By DeeinAustin™

McAllen, Texas has been the talk of the nation for a few years now.

The McAllen-Mission-Edinburg area in South Texas (past San Antonio) consistently tops national charts for highest expected job growth, appreciation and housing growth.

GROWTH COMPARISON CHART
This chart was created in Google Docs to show you how McAllen, Mission, and Edinburg compare to each other as well as two major cities in Central/South Texas.

TOP THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU VISIT MCALLEN, MISSION, OR EDINBURG TEXAS

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Popularity: 7% [?]

By DeeinAustin™

I wonder if anyone uses the term, "sticker shock" anymore. Sticker shock was used backed in the 80s and 90s to describe the raw, gut reaction that consumers had when they saw an extremely high price tag on a item. The term wasn’t used to describe real estate, but I think you should prepare for sticker shock on December market stats.

If I had to describe the face of a sticker shock victim, it would look like what you’d expect from someone who had their hand struck with a hammer or who jumped in the Alaskan waters sans speedo.

A quick peek at December stats show that it was a sour month for Texas real estate. Lack of consumer confidence, high oil prices, less investors, and the holidays caused Austin real estate sales to be down 27% from 2006. Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio didn’t beat last year either.

[Wait for the resounding OUCH…]

Now that the shock is over, let’s break this down.

THE TRUTH ABOUT TEXAS REAL ESTATE

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By DeeinAustin™

I took a trip to New Braunfels this past weekend. I’d been hearing about rapid growth in the area, so wanted to see for
myself. New Braunfels and the Gruene (pronounced, "green") Historic District are our Destination Spotlight for this week.

New Braunfels,Texas is a sleepy town about 30 miles South of Austin on the way to San Antonio. The areas is a getaway destination for busy professionals in Central Texas as well as out of state visitors.

College students from San Marcos and Austin also visit during the summer for fun on the Guadalupe and Comal
Rivers.

View the short photo tour below of new construction in the area. Click the photos to view a larger version.

"GRUENE GARDEN" LUXURY GARDEN VILLA COMMUNITY

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By DeeinAustin™

This week’s community spotlight is the Alamo Quarry Market and Quarry Village in San Antonio.

ALAMO QUARRY MARKET and QUARRY CROSSING

The Alamo Quarry Market was part a previous article on North San Antonio shopping areas that incorporate residential living and office space along with
entertainment, dining and shopping. Alamo Quarry Market is a mixed-use retail
project incorporating retail, dining, entertainment, and specialty shops.

The Alamo Quarry Market website has the brief history of this beautiful development. The location is at the quarry of the old Alamo Cement Plant.

Quarry Crossing is an upscale project incorporating specialty retail and theme
restaurants.

UPCOMING ALAMO QUARRY VILLAGE LUXURY APARTMENTS

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By DeeinAustin™

Let’s face it. Non-Texans sometimes perceived our state as being behind on the times. Lately, Texas is being recognized for being forward-thinking when it comes to green practices and sustainability. Texas is not just growing a green thumb, we’re passing laws that put a "green" boot in the backsides of corporations, developers and new construction builders to encourage them to adopt new practices.

Here’s what I mean.

A friend who works for Pepsi-Co International mentioned that large corporations have implemented more strict green requirements from suppliers. In order to supply products or services to Pepsi-co, your company must regularly report measures in areas such as recycling, carbon footprint and sustainable practices. Round Rock-based Dell Computers, Inc. has similar green guidelines for suppliers.

Green requirements are being adopted by Texas State Agencies in the areas of green building, sustainable development of subdivisions, affordable housing, and commercial construction.

COOL GREEN INITIATIVES IN TEXAS

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By DeeinAustin™

I visited my hometown of San Antonio this past Thanksgiving. It was fascinating to tour the city and see new mixed-use developments, shopping districts, and family entertainment complexes.

San Antonio has some of the best theme parks, historic architecture, and golf courses in the nation, so it’s a great place for retirees, golfers and tourists. When growing up in San Antonio in the 80s and 90s, however, the city was a
boring place to be for young people. That seems to be changing, especially in Northeast and Northwest San Antonio.

BEST "NEW" SAN ANTONIO ENTERTAINMENT & SHOPPING AREAS FOR ALL AGES

San Antonio is doing a great job of attracting large commercial ventures to fill in the need for family entertainment and shopping for all ages. Many of the shopping districts are attracting residential multifamily or building this component into the development during latter phases.

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Popularity: 5% [?]