Austin Real Estate Blog

On June 20, the Lost Creek Municipal Utility District rejected the City of Austin Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) that is part of Austin’s Municipal Annexation Plan of the Lost Creek Neighborhood. Lost Creek is a 789 acre development within the Eanes ISD located in western Austin consisting of 1,156 single family homes and 85 existing multi family units.

The Lost Creek MUD rejected the Austin SPA because it does not provide “reasonable and equitable benefits” for Lost Creek residents by exclusion of provisions for Lost Creek residents to form a limited district to maintain parks and enforce current deed restrictions.

Search for homes in Lost Creek Austin or contact Mike Malinowski for more information.

Smile, you’re on candid camera! Austin has webcams everywhere. There are traffic cams, weather cams, lake cams and even a squirrel cam. I guess, being the techy, forward-thinking community Austin is, this should be expected. It doesn’t hurt that Austin is very picturesque . . . it’s important to have something interesting to point all those webcams at.

To make it easier for our fellow Austinites and potential tourists to take a webcam tour of this city, we’ve compiled a list of Austin webcams. If you see any we missed, please let us know.

The Austin job market is set to expand with the doors of Samsung’s new $3.5 billion investment in technology about to open. The new plant is located in northeast Austin, near Parmer Lane and Dessau Road. Samsung has had operations in Austin for the past ten years, but the new investment marks an increased committment to the city during a time when the sales of semiconductor chips–what Samsung produces in Austin–have seen a decline. Relying on Austin’s large pool of high-tech and manufacturing labor, Samsung’s new plant will continue to produce semiconductors, but will employ the newest technology to make the chips more efficient and faster than currently on the market. More imporantly for Austin workers is that the new plant is expected to create 700 new jobs in addition to the 900 people that the existing plant currently employs. Even more promising is the 3,000 spin-off jobs that are expected to be created in the surrounding community.

Search for homes in Northeast Austin or contact Mike Malinowski for more information.

Both Google and Austin have been known for their free-spirited nature, but in the near future, the two may share more in common than just that. Currently, Google is looking for an engineering director in Austin to head a group of 100 or more engineers. Furthermore, it is rumored that Google has indicated that Austin is on its radar for a future research and development center. With Google rapidly expanding–its work force has doubled every year for the past four years running–both Austin and Google can benefit from increased cooperation.

Austin would seem a natural fit for the online search engine and software company for a number of reasons. The first is the makeup of the Austin labor pool, which “supplies Silicon Valley skills but at a fraction of the price.” Another attractive feature of the Austin market is the availability of direct flights from Austin to much of the rest of the country, allowing Google to operate in a midsized city but still be connected to the rest of the country. Furthermore, as mentioned above, both Austin and Google share a free-spirited nature where risk-taking is favorably looked upon, laying the foundation for the Google business mantra. If the current pace of rhetoric between the two parties is kept up, the future looks bright for both Google and Austin.

The Austin real estate market continues to defy national trends. While most real estate markets across the country are seeing a decline in property values and the number of sales being made, the Austin real estate market is continuing to surge forward.

Single-family homes, for the second month in a row, posted positive gains. During the month of May, single-family home sales in the Austin real estate market rose 2,679, marking a two percent increase from April’s figures. The findings were released in the most current edition of the Multiple Listing Service Report, which is issued by the Austin Board of Realtors.

The report also highlighted a number of other positive trends in the Austin real estate market: single-family homes sit on the market an average of 55 days, seven percent less time than the previous year; the number of single-family active listings increased eight percent over the past year; and the median price for a single-famliy home increased five percent from the previous year, up to $183, 160. These signs bode well both for the Austin real estate market and for the city’s economy.

Austin Energy and Central Texas Clean Cities has announced an electric vehicle rebate for Austin. In and effort to improve our air quality, this initiative sponsoring a rebate for the purchase of an approved electric vehicle by Austin Energy customers offers up to $250 dollars towards a new electric car, electric bicycle or electric scooter.

Plug-in Electric Vehicles that Qualify for the Rebate from Austin Energy

Electric vehicles that qualify for a rebate from Austin Energy only include plug-in hybrid electric vehicles that can travel at least 35 miles on one charge. In this category, one can find plug-in electric cars, plug-in electric scooters and plug-in electric bicycles. To qualify for a rebate, you must also purchase your electric vehicle from an approved Austin electric vehicle dealer. Austin Energy also provides an electric vehicle rebate application guidelines page listing the full guidelines to qualify for an electric vehicle rebate from Austin Energy.

Plug-in Electric is a Growing Movement

At the moment, the qualifying plug-in electric vehicles are a group of rather slow, limited distance vehicles. While great for getting around, say, downtown Austin or the a country club, they don’t really offer any good options for commuters. However, in forward thinking cities such as Austin, the plug-in electric vehicle is a growing movement. It’s through initiatives such as these that change happens, so, thank you, Austin Energy, the Austin City Council and the City of Austin for providing a rebate on electric vehicles. It’s a small but valiant gesture that will help Austin lead the way to a clean environment.

A new $200 million downtown Austin art-themed museum, hotel, and luxury condo development was announced on June 11. The 44 story project, named 21c Austin, will be located one block from the Austin Convention Center. 21c Austin will feature a free-to-the-public contemporary art collection and 12 “favorable rate” lofts for Austin artists. The 780K square feet building will have a 209-room hotel, 202 residential units, spa, pool, museum, and restaurants. Groundbreaking is planned for spring 2008.

Search for Downtown Austin Condos or contact Mike Malinowski for more information.

Austin green home builder announced the new development Fiore at Nine Sixty Nine, a 220 acre eco-friendly, state-of-the-art community in east Austin near Agave and The Villas. Fiore will be the first 5-Star rated green community in the nation and feature single family homes with a unique hill-country style and downtown Austin views. Fiore will feature the latest trend in green home building including 5 star energy rating, solar orientation, natural lighting, and low environmental impact building materials.

See current homes for sale in Agave Austin or contact Mike Malinowski for more information.