In residential real estate that is. On October 6th I attended Realty Roundup and annual gathering of thousands of REALTORS® in the Austin area. Our keynote speaker was Dr. Jim Gaines a Texas economist from Texas A&M who spoke about the economy in general and the Austin area real estate market in particular.  I’m glad I attended (well I had to since I also had a workshop to conduct).  Here are Dr. Gain’s key points:

  • The Texas GDP is above that of the USA
  • Texas economic growth is 4.5% vs. 2.4% for the USA
  • The Austin population growth will slow as the high rates we’ve seen are unsustainable
  • He predicts the Austin job growth to be 2.5% in 2016
  • Austin has become and will remain an “Investor Destination”
  • Austin housing affordability (purchasing) will become will continue to tighten