Economy | NAI REOC Austin Real Estate Blog

Annual Forbes ranking names Austin Best City for Jobs

Energy-rich Texas cities dominated the annual Forbes list of Best City for Jobs supported by the addition of some 200,000 generally high-paying oil and gas jobs over the past decade, but Texas is also leading in industrial job growth, technology and services.

Austin earned first place in the Forbes ranking of the 65 largest metropolitan areas with noted growth in manufacturing, technology-related employment and business services. …Read Entire Post

Texas is a well-oiled real estate machine

A recent CNBC article referred to Texas as a “well-oiled real estate machine” based on the evidence that residential real estate is reaping the benefits of an economy supported by energy production which has created jobs and bolstered demand. The article cited Jim Gaines, research economist at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, who said, “The middle of the country, the spine, has done much better than the two coasts. A common thread is energy, from Texas to the Dakotas — there has been a real boom time due to the exploration and drilling activity.”

Click to read the full article: Texas is a well-oiled real estate machine (CNBC, 3-30-12)

Austin leads nation in job creation since 2004

Austin ranks number one among the nation’s 50 largest metro areas in job growth over the past eight years. Its 140,200 new jobs represented a 21.3 percent increase from the start of 2004, which put it well ahead of second-place Houston, which had 15.7 percent job growth.

The nation’s top five major metro areas in job creation between the end of 2003 and the end of 2011: …Read Entire Post

Central Texas CCIM Symposium Recap

NAI REOC Austin was proud to support the 6th Annual Central Texas CCIM Symposium held on Jan 31st at The Sheraton Austin Capitol. Participating on behalf of NAI REOC Austin was Josh Hubka, CCIM, who serves as this year’s president of the local CCIM chapter. In addition, Rob Eaves and Hilton Hunt both served as volunteer committee members. Annie Hilton, CCIM of Duff & Phelps also served on the committee.

Dr. Mark Dotzour, Chief Economist and Director of Research for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, delivered the keynote address updating attendees on the good news and remaining challenges in the economy. Dotzour likened the national economy to a jack-in-the box and explained that there is real energy being generated. He pointed to factors such as climbing corporate profits, increased manufacturing orders, and growth in retail sales. He also reported that banks now have an improved capacity to make loans, especially Texas banks which stand in better stead than the national average. …Read Entire Post

Banks capacity for CRE loans improving

Things are looking up in the world of commercial real estate lending. According to National Real Estate Investor’s annual Borrower Trends Survey, more than half of lenders (56 percent) and 44 percent of borrowers are predicting that credit will be more widely available in the coming year. …Read Entire Post

Texas named sixth most enterprising state

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has released its “Enterprising States 2011″ report, and it enhances Texas’ reputation for being a business-friendly state. The Lone Star State ranked sixth on the list of top ten states for low business taxes and regulations. The report said “the Lone Star State is a low-tax state that offers a low cost of living and has an enterprise-friendly climate that’s paying off with high job growth rates. Recent state initiatives include a business tax reform that raises the revenue exemption.”

Click to read full article: Texas named sixth most enterprising state (RECON, 1-10-12)

Latest numbers show Texas leads job growth since 2006

As usual, the latest economic news release from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has generated a flurry of analysis but no matter which way you slice it, Texas keeps coming up on top. Check out these recent articles for more information.

Texas leads U.S. in government job growth (Austin Business Journal, 12-29-11)

Texas leads retail sector perk up (Austin Business Journal, 12-28-11)

Texas No. 1 in U.S. for biggest 5-year job gains (Austin Business Journal, 12-27-11)

Sears is closing stores, what retailer will be next?

Sears may be the first retailer to say it’s closing stores post holiday season, but it certainly won’t be the last as 2012 will most certainly shake up the retail world.

Sears Holdings plans to close 100 to 120 Kmart and Sears full-line stores. Final determination of the stores to be closed has not yet been made, but the chain is looking to further reduce costs by $100 to $200 million. …Read Entire Post

Austin 4th best-performing city in U.S.

The Austin area has been ranked No. 4 on the Milken Institute’s annual Best Performing Cities Index. The Capital City fell two spots from last year when it took second place. The 2011 index takes into account jobs, wages and technology performance among 200 large metros…. …Read Entire Post

More shoppers, more spending, but no revised holiday spending forecasts

Shoppers lured by deep discounts and early store openings sent sales over the four days starting on Thanksgiving soaring 16.7 percent over the same period a year ago to $52.4 billion, according to the National Retail Federation. …Read Entire Post

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