Business Good in the Hill Country

The financial news out of Wall Street and Washington, D.C., has been dire lately, however, noted economist Ray Perryman says that even in a slackening overall economy, businesses in the Hill Country should be able to weather the storm. “Everyone is going to feel the effects of the financial situation. Credit is more difficult to come by for small businesses, mortgagees, and people seeking car loans,” said the president of The Perryman Group. “Housing activity has also slowed in Central Texas. Stock price declines affect Central Texans like anyone else.” More

New Home Prices Rise, Overall Prices Rebound

New home prices set a record high in August as eroding consumer confidence and tighter lending standards made selling low-income housing more difficult, officials said. The average value of a new, single-family home in Hidalgo County rose in August to a record $155,600, while across-the-board home values increased only slightly after slumping for months, according to the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. More

Texas Cities Dominate Forbes List

Want to take shelter from the current economic storm? We’ve got good news: You may not have to move a muscle. Texas cities dominated Forbes.com’s top ten list of places where your money goes farthest in the U.S. Topping the list were Austin and San Antonio. Houston and Dallas also made the cut at Nos. 4 and 7, respectively. “Texas, as a whole, is one of the few economies that’s performing extremely well because of the energy and technology sectors,” Andrew Gledhill, an economist at Moody’s Economy.com, told Forbes.com. More

Arlington Could Use Grants To Buy Foreclosed Homes

The city of Arlington is considering using $2 million in federal grant money to buy foreclosed houses and resell them to low- and middle-income families, something it hasn’t done before. The city could also use the money to offer down payment and closing cost assistance, up to $30,000, to help qualified families get favorable mortgage interest rates so they could buy foreclosed houses. More

Texans Urged to Get Permits Before Rebuilding

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Texas Governor’s Division of Emergency Management (GDEM) urge owners of homes and other buildings to get appropriate building permits before they begin any construction work on their property damaged by Hurricane Ike. This is especially important for structures located in Special Flood Hazard Areas, also known as regulatory floodplains.Communities that participate in FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program enforce a requirement called the “substantial damage rule.” Properties subject to the rule are those that are in a regulatory floodplain and for which repairs will cost at least 50 percent of the structure’s pre-disaster value. More

Gas Falls Below $3 Gallon

You aren’t hallucinating: Austin area gas prices have fallen below $3 a gallon, and you can pay as little as $2.38 if you’re willing to drive to Taylor. The Central Texas average slipped below $3 yesterday and fell to $2.93 Wednesday, according to AAA Texas. More

Recycling Construction Waste: A New Trend?

Austin is one of the leaders when it comes to going green, from saving energy to now saving construction waste. The new trend in home building is eco-conscious construction. The Austin recycling company called Construction Waste Recycler of Texas takes construction waste and recycles and reuses materials to help the environment. More

Ike Victims to Get Fewer Tax Breaks

Hurricane Ike victims are being told they won't get the same tax breaks as people impacted by Katrina and Rita. The IRS allowed all uninsured losses to be claimed as tax deductions by affected residents after those storms. That's not the case with Ike. Uncovered losses have to be adjusted for gross income. "The scope and size of it was much bigger and second, there was the publicity," said tax attorney Rhett Buck. "There was a lot more national publicity and concern about that disaster then there was about Hurricane Ike." More

Inflation Eased in September

U.S. consumer prices were flat in September, a government report showed, the latest indication that falling energy prices and the economic downturn are rapidly easing pressure on inflation. Housing, which accounts for 40 percent of the CPI index, fell 0.1 percent for a second-straight month, the first back-to-back decline since 2001. Rent increased 0.3 percent. Owners' equivalent rent advanced 0.2 percent. However, home fuel and utility prices fell sharply. More

The Impact of Impact Fees

Impact fees are common in municipalities nationwide, according to Texas-based Duncan Associates, an impact fee consulting firm. The fees are used in about 60 percent of all cities with more than 25,000 residents and almost 40 percent of all metropolitan counties. More