in the second place position among airports that service between 5 and 15 million passengers per year. Having served 8.2 million passengers in 2009, the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport falls right in the middle of that range.

In addition to earning a second place ranking in the Airport Service Quality passenger survey, the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport is also one of only three airports to receive the Airport Service Quality Assured Certification, which is awarded to those airports that meet certain benchmarks in terms of airport services and their management approach.