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With East Austin’s affordable housing prices and close proximity to downtown, it’s long been a hub for Austin’s musicians and artists.  Over the years the different artists in East Austin started to work and collaborate with each other.  Over time this has turned into an event called the East Austin Studio Tour.  This allows for artists to see what other people are working on and a chance for people to purchase art directly from the creator, in addition to seeing the studio where the pieces are created.  It also allows the artists to get their work viewed by a large audience of interested people and potential buyers.  This kind of grass roots endeavor is one more way Austin attempts to keep true to its slogan of “Keep Austin Weird”.
One weekend in…

The February statistics for the Austin Real Estate market are out. So what is going on? It looks like prices are basically flat compared to last year. This is actually good considering prices in most real estate market around the country are dropping like a stone. I created a spreadsheet that breaksdown the real estate statistics in Austin for the last few years.

 

As far as areas the central Austin real estate market is doing better than the suburbs and the market for single family homes is outperforming the market for condos. This is probably because their were a large number of condo projects that have come on the market in the last 6 months.

The first 3 rate cuts by the Fed did not lower mortgage rates as the banks were looking to increase the…

Just north of Austin’s urban center lies the Crestview neighborhood, bordered by Anderson Lane to the north, Justin Lane to the south, North Lamar Boulevard to the east and Burnet Road to the west. In 1948, developer A.B. Beddow began building the Crestview homes on what was originally an old cotton field.

The majority of the homes in Crestview were built in the 1950s with a very utilitarian style, mostly 2 and 3 bedroom cottages ranging around 1100 to 1200 square feet, suitable for the postwar boom of the time. Many residents of Crestview have lived in the area since its inception, not willing to leave the tranquil surroundings and friendly neighbors they’ve grown close to over the years.

It's this same reason more Austinites want to move to the…

The 2nd Street District in downtown Austin has grown rapidly, and Austin is reaping the benefits. Besides the nightlife bar scene of 6th Street, and a smattering of shops on Congress Avenue, downtown Austin lacked a hub for shopping, eating, and entertainment that the 2nd Street District is now providing with a vengeance. Cashing in on Austinites’ love for being outdoors, and its close proximity to the Zilker hike and bike trail, the 2nd Street District is pedestrian oriented, with wide sidewalks, and open air store fronts and outdoor seating at many of the restaurants. Locals and tourists alike will find a business that appeals to them. Established local eateries, such as Austin Java Café and Jo’s Coffee, mix and mingle with a few fun chains and other…

In Austin, Texas, just north of one of the largest universities in the US, lies the neighborhood many refer to solely as North Campus. This should be a small indicator of exactly how much Austin's culture and prosperity is influenced by the University of Texas. This area is home to an incredible amount of diversity for relatively compact size. Of all the North Campus residents, the largest demographic is also the most difficult to describe with any certainty: the students. While the population of Austin has expanded in part because of the constant influx of students, (and graduates, who often find that after four years of Austin, they'd rather stay) in the neighborhood of North Campus this effect is more pronounced than in most any other. A sizable…

On the eastern edge of the Edward’s plateau lies one of Austin’s greatest treasures: the Barton Creek Greenbelt. After millions of years, the runoff of rainwater carved a canyon into the plateau, and created one of Austin’s treasures.

The most popular of Austin’s greenbelts, the Barton Creek greenbelt is just shy of 8 miles long, and covers 809 acres. The greenbelt runs from Zilker Park downtown, to the rocky entrance of Camp Craft Road, just off of the Capital of Texas Highway, with several entrance points in between. Austinites looking for outdoor activities head to the greenbelt every day of the year. The Barton Hills neighborhood is close to the barton creek. And a little farther away the homes in Clarksville offer proximity to Barton Creek and the…

One of Austin's oldest and most loved neighborhoods in Austin is Hyde Park. Located in Central Austin just north of The University of Texas, Hyde Park is over 100 years old. Founded in 1891 by the Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Land and Town Company, the neighborhood was designed and marketed as a lush and spacious suburb that included its own streetcar line and an artificial lake. Today, Hyde Park is one of the most densely populated areas in the city. Noted for it's beautiful tree lined streets and its unique and diverse population, the neighborhood is marked within the boundaries of 51st and 38th Streets to the north and sound, and Red River and Duval to the east and west. The neighborhood has its own monthly newsletter, The Pecan Press, which is delivered…

MSN posted an article today showing real estate agents are likely to suffer job losses in 2008.  The article also discussed other professions that are related to real estate which also should see job losses but realtors figured prominently in the article.  The industries and professions that were predicted to see the heaviest job losses in 2008 were

Bankers
Lenders
Realtors
Construction Companies
Home Retail Companies
Materials Manufactures

In the second tier were

Residential Title Companies
Mortgage Brokers
Insurance Carriers (focused on mortgage or home insurance)
Brokers at Investment Banks
Brokers at Securities Brokerages
Home-Improvement Stores
Furniture Retailers
Architects
Engineers

On the positive side healthcare professionals…