MIXED-USE SPRINGS FROM UNIVERSITY SITE

AUSTIN (Austin American-Statesman; globest.com) – A local developer is planning a $500 million mixed-use development on the 22-acre Concordia University site.
East Avenue Investment Group will build a more than 2.7 million-square-foot high-density community on the recently purchased property, which is near the University of Texas and I-35. Plans currently call for 1,450 residential units, 545,000 square feet of commercial space and a 250-room luxury hotel.

East Avenue will pay for the preservation and creation of several parks in surrounding neighborhoods. Construction will begin next year and be completed in three to five years.

Capmark Finance Inc. arranged financing for East Avenue, and Lehman Brothers Inc. of New York City funded the loan. Staubach Co. represented Concordia in the sale.

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MARKET NEWS BULLETIN

The Week in Review: April 15 – April 21, 2007 (compared to the same week in 2006)
New listings up 2.97%.
Pendings down 11.56%
Solds down 26.95%.

Average Prices: April 15 – April 21, 2007 (compared to the same week in 2006)
"New Listings" average list price is up 3.49% to $306,254.
Sold average sales price increased 3.09% to $231,488.
In 2006 it was $224,551 during the same week.

The Month in Review: March 2007
New listings were down by 14.37%.
Solds increased by 7.80%.

Average Prices:
"New Listings" average list price is up 19.42% to 316,402.
Sold average sales prices increased 9.13% to $239,496 compared to $219,451 in 2006.

Austin Industrial Occupancy Up

Vacancy in the warehouse sector fell 1.2 percent from last year to 11.7 percent. In the flex market, vacancies fell 2.1 percent to 19.2 percent.

The warehouse vacancy drop occurred despite overall negative absorption of 211,134 square feet, which is largely due to a recently vacated 230,000-square-foot manufacturing building in the southeast.

Warehouse average net rent rose 14 cents per square foot (psf) during the quarter to $6.15 psf. Total marketwide inventory stands at 28.6 million square feet with about 1.1 million square feet under construction.

The flex market absorbed 176,463 square feet, led by gains in the southeast. Rents rose 20 cents to $8.40 psf. Roughly 14.3 million square feet of flex inventory stands available marketwide, with 576,559 square feet under construction.

"There are quite a bit of initial inquiries for large blocks of space from 25,000 to 75,000 square feet," says David Alsmeyer, principal with TIG Real Estate.

AUSTIN APARTMENT OCCUPANCY RISES

AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal) – Apartment occupancy was at 93.7 percent at the end of 2006, and it is expected to reach 95 percent by the end of 2007. Occupancy in both Dallas and San Antonio held at 89.4 percent, while Houston was at 88.1 percent.

Rents in Austin rose to 91 cents per square foot in 2006, up 7 percent from 85 cents in 2005. Rents were driven by increasing demand and a tightening of supply, according to Apartment Realty Advisors' (ARA) Texas Multifamily Report.

Rents in San Antonio and Houston stand at about 77 cents, and Dallas is holding at 82 cents.
The north and northwest Austin areas absorbed the most units at 873, followed by south Austin with 474. The most proposed units are also in the north with 2,879, followed by central Austin with 1,590. According to ARA, the Austin market currently has 140,400 apartments.

RESIDENTIAL HOME MARKET UP

AUSTIN (Austin Board of Realtors) – A total of 2,343 existing single-family homes were sold last month. The almost $570 million in sales represented a 6 percent increase in total monthly revenue from March 2006.

The median price for single-family homes was just over $177,000, a 6 percent increase over last year's price. March homes spent an average of 65 days on the market, a 4 percent decrease from a year ago.

Townhouse and condominium sales collected close to $60 million for the local economy, a 19 percent increase from last year. The median price also rose 14 percent from a year ago to $170,000.

A Snapshot of the National Monthly Housing Indicators

Pending Home Sales Index: The Pending Home Sales Index rose 0.7 percent to 109.8 in February, but was still lower than a year earlier. Weather fluctuations are still impacting the market. Indeed, pending sales spiked in December due to unseasonablly warm weather, but cold weather in January and February helped to temper that gain.

Existing-Home Sales: Home resale activity rose 3.9 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 6.69 million units. The inventory of homes also rose -- to a 6.7-month supply.

New-Home Sales: New-home sales fell by 3.9 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 848,000 units in February. The decline follows January's sharp drop and is the lowest level since mid-2000.

Housing Starts: Housing starts posted a 9 percent gain in February -- to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.53 million units. The strong gain was somewhat surprising given February's weather in most of the country.

Housing Affordability: The Housing Affordability Index decreased modestly in February to 114.9, due mostly to higher mortgage rates.

Employment: Payroll employment rose by 180,000 jobs in March, and the unemployment rate was 4.4 percent.

GDP: The economy grew at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2006. This was up from 2.0 percent the previous quarter.

"Copyright National Association of REALTORS®, Reprinted from REALTOR.org with permission."

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Appraisal facts and figures

Appraisal facts and figures

MEDIAN HOME VALUE

(half the homes are worth more, half worth less):
Austin: $179,155, 10 percent increase
Travis County: $182,198, 9 percent increase

THE CHANGE:
In Travis County, there was $3.12 billion in new homes, businesses and other construction in 2007, an 11 percent increase from the year before. About $1.67 billion of that was in Austin, an increase of 15 percent.

WHAT IT'S WORTH:
Total market value of commercial properties in Travis County is up about 15 percent, compared with 30 percent two years ago. Most businesses should see small increases, while office buildings, apartment complexes and other large properties should see increases similar to last year's.

CHECK YOUR MAIL:
Appraisal notices in Williamson County will start arriving in the mail next week, with Travis County's starting in two weeks. Hays County notices are sent in late May.

TO PROTEST:
The deadline for protesting property appraisals is May 31, or 30 days after receiving the appraisal notice, whichever comes last. For information on filing a protest in Travis County, call 834-9138 or go to www.traviscad.org. In Williamson County, call 930-3787 or go to www.wcad.org.