By Carey Eskridge

Sperry Van Ness just released its "Top 10 Markets to Watch" Report for the office sector. Austin made the list. The report considers factors such as population growth, office space inventory, vacancy, and rental trends to determine the areas with the greatest potential for income growth.

About six years ago, as the tech bubble was bursting and the Frost Bank tower was under construction, I had to wonder what was going to become of downtown. It seemed like it could go either way - the streets would be empty or the newest addition to the skyline would usher in a new era. As it turns out, downtown is exploding, and if this report is correct it won’t be slowing down anytime soon.

WHY AUSTIN MADE THE GRADE

According to the report, Austin has some great factors to fuel further commercial interest.

• Austin had the highest relative population growth of all the
  office markets. With so much competition,
  the absorption kept the vacancy rate in a steady
  decline. 
• The vacancy rate is at 13.4 percent. As far as I can
  tell, most of construction around town, however dramatic, is mixed-use
  residential and retail development.
• The report predicts that office construction won’t
  keep up with the demand through 2008, so the vacancy rate is expected
  to decrease by almost one percentage point in the coming year

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Popularity: 3% [?]

By Maria Scinto and DeeinAustin™

New Urbanism - just what is this? It’s a way of planning cities and new developments so they have more of that traditional neighborhood feel.

Walking and biking is big in New Urban development. Instead of the old suburban car culture, where we all drive everywhere, even down the block, a "new urban" neighborhood is one where you’re tempted to leave the car in the driveway since you can easily walk to shops, restaurants, and schools.

This sounds better and better, the higher the gas prices set in!

But anyway, what’s this got to do with the Texas Coast? Quite a bit, it turns out. Developer Tofigh Sherazi is currently underway with plans for Beachtown Galveston, a 260 acre community meant to reflect Galveston’s past.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

By DeeinAustin™

You may already know that I was a Global Project Manager at Apple, Inc. back in "the day". When you’re analyzing a business or managing projects, Microsoft Excel is your friend because you can use it to understand long-range and short-term trends. I decided to dust off my old Excel skills and analyze the Austin real estate market each quarter from here on.

My team gathered all of the available Austin MLS data from 1999 to present, which is through September.

| View | Upload your own

WHAT DID THE TRENDS SHOW?

First, keep in mind that this is MLS data. I only pulled Single Family homes and Condos since many of them will be listed in MLS. Duplexes, lots and commercial property is often sold through other methods, so the data may not be as accurate as it could be for products, but we have it available for those of you interested. That said, below are the top trends. 

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Popularity: 4% [?]

By Carey Eskridge

This week’s builder spotlight is focused on GreenBuilders, a new endeavor by Clark Wilson, who is an established central Texas homebuilder.

With GreenBuilders, Wilson brings sustainable, environmentally responsible features to a much broader market than has been previously available. GreenBuilders has three developments in the works: Elm Grove in Buda, Georgetown Village in Georgetown, and Rutherford West in Driftwood.

GEORGETOWN VILLAGE HOMES

So far, Georgetown Village is the only community that is open. Homes there start in the $200s and range in size from 1800 sq ft to 2400 sq ft, with 15 different floor plans.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

-by Maria Scinto

A report predicted that Houston be Underground in the next few decades.

What does this
mean? Is it going to fall into a giant sinkhole? Well, I
certainly hope not.

Actually, I’m talking about Forbes
reporter Matt Woolsey’s prediction that by 2017 Houston will enclose
a major portion of its downtown. This isn’t too far-fetched,
seeing as how there’s already the 7-mile-long Tunnel under Houston’s
downtown streets that connects offices, banks, hotels, restaurants, stores, theaters, etc. Perhaps Matt is envisioning something more along the
line of Montreal in Canada.

See the picture from Quebec Tourism, which shows current underground shops in Montreal.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

By DeeinAustin™

Here’s a rule of thumb. You can often tell if you’re in a buyer or seller’s market based on how aggressively condo brokers or new home builders offer agent and buyer incentives.

In a good market, the number of condo
conversion and new construction projects increase while incentives decrease. Don’t believe me? One condo broker recently offered a $2500 bonus to agents when they’d previously ignored buyer agent requests for showings.

Oh now they’re being really nice, which could be a sign that they’ve upgraded their customer service skills…or
the developer wasn’t ready for the mortgage market shift.

SO HOW’S THE CONDO MARKET IN AUSTIN?   
We receive this question pretty often because Austin seems
to have a lot of new condo projects in the works, especially downtown.
We typically blog about new projects here, so some readers wonder if there are way too many on the horizon.

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In Texas, we like our land and our property rights just as much as steak and BBQ.

While the Surfside Beach houses themselves aren’t
floating in the Gulf (yet), the prime beachfront on which they
sit is slipping away. Due to the 1959 Texas Open
Beaches Act, some of the homeowners in the town of Surfside Beach (about an
hour south of Houston) are told that they must move their
houses since they are now blocking public beach land.

The pictures shows an example of beachfront erosion of Riggings Condos at Kure Beach along the Pacific Ocean.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

By DeeinAustin™

I’m old enough to remember when computers first hit the consumer shelves. Personal computers revolutionized the way the business world worked and the way human beings communicate with each other. Then came cell phones, video chat and conferencing, and broadband internet, which further connected far ends of the continent.

I believe we’re in another revolutionary time, where mobile technology applications will put our communication in warp speed (Star Trek term, for readers Generation Y and younger).

WHY MOBILE TECHNOLOGIES WILL CHANGE REAL ESTATE
I did an interview with Glen at Inman News last week to discuss the use of mobile tech in real estate. I made a bold statement, which was that
any real estate agent, buyer, seller or investor who does not master
the use of text messaging and other mobile applications in 2008 will miss the
boat.

Some agents think having a "sticky" website or blog will put them ahead of the curve, but I think communicating with current and potential clients via a cell phone or PDA is an absolute requirement.

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Those of you interested in an Austin area gated community should check out Highpointe
Premier of Dripping Springs. This
community is fairly sizable (over 700 acres), and is beautifully
landscaped with plenty of natural springs and ponds and lots of open
space.

It’s also got its own recreation center, or "amenity
center" as they call it, with a gym, men’s and women’s locker
rooms, tennis courts, and a large pool with separate children’s and
lap swim areas. The center even features meeting rooms, a business
center, and a kitchen.

Homes start at $259,900 for the 2288
square foot Thoreau model (3 BR, 2 BA) and range up to $285,990+ for
the 2734+ square foot Hanover model (3 BR, 2.5 BA). An old friend
of mine from North Carolina used to say, "can”t beat that with
a stick!

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Popularity: 2% [?]