Recession truly hitting Austin hard now.... (Dallas, Fort Worth: best cities, buyers, median income)

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by austin-steve

Why do you persist in characterizing data and fact as "hype", yet you're perfectly willing to cherry pick only the worst gloom and doom news articles you can find and editorialize them as if they spoke the gospel?

In case you don't know, Realtors are, for the most part, hurting badly. You don't see announcements of layoffs, because they just evaporate and disappear. We're down about 2,000 agents in Austin from the peak a couple of years ago. There won't be a Statesman headline that you can cut and paste to CityData about that, and what you think it means for Austin's pending demise.

Those of us who have been around for a while ride through these downturns just fine, but it's not because we spread hype, it's because we know what we're doing and how to help people make smart decisions.

I promise you if I were possessed by a dark demon and wanted to spread as much misinformation and create as many ill informed people as possible, I'd simply send them here to read all of your posts.

Stop bashing Realtors. You might need one some day.

Steve

Nothing wrong at all with making some green from the area growth....my only point is that those who make money from that growth have a vested interest in maintaining it at all costs......Austin may not be able to handle 3.4% growth indefinitely...the job growth and metro infrastructure is already falling far behind.....if the growth vector continues while the infrastructure and job growth lags, that it will stop of its own accord.......

Its simply carrying capacity is all........and when the growth vector slows/stops, which it will, nothing ever staying the same indefinitely, those that made a living from the growth/hype will have great trouble doing the same.......and I can assure you they will look for greener pastures if other metros become hot places in Austin's stead.....

[miniwheat]

I'm not accusing any of the realtors on this board of over-hyping, but when the board of realtors calls a 22% drop in sales from a year ago as "improving," it's not inaccurate to label that hype or spin.

[inthecut]

I'm not either.....I myself sold real estate full-time for a decade in another region years ago.......my only point is that Austin may not be able to maintain the same speed without falling in the toilet.....becoming just another overcrowded, stinky, polluted, road-rage filled, tacky big-box metro......and that it will be sold as unique and special long after the fact that it no longer is......

[Trainwreck20]

Our business is starting to see an up-tic in work proposal requests .

[jobert]

Originally Posted by inthecut

I'm not either.....I myself sold real estate full-time for a decade in another region years ago.......my only point is that Austin may not be able to maintain the same speed without falling in the toilet.....becoming just another overcrowded, stinky, polluted, road-rage filled, tacky big-box metro......and that it will be sold as unique and special long after the fact that it no longer is......

your assessment keeps getting more and more grim. Now your throwing in words like "toilet" and "stinky". Cut, You need to turn off the TV as it's getting to you. May I recommend you go camping somewhere like Big Bend, and don't take your iPhone. Come back a week later, and you will find the world is still here, and it's not so bad. I'm sure artsy would go with you.

[inthecut]

Originally Posted by jobert

your assessment keeps getting more and more grim. Now your throwing in words like "toilet" and "stinky". Cut, You need to turn off the TV as it's getting to you. May I recommend you go camping somewhere like Big Bend, and don't take your iPhone. Come back a week later, and you will find the world is still here, and it's not so bad. I'm sure artsy would go with you.

Sounds good....

[AustinSpartan]

We're actually looking for a home in the Austin area right now, and the rose colored glasses that these realtors would love you to wear is just off base. Housing prices in Austin cannot continue to be as strong due to the downturn in other parts of the country.

Here's some supporting data with regards to the Austin housing market.

How Low Will Real Estate Go? - Yahoo! Real Estate

[jobert]

Originally Posted by AustinSpartan

We're actually looking for a home in the Austin area right now, and the rose colored glasses that these realtors would love you to wear is just off base. Housing prices in Austin cannot continue to be as strong due to the downturn in other parts of the country.

Here's some supporting data with regards to the Austin housing market.

How Low Will Real Estate Go? - Yahoo! Real Estate

I don't quite understand, these don't show "falling prices" but rises last year, with no data to back up the premis that prices will fall:

Top 5 Places With Fast-Falling Home Prices

1. Raleigh, N.C.
(Raleigh-Cary metro area)
2008 Population: 1,088,765
2007-2008 Change: 4.29%
2. Austin, Texas
(Austin-Round Rock metro area)
2008 Population: 1,652,602
2007-2008 Change: 3.77%
3. Charlotte, N.C.
(Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, N.C.-S.C., metro area)
2008 Population: 1,701,799
2007-2008 Change: 3.36%
4. Phoenix, Ariz.
(Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metro area)
2008 Population: 4,281,899
2007-2008 Change: 2.78%
5. Dallas, Texas
(Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington metro area)
2008 Population: 6,300,006
2007-2008 Change: 2.38%

[jobert]

this had to be a typo, because the slideshow link shows an entirely different set of cities that are projected to fall filled with the usual suspects: LA, Orlando, Miami, etc.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by Zzyzx

Here are some stats across the US:
An interactive map of vanishing employment across the country

Wow, what an impressive and scary illustration of what has been happening. Yeah we are doing better then most areas, but how long can that continue?