With the first day of spring coming up on March 20, the time has come in many areas to start shedding winter layers and encourage new growth. Whether the view out your window this month is of a snowy wonderland or something springy and green, these 10 to-dos should help you get in the spring spirit.
1. Remove storm windows and put up screens. If you used storm windows during the winter, take them down and put up window screens. If the weather has warmed where you live, take this opportunity to clean the windows, too.
2. Get lawn and garden tools tuned up. Sharp blades make for easier trimming, so bring in your gear now so you’re ready to go when the lawn needs its first haircut.
3. Check the exterior. Once winter storms have passed, check the exterior of your home for signs of damage, from roof to foundation.
4. Pull out the porchfurniture. Whether or not it’s porch-sitting weather yet in your neck of the woods, just seeing your porch furniture out there can be enough to lift your spirits.
Plus, getting things set up early will give you time to inspect your chairs, benches and cushions, and replace or repair worn-out pieces.
5. Make a fresh start in the kitchen. Clear the last of the Christmas cookie makings from the back of the pantry, shine up the stove backsplash, wipe out the veggie drawers in the fridge and clear the gunk from those hard-to-reach spots around appliances. A few hours of work will make your kitchen shine and set the stage for cooking healthy spring meals.
6. Bring in a touch of spring. Help usher in the season with colors and accessories inspired by new growth. Try a fresh spring green or pale sky-blue wall color, blooming bulbs, houseplants, a new painting or art print, or botanically inspired decor.
7. Remove winter layers and rotate mattresses. Feeling a bit stifled under a pile of thick duvets? Swap out heavy winter bedding for lighter-weight quilts and coverlets. Also consider changing deep-pile rugs for flat-weave or natural-fiber versions for the warmer months. While you are sprucing up the bedroom, don’t forget to rotate your mattress.
8. Clean carpets and soft furnishings. Have carpeting steam-cleaned and send out area rugs for professional cleaning. Launder washable curtains, furniture slipcovers, pillow covers and shower curtains. If you’re done with those heavy duvets, have them cleaned before storing them.
9. Get organized for tax season. Be proactive and start sorting paperwork and computer files now, so when tax time arrives next month, you will be prepared. If, while organizing, you realize your record-keeping system leaves a little to be desired, take the time to set up a more effective system now for the year ahead.
10. Clean light fixtures and fan blades. Have you taken a close look at your light fixtures lately? Dust and, yes (as gross as they are), dead bugs build up in and around light fixtures. Use a vacuum with an attachment or a long-handled duster to clean pendant lights, chandeliers and fan blades. If you need to get closer, use a sturdy stepladder, not a chair. And don’t forget to clean the floor when you’re done — some of that dust is bound to end up there.
Although most newcomers choose to live a suburban life, job growth in Central Austin is now outpacing job growth in the suburbs, according to a new report from City Observatory, a Portland, Oregon-based think tank.
In fact, Austin now leads all other U.S. cities in terms of the percentage of its overall workforce working downtown and in downtown job growth.
According to the report titled “Surging City Center Job Growth,” the downtown-oriented job growth in Austin mirrors trends seen in metro areas across the nation, reversing suburban-oriented job growth trends that stretch back more than 50 years.
As recently as the five years from 2002 to 2007, job growth was still suburban-oriented around U.S. cities. Then, job growth in suburban areas was growing at about 1.2 percent annually, compared to 0.1 percent in urban cores. But between 2007 and 20011, a switch happened, with job growth in urban cores rising to 0.5 percent annually, while suburban jobs shrank by 0.1 percent.
In Austin, the urban core job growth flip has been more dramatic. Between 2002 and 2007, city-center job growth in Austin was about 0.6 percent annually and suburban job growth was about 3.1 percent annually. Between 2007 and 2011, though, city center job growth in Austin surged to 3.4 percent annually while suburban job growth slowed to 2.3 percent annually. That’s the fastest-growing urban core job growth in the nation in that time. Austin, with 28.8 percent of its jobs located in the urban core, now has the highest level of core employment in the nation, ahead of even New York City, which only has about 23 percent of its employment in its urban core.
You’ve secured the mortgage, you’ve got the keys, and you’ve sent out the new-address notices. Congratulations and welcome to your new home! The hard work is over, right? Well, no. A new phase is about to begin, and it will be familiar to anyone who’s ever bought a house. A world of paint charts, fabric swatches and furnituredecisions awaits. But don’t worry; you’re going to love it. Here are some of the steps you might recognize.
1. You will spend your weekends at home improvement stores. With the newfound zeal of the recently converted, you will find yourself happily browsing the shelves of your local DIY store on a Saturday morning, humming to yourself as you fill a cart with paintbrushes, rollers and cans of paint. Weekends will consist of DIY challenges as you experiment with feature walls and upholstery projects.
2. You will steer every conversation to home-related issues. When friends come over to visit, you will find yourself dragging them into the living room and quizzing them on the relative merits of carpet or wooden flooring. You will bring out fabric swatches and paint chips and eagerly ask their opinion on feature walls. They will nod politely and sidle into the kitchen to make their own cup of tea.
3. Your Houzz obsession will go up a notch. Think you have a lot of ideabooks now? Give it a few months and you will find yourself spending even more time trawling the site, looking for the best pros for your projects and creating ideabooks for each room in yournew home. Night will fall as you keep on adding “just one more” photo.
4. You will happily swap fashion for interiors. Your formally fabulous wardrobe will take second priority as your focus (and disposable income) moves from clothes to cushions. That savings account that used to fund your shoe obsession is about to be become asofa fund.
5. You will dream of paint charts. You will obsess over the perfect shade, and the difference between indigo blue and royal blue will take on an overwhelming importance.
You will paint swatches all over the walls and live with them as instructed — watching the way they change according to the light at various times of the day. You will look at so many different options, you might even forget what your favorite color even was in the first place.
6. The same goes for fabric and wallpaper.You’ll order endless fabricand wallpaper swatches and pin them up all over the house to see how they work with the aforementioned paint colors.
There may well be a period of confusion before you arrive at the phase of enlightenment, as you wrestle with pattern and color combinations. If you find this stage a bit overwhelming, this could be the time to call in the experts and consult a professional.
7. You will drool over “before” and “after” images. Your dreams will be of the day when your house will look more like the one in the “after” photo than a building site. Stay cool — you will get there. Revisiting your inspiration ideabooks will help to keep your spirits up and your motivation high.
8. You will become a sofa expert. Don’t know a modular from a chesterfield? Just wait; you’ll be an expert in no time. In fact, you may well find yourself debating the merits of corner sofas over cozy love seats with others in the Houzz community.
Anyone who has ordered a sofa or another large piece of furniture will also be familiar with the moment of doubt when it arrives and you wonder whether it will actually fit into the living room … or even through the front door. But when your new piece finally takes pride of place in your living room, it will be worth all the drama.
9. You will finally finish your home makeover.Settle back and savor the moment when the hard work is over, and you’ve created a home. Enjoy this feeling — chances are, you’re already looking around for your next decorating project. And then it will all begin again.
New home inventory in Austin has increased dramatically in the past year but demand could still outstrip supply if population growth remains robust and building cycles continue to increase. “No doubt the combination of attractive mortgage rates, strong job growth and positive local economic news helped to propel the market higher,” stated a report by Residential Strategies Inc., a Dallas-based market research company.
Home starts, home closings and inventories were all up in 2014 compared to a year earlier, the report said. Even recent fears of localized market retraction created by declining oil prices are unfounded — at least in Austin, given the tight housing supply, the report postulates. New home inventory — which includes model homes, homes under construction and finished vacant homes — stood at 7,279 units at the end of 2014, up 46 year over year.
The greatest challenge currently facing homebuilders, according to RSI’s report, are the “elongated cycle times” or how long it takes to build a house. Labor shortages are creating delays. “Reports from the field are that subcontractors and trades are making progress in increasing the size of their labor force, but challenges persist in overall staffing and training,” the report states.
Here are some other highlights of the report:
Builders reported that sales activity through the fourth quarter of 2014 surpassed their own business projections.
There were 12,354 new home starts through Dec. 31, up 24 percent from the previous year.
There are 20,828 vacant but entitled homesites at the end of 2014, a 20.2-month supply. Equilibrium is generally considered 24 months, so undersupply is a concern.
At the end of the year, 9,284 lots were under development, considered a record pace by RSI researchers.
Resale listings remain tight with a 2.4 month supply, though the inventory at the end of November was 8 percent higher than in 2013 at the same time.
Tight supply and strong demand will continue to boost home prices in 2015.
Freddie Mac’s weekly mortgage survey for Jan. 8 reports an average 30-year mortgage rate of 3.73 percent, down slightly from a year ago.
Here’s what you should know about these behind-the-scenes costs and why your contractor bills for them
Most people think payment to a general contractor for a remodeling project is broken down into four main categories: materials, installation labor, subcontractors and markup. But there’s a fifth category that may not immediately come to mind: general conditions.
General conditions are the costs incurred during a project that generally don’t involve swinging a hammer or installing something permanently in your home. Some contractors list some or all of the general conditions costs as line items, while others cover some or all in their markup. With a bid that is a bottom-line number, these costs are usually not visible. Here’s what you need to know.
When a general contractor estimates the cost of a project, the goal is to capture all the costs of building — from preconstruction pricing to the cleaning service that washes the windows at the end. Most will charge directly for all costs directly attributable to the project, and then charge a markup to cover the overhead costs that are a result of general business operations not related to a specific project.
What specifically are general conditions? They fall roughly into three categories: site management, material handling and project management.
Site management includes all of the tasks that have to do with property protection and utilities. If temporary utilities are required — a temporary power pole or a temporary water source — expect that to be included here. A portable toilet for worker use is usually in this category as well. There may also be temporary storage or an office, depending on how much room there is to stage materials, and if there is dry space to work in so that plans can be consulted in a place out of the weather.
Site management may also include items like erosion control measures and permits required by a local jurisdiction if roads need to be temporarily blocked by vehicles and equipment, like concrete pumps and trucks. The costs may be a combination of labor costs and permit fees, depending on what is required. Flagging for traffic could also be included.
There’s also daily and final cleanup. On a large jobsite, it may take one to two hours or even more daily to make sure the jobsite is tidy and safe inside and out. It’s almost always more efficient to install materials and drop the scraps and packaging than picking them up as you go, so this means daily cleanup is a must. Contractors also usually count on final cleanup costs: A professional cleaning crew dusts everything, cleans out newly installed cabinets and ductwork, and cleans the windows.
If a temporary heating source, scaffolding or other specialty rental equipment is required, you might see those costs covered in general conditions as well.
Finally, general property protection falls into this category. If the construction site needs to be isolated from nearby sidewalks or rights of way, temporary fencing may be needed. Nailing up plywood on open doorways to prevent entry may be necessary too.
Once the finish materials — flooring, tile, cabinets and doors — are installed, they are usually covered with materials like Ram Board, rosin paper and other protective coverings to prevent damage. Site protection can also include covering materials between the time they are delivered and the time they are installed.
Material handling is the labor required to deliver and move materials around the jobsite. Often materials are delivered with a flat fee from a supplier, but when the truck arrives with the materials, the driver does not unload, or unloads in a location far away from where the materials need to be staged. That means staff onsite must spend time moving those materials where they need to go. This can include framing materials, millwork, cabinetry and windows. There are also one-off material needs that require a trip to a supplier, or can be met less expensively than paying the supplier’s delivery fee.
The third piece of general conditions costs is project management. Depending on the size of a project, management can happen in a few hours each week or require more than 40 hours a week. Some companies include just direct onsite management in this category, while others include in-office work done supervising the project.
Project management can include preconstruction pricing; establishing scopes of work and meeting with subcontractors; creating mock-ups or ordering materials to show options; holding onsite meetings with the owners, the architect and other designers; and meeting inspectors to have work signed off on. It also usually involves creating material take-offs, ordering and scheduling delivery of materials, scheduling and assigning tasks to staff, helping troubleshoot subcontractors’ work and overseeing jobsite safety. Project managers also keep track of change orders, write agendas for meetings and communicate with clients and architects.
General conditions can account for 10 percent or more of the project cost, depending on the logistics, access and complexity of the project, so they are a significant factor in a project’s budget. Understanding how much of the budget goes to general conditions and which items are covered will give homeowners a good indication of how the project will generally be run in terms of security, cleanliness and oversight.
For now the smart-home frontier is more like the Wild West, with many developers creating their own operating systems independent of one another or compatible only with certain brands. It’s somewhat good for innovation but sort of bad for the consumer, because it’s hard to make sense of the overwhelming number of products and which ones have the ability to coordinate with others.
For example, you might own a smart thermostat, a smart light dimmer package and a smart door lock, but all three could have very different systems that don’t necessarily communicate with one another. So, you’re left to toggle between different apps, interfaces and panels to control them all. As a consumer, you have to do some serious research before buying smart-home products if you want them to be compatible in the future. For now it can be like having a separate remote for the DVD player, TV, stereo, ceiling fan and so on. At some point you just say, “Well, how is this smart?”
Missing Links
That’s why a large appliance company like Bosch is sending its CEO of software innovations to CES to take part in a panel discussion titled “The Evolution of the Smart Home,” along with executives from Lutron, Yetu and Lowe’s. These companies are betting big on the future of home automation and plan to discuss whether a connected home is ready for broader consumer adoption. “The evolution is occurring,” says panel speaker Michael Pessina, president of Lutron, which focuses on electronic lighting and shading control. “The key thing is figuring out a way to make it simple.”
Pessina points to platforms such as The Home Depot’s Wink, with which Lutron is compatible, Lowe’s’ Iris and even Staples’ Connect as major drivers for promulgating connected-home technology and making it affordable and available for the masses.
Additionally, several companies plan to make announcements at CES about integrating their products with those from companies like Nest, the thermostat developer that wasacquired by Google in the beginning of 2014. And as Apple and Samsung also look to capitalize on the growing connected-home buzz with HomeKit and SmartThings, respectively, things are bound to get patchier before they get smoother.
In November Bosch, ABB and Cisco somewhat acknowledged the ironic disconnect between emerging connected-home appliances and announced plans to develop and operate an open software platform for homes beginning in 2015. “For a home to be ‘smart,’ it is crucial that all the appliances and systems in the home — e.g., washing machines, heating units, lamps and window blinds — can simply and securely exchange data with each other as well as with smartphones and tablets,” Bosch said in a statement announcing the partnership.
Taking It to the Masses
During CES, though, just stroll through the exhibit floor hosting the smart-home category and you’ll get a taste of what the companies are hoping will catch on. Lightbulbs, door locks and doorbells, video cameras, thermostats, solar energy storage and even ceiling fans — all controlled from smartphones or wearable devices. (Bosch created the graphic shown here to show homeowners the possibilities of a connected home and what it means.)
Even a big-box store like Lowe’s is doubling down on its venture into the connected-home arena, with more products coming in 2015 under its Iris software platform, seen here, which the company introduced in 2012. “This year Iris will have a much larger presence at CES than ever before,” says Chelsea Giudice, public relations manager at Lowe’s. She says the company will have various Iris-compatible products (it has more than 50 à la carte products running Iris) on hand for attendees to play with, as well as “real-life scenarios to show how Iris works to keep the home safer, smarter and easier to manage,” she says.
Giudice points out that Lowe’s is continuously trying to broaden the compatibility of its Iris-enabled products with other products, such as ZigBee, which is known as the only open, global wireless platform for connected devices.
To better communicate compatability among products under the Lowe’s roof to consumers, Giuidice says the company puts a logo that reads “Works with Iris” on various products.
What’s to Come
Here’s a look at some of the other smart-home products on exhibit in Las Vegas this week.
Video monitor. Amaryllo’s iCamPro is a “home security robot.” In other words, it’s a security camera that’s designed to see, hear, sense and track moving objects in your home. Say a burglar breaks in while you’re on vacation. Mounted iCams would sense the movement and track the intruder through the house, sending you picture alerts and allowing you to control the camera through your phone. There’s also two-way audio.
The units retail for $299, but the company has a deal going right now on IndieGoGo through which you can buy one for $149.
Doorbell. You see a lot of Wi-Fi-enabled door locks out there but not many doorbells.DoorBird is a German product whose maker is hoping to change that. The device lets you talk to visitors via video and open the door using a phone or tablet, even if you’re out of the country. There’s a motion sensor that will send you an alert if someone walks up to your door, even if he or she doesn’t ring the bell. Cost:$349.
Energy analysis. Energy consumption analysis for homeowners is a relatively recent and growing phenomenon. The idea is that instead of your just getting a bill with the amount of energy you’ve consumed in a month, the data gets analyzed and presented in a way that illustrates your behavior pattern, which you can then adjust to be more efficient.
Elgato has a suite of home tech devices, and this year it’s launching Eve, shown here. The Eve lineof products gathers data on air quality, temperature, humidity, air pressure, energy, water consumption and more to give you insight into how you’re using your resources, and how you can adjust your lifestyle to save money and energy.
Lighting. Meanwhile, Elgato’s Avea light is a bulb that lets you control room lighting through your iPhone or iPad, similar to the iOS- and Android-enabled Hue light by Phillips.
Locks and keys. The Elgato key chain connects your keys to your iPhone and lets you know if you’ve left your keys behind. If you do lose them, the phone app can tell you where they were last seen, while the fob makes a sound to help you locate them.
Unikey’s and Kwikset & Weiser’s lock, called Kevo, allows users to unlock doors using just a phone. In fact, you just need the phone in your pocket, then touch the lock and you’re all set.
The mobile app lets you send or disable e-keys to your friends, family or other visitors.
Dimmers. The founder of Lutron invented the solid-state dimmer in the late 1950s, and the company has been developing high-tech light switches ever since. Lutron will showcase its Caseta Wireless collection of dimmers, shown here, and will make announcements regarding new integration capabilities for its products during CES.
In another effort to make the technology more appealing to the average consumer, companies are focusing on offering options with broad aesthetic appeal so homeowners can try to make devices part of the decor and not have a living room that looks like the bridge on the U.S.S. Enterprise. For example, Lutron has more than 30 colors and five metal finishes for its products, as well as more than 1,500 fabrics for its wireless window shades.
Thermostats. As mentioned, Bosch will be a big player in the connected-home category at this year’s CES, with many of its key players making appearances and speaking about tech in the home and showcasing new and existing products.
Bosch’s Nefit Easy, shown here, lets users control their heating systems via their phones.
Multipurpose console.Lucis Technologies will showcase its recently launched NuBryte cloud-based home lighting, energy and safety console, shown here. It fits over any light switch terminal, and the company says all you need is a screwdriver and basic wiring skills to install it. You use the interface or an iPhone app to control lighting and get simple energy reports. Cost: $199.
Solar storage. The Bosch BPT-S5 Hybrid, shown here, stores unused solar power and helps homeowners use it more efficiently. Just need to work on that name.
Ceiling fan. Billed as the world’s first smart ceiling fan, Big Ass Fans’ new Haiku with Senseme (available in February) connects with Jawbone’s Up system of activity trackers to adjust the speed of the fan while you sleep. It can also help you wake by gradually increasing the speed and light level.
But while the market seems to be explodingwith connected-home tech products, executives like Lutron’s Pessina are quick to point out that there are still kinks to work out. After all, technology isn’t always perfect. Take your phone, for example. It sometimes freezes, runs out of battery power or behaves like it’s possessed.
When it comes to the home, Pessina says people are extra sensitive about having things work right. “It’s your castle, the place that’s supposed to be there for you,” he says. “So if we can make things work all the time, provide the right experiences and make the connection simple, then mass adoption could potentially be right around the corner.”
1. Mulch. Chipping old Christmas trees into mulch is perhaps the most popular way to reuse them. The mulch is excellent for use around shrubs and trees, where it preserves soil moisture and moderates temperature. As the mulch slowly decomposes, it releases nutrients into the soil. In addition to helping your shrubs and trees, the mulch can also be used as a natural ground covering for garden pathways. For a few months, it will continue to release a fresh pine scent whenever you walk on it.
Many municipalities haul off Christmas trees or offer drop-off sites during the weeks following Christmas. The trees are put through a chipper, which leaves behind a nice wood mulch that is used in parks and around government buildings. Some cities even offer to chip trees for free and let the tree bringers take the mulch home to use in their own gardens.
2. Fuel for power plants. In some regions Christmas trees may be used as a fuel source once they have been chipped. The chips are burned, helping to provide fuel for power plants.
3. Amendments to alkaline soil. Shake off as many needles from your tree as you can over your garden bed. The needles from Christmas trees are somewhat acidic. If you spread them around plants, they will break down and help to balance the pH of alkaline soils.
4. Erosion control. Sometimes leaving Christmas trees intact (minus lights, decorations and tinsel) benefits the environment by helping to control soil erosion. In coastal communities where the beaches have experienced severe erosion during hurricanes, Christmas trees are used to prevent sand dunes from eroding and, in many cases, to help create new sand dunes as the sand gradually covers them up. Whole Christmas trees are used along the coastal areas of the South and New Jersey to protect coastal marshes that are susceptible to erosion and to help retard the movement of saltwater into freshwater areas along the coast.
5. Pathway edging. Simply remove all the branches from a Christmas tree and use its trunk to line pathways. You can add the smaller branches to your mulch pile. In addition, the mulch made from Christmas trees makes an excellent surface for the pathways themselves.
6. Fish habitat. When completely submerged, whole Christmas trees provide protection for small fish and sites where fish can lay eggs; they can last about eight years in the water. Some municipalities create fish-friendly habitats with Christmas trees, but you should ask permission from your local municipality before dumping your own tree into the nearest lake or creek; too many submerged trees can cause problems.
7. Mini bird sanctuaries. Set your tree out in the backyard, where birds and small mammals will enjoy seeking refuge in its branches. Hang peanut butter–covered pine cones and you’ll enjoy the antics of the wildlife that come to visit.
8. Protection for delicate plants. Instead of chipping your tree, you can remove its branches and place them around and over your delicate perennials and shrubs to provide protection from heavy snowdrifts. As the branches decompose, they will add nutrients to your soil.
9. Additions to the compost heap. The smaller branches of Christmas trees are suitable for adding to your mulch pile. Simply use your hand pruners to cut off 6-inch sections and throw them in the compost pile.
10. Wooden plant markers.Remove the smaller branches so that you are left with ½-inch-wide sections suitable for mounting plant signs on.
This year save your tree from the sad fate of ending up in a landfill when there are so many other ways it can provide benefits, even after the ornaments and tinsel have been taken down. Visit theNational Christmas Tree Association’s site to learn more about regional recycling programs and discover other recycling options for your Christmas tree.
Texas continued to be a national leader in economic, population and housing market growth in 2014, yielding significant growth in all areas of Texas real estate over the last year, according to the 2014 Texas Annual Housing Report released today by the Texas Association of Realtors.
“It’s a great time to live in Texas. The high demand for Texas real estate is not being fueled by speculation and investment activity – it’s driven by the thousands of people who move to the Lone Star State daily,” said Dan Hatfield, chairman of the Texas Association of Realtors. “People are moving to Texas from across America and around the world to take part in our state’s booming economy, business-friendly environment and quality of life.”
Texas currently gains more out-of-state residents than any other state and is a leader in home sales from international buyers. The 2014 Texas Relocation Report released in October showed that more than 584,000 people moved to Texas from out of state in 2013, whereas September’s 2014 Texas International Homebuyers Report showed that home purchases by international homebuyers reached its highest level in five years, contributing more than $11 billion to the Texas economy in a 12-month period.
The Lone Star State’s rapid economic, job and population growth had a positive impact on multiple segments of the Texas housing market over the last year. The 2014 Texas Homebuyers and Sellers Report released in March reported that Texans’ median household incomes rose significantly in 2013, increasing 9.6 percent year-over-year to $91,700. This is nearly double the nationwide increase of 5.6 percent to $83,000 during the same time frame.
“Virtually every segment of the Texas housing market has benefitted from our state’s continued growth,” adds Hatfield. “Over the last year, however, we saw several areas of Texas real estate that were still recovering from the recession in 2012 really begin to take off in 2013 and 2014, including luxury home sales and housing development.”
Luxury home sales surged to become one of the fastest growing price classes ($1 million or more) within the Texas housing market. January’s 2014 Texas Luxury Home Sales Report reported an average 35 percent year-over-year increase for luxury home sales in Texas’ four major metros in 2013. Small land sales in Texas – many of which were used for ranchettes, vacation homes and recreational uses – were also strong, with 4,189 small land sales statewide in 2013, according to April’s 2014 Texas Small Land Sales Report.
Housing development picked up significantly over the last year, with new home sales in Texas outpacing those nationally by more than half according to the 2014 Texas Homebuyers and Sellers Report released in March. While the 2014-Q1 through 2014-Q3 Texas Quarterly Housing Reports continue to show statewide inventory levels that are approximately three months below the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University’s balanced housing market level of 6.5 months, Texas homes sales in 2014 have kept pace with last year’s strong levels, putting 2014 on-pace to surpass 2013 as the second-best year in Texas real estate.
In addition, low inventory levels also drove Texas condominium and townhome sales to be the fastest-growing segment of the housing market, increasing an average 10.5 percent in Texas’ four major metros in the first half of 2014. As reported by the 2014 Texas Condominium Mid-Year Sales Report, condominiums were also a popular choice due to rising home prices statewide, which steadily increased between five and 10 percent during the year.
Despite this rapid market growth, tough lending standards and a competitive homebuying market caused some Texas homeowners to remodel their current homes instead of entering the market. The 2014 Texas Remodel Valuation Report showed that remodeling projects became increasingly more popular and profitable over the last year, with smaller, functional projects that boosted a home’s curb appeal yielding the most recoup costs statewide.
Hatfield concluded, “The Texas housing market will likely continue to be highly competitive in 2015, but rising housing development and inventory levels as well as greater access to homebuyer education programs like those promoted through Get Ready Texas will help make the dream of homeownership attainable for all Texans. This has been a glowing year for Texas real estate, and 2015 is on-pace to be just as bright.”
It’s December and we know what’s on your mind. Starting now until December 25th, you’ll be thinking about what to gift your loved ones, how to stay positive if the season brings bittersweet memories, and where to find the best holiday eats and drinks. Here in Texas’ Capitol city, there are more than a million ways to make the holidays special — but these 15 activities are Christmas in Austin’s best and brightest do’s:
15) Show off your ice skating moves at Whole Foods Downtown
You might not get to do much “real” outdoor ice skating in Austin, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have any opportunities to lace up your skates and harness your inner Michelle Kwan. Chapparal Ice, for one, is a great year-round ice skating destination, and the temporary holiday setup at Omni Barton Creek Resort is quite impressive, to say the least — but without a doubt, the most “Austin” ice skating opportunity is found at Whole Foods’ flagship store on Lamar. Grab hot food or drinks on the lower level and then head on up to the rooftop plaza to enjoy holiday music and some good old-fashioned wintry fun with neighbors.
525 N Lamar Blvd. 512-476-1206. Tickets $10. Open daily through January 11, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Website.
14) Buy locally-made treasures at the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar
This December 16 through 24, head down to the Palmer Events Center on Barton Springs Road for the shopping extravaganza of your life: the 39th Annual Armadillo Christmas Bazaar. Featuring more than 160 fine art and artisan vendors, the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar basically ensures that you’ll find epic (if not quirky) Christmas presents for friends and family members — and all while savoring cold beer and great food. Expect to hear a heck of a lot of live music too; this year’s Bazaar is hosting 28 native bands and musicians, including some pretty big names like Ruthie Foster, Ray Wylie Hubbard,Carolyn Wonderland, Shiny Ribs, and Mayeux and Broussard. Check the music schedule to see when your favorite band is up!
900 Barton Springs Rd. 512-447-1605. Day pass $7, kids 12 and under free. Open daily 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Website.
13) Lovingly decorate a cedar tree on Loop 360
Austinites usually start decorating the trees in mid-November. Video: YouTube user KXAN.
Let’s admit it: we Austinites get a little crazy with our holiday decorating. Take the 37th Street Christmas spectacle for example. Our 1.25-mile Trail of Lights in Zilker Park. Mozart’s 15-minute synchronized lights display. Well, for years, we’ve been channeling our powers of festivity into decorating the cedar trees that line the northwesterly section of Loop 360. If you haven’t ever participated, this is the year for you to discover your inner elf! Pack a box full of ornaments, garland, and an especially weird object or two and head out to Loop 360 to take part in this vibrant Austin tradition.
The catch: after New Years, come back and un-decorate or someone else will have to!
12) Ooh and ahh over the biggest Christmas tree in town
Speaking of Christmas trees… standing beneath the 155-foot Zilker Holiday Tree and spinning around while looking up is a sacred Austin tradition that you shouldn’t skip this season. The massive tree is a whopping 380 feet wide, so plenty of folks can perform their annual spins at once, with plenty of room to fall down in the dizzying aftermath. As you pay your yearly dues, keep in mind that the Zilker Holiday Tree is the biggest Christmas tree in Austin. Now that’s a sight worth seeing.
2100 Barton Springs Rd. 512-970-8891. Mon-Thurs free, Fri-Sat $3 per person. Open daily Dec 7-21, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Website.
11) Drink your weight in hot cocoa
Apple cider and eggnog are entirely different, but they do have two things in common. First, they’re both Christmastime beverages, bringing on the holiday cheer with every sip. And second, both of them pale in comparison to hot chocolate in terms of glorious deliciousness. Admittedly, that last statement is biased. But seriously, you can find some killer hot cocoa in Austin and December is the perfect time to guzzle gallons of it!
10) Have the Mozart’s Coffee Roasters holiday experience
If you’ve been in Austin for any period of time, you know that Mozart’s Coffee Roasters has quite the holiday reputation. Every year, the coffee shop and bakery rigs their Lake Austin Blvd storefront with over 150,000 Christmas lights set to popular tunes, including the Texas Fight Song and the Trans Siberian Orchestra’s infamous “Wizards in Winter.” The show, which runs every hour beginning at 6 p.m. until closing time, is even better when coupled with Mozart’s delicious hot chocolate and coffees. Seriously, don’t miss this.
3826 Lake Austin Blvd. 512-477-2900. Free. Light show runs 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. most nights through January 1. Website.
Forget walking: you’ll want to skip through this amazing lights display. With over 1.25 miles of Christmas lights, festive sculpture arrangements, live music, 30+ food trailers, photo opportunities with Santa, and one gigantic Christmas tree, the Austin Trail of Lights is an absolute must-have holiday experience. Generally attracting more than 425,000 people (which is more than ACL, F1, and SXSW draw individually) over its 15 nights of operation, the Trail has been a community fixture since 1965. This year marks the event’s 50th anniversary, so it’s sure to be a big one.
2100 Barton Springs Rd. 512-970-8891. Mon-Thurs free, Fri-Sat $3 per person. Open daily Dec 7-21, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Website.
8) Buy a real Christmas tree from a local farm
Instead of setting up an artificial tree this year, try this: load the family into the van, drive out to an actual Christmas tree farm, and select a real tree to adorn your home this holiday season. As long as no one in your home has a cedar allergy, decorating your living room with a real tree can be quite the fulfilling adventure. There are five local farms within reasonable driving distance of Austin. Elgin CHRISTmas Tree Farm, located just 30 minutes east, has been providing Austinites with beautiful trees since 1984, and The Texas Christmas Trees Growers Association has four other awesome farms in the greater Austin area: Bill’s Trees in Georgetown, Coupland Christmas Tree Farm in Hutto, and Evergreen Farms Christmas Trees and Circle B in Elgin.
At 6 p.m. on December 6, festive Austinites will gather in front of the Texas Capitol Building to participate in yet another beloved city tradition: Austin’s annual Holiday Sing-Along and Downtown Stroll. The event, which is coordinated and run by the Downtown Austin Alliance, KUT 90.5 and KUTX 98.9, begins with Christmas caroling at 6 p.m., followed by the lighting of the Capitol Christmas tree, photos with Santa, live music from ASPVA and Invincible Czars (9th & Congress, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.), extended hours and fun activities at many downtown businesses, a farmers market, and lots more. You’ll even have the opportunity to donate canned goods to families in need. Now don’t that just beat all?
1100 Congress Ave. 512-469-0476. Free. Event starts at 6 p.m. Website.
6) Be Santa for a kid who’s got it rough
Your Christmas in Austin would be grossly incomplete without gift-giving. Through the Austin Police Department’s Operation Blue Santa campaign, you can give gifts to folks who really need them: kids who may not get presents otherwise. With help from the Austin Fire Department, Austin Energy, Austin Water Utilities, the Texas National Guard, and a ton of other local businesses, organizations, and individual Austinites, APD provides roughly 5,000 families in the greater Austin area with full Christmas meals and presents for every little one. To make a difference through Operation Blue Santa, you can drop off unwrapped toys at any of these locations or adopt a family by filling out an online sponsorship application. The deadline is December 17!
4101 S. Industrial Dr, Suite 260. 512-974-2583. Website.
5) Infuse your holiday with weird on 37th Street
The 37th Street Christmas lights look different every year. Video: YouTube user Yogaduke.
There’s really nothing else like 37th Street’s annual Christmas spectacle. You’ll just have to see it for yourself.
For a perfect holiday in Austin, we recommend not only experiencing your fair share of caroling, hot cocoa, and lights displays, but also watching classic theatrical performances like The Nutcracker. If that sounds like something you’d enjoy, then you’re in luck. Thanks to Ballet Austin and The Long Center, we have an epic rendition of the timeless show right here in Austin — and in its 52nd year, no less! Find out more about The Nutcracker here.
701 W. Riverside Dr. 512-457-5100. Dec 6-23 — show dates and times vary. Tickets start at $15. Buy Tickets. Website.
Another feel-good holiday classic that made it onto our must-see list is A Christmas Carol, a brand new musical based on that Dickens story about crotchety old Ebeneezer Scrooge that we all know so well. But this isn’t your ordinary musical — the show’s director, Dave Steakley, has actually managed to infuse the musical with reinvented rock songs in the spirit of Baz Luhrman’s Moulin Rouge. If that isn’t totally and utterly magical, then we don’t know what is. Find out more about A Christmas Carol here.
1510 Toomey Rd. 512-476-0541. Nov 26 – Dec 28 — show dates and times vary. Buy Tickets. Website.
2) Pelt your friends with snowballs at Hill Country Galleria
It may not snow for real this season, but that doesn’t mean you can’t challenge your posse to an epic snowball fight or build a hipster snowman. Every December weekend before Christmas, Hill Country Galleria hosts a snow day for the whole city. That’s right — they actually haul in truckloads of REAL snow and pile it in the street between the mall’s Amphitheater and the Bee Cave Public Library for all to enjoy. How can your Christmas in Austin be perfect without a snow day?
12700 Hill Country Blvd. 512-263-0001. Free. Open Dec 6, Dec 14, and Dec 20 from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. Website.
Bet you didn’t know that you can take a train to the North Pole from Austin! It’s true — from now until December 21, the Austin Steam Train Association’s transforms its vintage train into “The North Pole Flyer.” For $42-47, you can ride the train to Bertram and back with Mr. and Mrs. Claus, enjoying delicious Christmas cookies and hot chocolate, listening to the Christmas Story, and spending quality time with loved ones along the way. It’s not exactly the North Pole, but this train is so festive it might as well be a sleigh pulled by flying reindeer!
401 E Whitestone Blvd, Ste C-100 (Cedar Park). 512-477-8468. Tickets $42-47 — sold out online, call for availability. Website.
From live performances to charity and real Christmas trees to fake snow, every one of these fifteen seasonal activities is guaranteed to grant you a wonderful Christmas in Austin. Here’s to happy holidays for you and yours, and a nifty New Years too!
Rising prices may be putting new homes out of reach of more buyers. The median price of a new home sold in the United States climbed 15 percent from a year earlier. The median new-home price is now $305,000, which is the highest level on record, according to the Commerce Department.
Historically low interest rates, near 4 percent, and an improving labor market have helped to increase new-home sales, but sales were up only 1 percent in the first 10 months of this year compared with the same period in 2013. What’s more, October’s annual sales pace is only about half the average annual level of sales from 1996 through 2006.
“I think we saw a little price resistance from the consumer,” says John Johnson, David Weekley Homes’ chief executive. “There are a bunch of people who are waiting until they feel more confident about the future.”
Builders are selling fewer, more expensive homes, and those higher-end homes are making it more profitable for them, analysts say.
Meanwhile, as home appreciation has slowed, sales of more affordable existing-homes are increasing in recent months. Pending home sales are up 2.2 percent in October compared to a year ago, according to the National Association of REALTORS®.
The median existing-home price for all housing types in October was $208,300, nearly $100,000 less than the median price for a new home.
“The increase in median prices for existing homes has leveled off, representing a healthier pace that has kept affordability in check for buyers in many parts of the country while giving more previously stuck home owners with little or no equity the ability to sell,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, said in a recent statement about pending home sales.
Ruth Powers Austin, Texas Real Estate 