Clive's blog

You read in our blog yesterday how household formations are expected to outpace the apartment boom, but there is a large surge in apartment buildings that show the demand for apartments is not going to disappear anytime soon, with downtown occupancy rates at 97% and rents averaging $2,257 p/mth.

The apartment market has been the strongest sector of the region’s real estate market for some time, spurred by demand from the region’s job and population growth and a lag in supply as financing for projects dried up during the recession.

After a sad two year absence due to the economic difficulties we all faced, tonight sees the opening of the Austin's famous Trail of Lights. The Zilker Park Christmas lights will run through December 23rd and admission is Free. ($10 charge for parking).

For those of you who yearn for even more Christmas light experiences, KVUE published a run down on more than a dozen displays that you might want to check out in Central Texas.

- 37th Street lights
- Austin Trail of Lights
- Barton Creek Holiday Lights & Ice

Two digital agencies are expanding their operations in Austin to tap into the region’s creative and technical talent pools and Visa confirms its move to Austin ... An additional 884 jobs projected for Austin.

Austin, renowned as The Live Music Capital of the World doesn’t slow down over the holidays. Austin has a unique spin on life and the holiday season is no exception. From margaritas for Christmas to rockin' around the Zilker tree. And we all know that live music is just one facet of the Austin experience.

Thanks to Trish, one of our Select Austin clients, for this posting. Check out the music video, “Christmas in Austin”. And as the song writer posted … “You'll always find something playing”.

The holiday weekends have officially started and a full weekend of merriment is waiting you in the Austin area!

I know my daughter will be absolutely thrilled and over the moon that the “Elf” Quote-a-long is being shown and, as it is at the Alamo Drafthouse I guess I’ll have to join her to make sure she has a good time!!! (Don’t tell her but I love “Elf” and the Candy Cane Forest, too).

Go out and make it a super holiday season.

Security guards, earthwork, a couple of cranes and the shell of what appears to be a 3 story office building are the only unceremonious signs that work has commenced on what locals believe is Apple Inc.’s planned $304 million expansion project on Parmer Lane in Northwest Austin.

Apple will receive up to $36 million in state, city and county incentives over the next 10 years if it lives up to its economic development agreement, which includes creating 3,600 jobs over 10 years. The average annual wage for those jobs is $63,950.

We all know that Round Rock, Cedar Park and other Williamson County cities have been attracting a lot of new residents. Just a couple of years ago, Round Rock was rated the number two fastest growing city in the country!

However, last Thursday the 15th annual Williamson County Growth Summit was held and some “eye-opening, jaw-dropping” information was shared from City of Austin Demographer Ryan Robinson. Some models show that Williamson County could have a larger population than Travis County by as soon as 2040!

The Austin Business Journal has reported on a Pitney Bowes Inc, analysis that Austin and Provo, Utah are tied for the top spot for the projected percentage of household growth over five years, an analysis shows. The Capital City and Provo are expected to see 7.4 percent growth between 2012 and 2017.

Other Texas markets that made the top 20 include Houston at No. 7 with 6.7 percent projected growth. Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, San Antonio, McAllen-Edinburg-Mission and Fort Worth-Arlington all have projected household growth of more than 6 percent.

The 2012 list of Top Large Workplaces of Greater Austin has just been published in the Statesman’s annual report.

No matter how big a company might be, its management team can still treat employees with respect and make them feel like they matter. That’s a sentiment workers express repeatedly when talking about the 10 large employers who made the rankings.

Firstly, the Select Austin Real Estate family would like to wish you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving. Please take time to enjoy and give Thanks for all that we have as we celebrate one of our most precious holidays. 

Austin has been very fortunate to create a community that so many people love and want to experience and it looks like more opportunities may be on the way. In news announced yesterday, another major global company is looking to move to Austin.