Wild Game Coming to Dripping Springs February 21st

February 19th, 2009 9:40 AM

HEB Submits Plans for 63,000 Square Foot Store to City of Dripping Springs

February 27th, 2009 8:55 AM

Home mortgage rates drop to record lows

February 19th, 2009 3:45 PM

Freddie Mac on Thursday released the results of its primary mortgage market survey that showed the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 5.16 percent for the week ending Feb. 12. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 5.72 percent.

The 15-year FRM this week averaged 4.81 percent, down from last week when it averaged 4.92 percent, according to a statement from Freddie Mac. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 5.25 percent.

"Interest rates for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are almost 1.5 percentage points below 2008's peak set on July 24, 2008, offering many homeowners an incentive to refinance," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist. "This would translate into a monthly payment savings of around $188 on a $200,000 mortgage.

"The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated that the weighted average mortgage rate of loans outstanding was about 6.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008. As a result, the share of refinancing among the total number of conventional mortgage applications has exceeded 50 percent for the past 11 weeks and averaged 80 percent over this period, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association."

Texaplex Website offers details on strong TEXAS

February 19th, 2009 9:47 AM

Survey: Texas still a ‘can do’ state

February 19th, 2009 9:39 AM

Texas isn’t letting the economy ruin its state of mind, a new Everest College survey finds.

Ninety-five percent of those who participated in the Texas college’s survey said they consider themselves independent despite the difficult economic outlook.

Meanwhile, more than half — 55 percent — said they would get a new job, start a new career or go back to school in an effort to counteract recession efforts.

“Texans have always been known for having an independent spirit, meeting the challenges of difficult times with courage and resourcefulness,” said Hershell Ernest Jr., a career and education expert with Everest College. “Those who can use that spirit to adapt to the times, leveraging and increasing their marketability in occupations faring well despite the tough economy, position themselves to come out on top.”

Compared with the rest of the nation, Texans also think they are doing better, the survey found. Fifty-four percent of respondents said they don’t feel as affected by the recession because they live in Texas.

Although the state has seen an increase in unemployment figures, Texas is faring better than the nation, according to the college. Texas Workforce Commission statistics show that unemployment figures were at 6 percent in December, more than a full percentage point below the nationwide rate of 7.2 percent.

Certain fields, like health care and social assistance, added more than 28,000 jobs in Texas during 2008.

Everest College’s survey was conducted by Promark Research Corp., a public opinion research firm.

Gas prices spike 8 cents in Austin

February 10th, 2009 4:28 PM

Speculation that refiners and United Steel Workers Union would not successfully conclude contract talks caused gas prices in Texas and across the nation to rise last week.

Analysts with AAA Texas say that had a contract agreement not been reached between the nation’s refiners and the 30,000-plus members of the union, gasoline prices could have risen much higher. Since the union and refiners reached their agreement on Feb. 4 and avoided a walkout, the price of crude oil has continued to drop. Crude oil is currently trading in the $40 per barrel range.

Nevertheless, the price jump has taken hold in Texas. Drivers in Austin are paying $1.80 a gallon, 8 cents more per gallon than they were a week ago, according to AAA Texas’ Weekend Gas Watch.

On the state and national level, the average price of gasoline rose to $1.81 and $1.91 a gallon, respectively.

“The (labor) contract agreement though comes at a time when, because of the slow economy and conservation, gasoline usage is down 3.3 percent, the first drop since 1991. And oil inventories continue to increase, up 7.2 million barrels from the previous week to 346 million, according to a government report this week. Measured against the same period last year; crude supplies are running at a surplus of more than 50 million barrels,” says AAA Texas spokesman Dan Ronan in Irving.

ProLogis selling 33M feet of industrial space

February 10th, 2009 4:26 PM

In what promises to be one of the nation’s largest industrial portfolio sales by square footage, real estate titan ProLogis (NYSE: PLD) is selling 33.23 million square feet nationwide.

The portfolio spans 14 states and the District of Columbia, according to the investment summary package. It carries an estimated value $1.43 billion, real estate experts say.

The largest slice of assets is in Texas where a total of 9.1 million square feet is being offered in San Antonio, El Paso, Austin, Dallas and Houston.

Considering the rocky economy and collapsed debt markets, the assets are likely to trade for less than they would have two years ago, and even finding buyers could be challenging, real estate experts say.

The sell-off is a squall in a broader storm brewing for commercial real estate firms, experts say, and it shows how quickly conditions are eroding for even strong operators.

“You can’t sell 33 million square feet of industrial space right now,” said real estate analyst Dan Fasulo, managing director of New York-based Real Capital Analytics. “It is a signal of distress.”

Denver-based ProLogis, once the darling of the industrial real estate industry, is facing billions of dollars of debt.

ProLogis, the world's largest owner, manager and developer of distribution facilities, announced in November wholesale measures to deal with its debt. The real estate investment trust’s debt load stood at $11.6 billion at the end of its third quarter.

ProLogis terminated CEO Jeffrey Schwartz and embarked on a program of cost cutting, stopping new development, selling properties, laying off employees and restructuring debt.

In December, it announced a deal to sell assets in China and Japan to the real estate investment arm of the Singapore government for $1.3 billion – a 4 percent to 6 percent loss on book value.

ProLogis spokeswoman Mo Sheahan declined to confirm or comment on the massive portfolio sell-off, saying it is company policy not to comment on deals that have not closed.

“We are looking at different [properties] on different tracks,” she said. “We are considering everything.”

The assets cover many of the nation’s top industrial markets. Atlanta follows Texas, with 3.46 million square feet up for grabs.

Other metropolitan areas and regions where ProLogis’ vast industrial properties are for sale include:

• Chicago, 3.31 million square feet.
• The Northeast, 3 million square feet among Baltimore, northern New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
• Washington, D.C., 695,058 square feet.
• San Francisco Bay area and central California, 2.43 million square feet.
• Denver and Salt Lake City, 2.29 million square feet.
• The Northwest, including Seattle and Portland, Ore., 2.16 million square feet.
• Reno, Nev., 1.88 million square feet.
• Las Vegas, 1.59 million square feet.
• Phoenix, 1 million square feet.

ProLogis is known for its sophisticated new product, including building some of the first environmentally friendly industrial buildings. Its tenants tended to be strong and creditworthy, and ProLogis did a good job retaining them.

ProLogis was growing steadily, partly through mergers with companies such as Meridian Industrial Trust and acquisitions like Catellus Development Corp.

But, the company took on several billion dollars in debt to expand, which it was managing well as of mid-2008, according to former CEO Schwartz.

After Lehman Bros. Holdings collapsed in September and already-troubled U.S. capital markets got even worse, credit raters downgraded ProLogis’ debt last year. Still, they applauded its diverse asset base, high-quality properties and ability to keep tenants.

Survey: 96% of nation’s renters ready to move

February 10th, 2009 4:25 PM

With apartment rents declining and vacancies up nationwide, the vast majority of Americans who rent say plan to move this year, according to a recent survey.

The survey conducted by rental search site Apartments.com shows that nearly 96 percent of those who currently rent will look for a new place in 2009—and 53 percent say they plan to pay the same or more in rent.

Moving to a new neighborhood or city topped the list of why renters said they are moving, but many also want more for their money and are willing to negotiate. Apartments.com lists the top five moving motivators renters provided in the survey:

1. New neighborhood or city
2. Apartment upgrade and more on-site amenities
3. Rental incentives
4. Employment
5. Rent increase, income decrease and job loss

Roughly 90 percent of renters surveyed said they will search multiple apartment Web sites for their next apartment this year.

Last week Chicago-based Apartments.com purchased Austin-based ApartmentHomeLiving.com for an undisclosed amount. ApartmentHomeLiving.com provides a social networking approach to the apartment locating game.

Survey: Banks tighten lending

February 4th, 2009 4:25 PM

The majority of banks in the U.S. have tightened their lending standards, ranging from consumer credit account limits to business loans, according to the Federal Reserve’s quarterly survey of senior loan officers.

Approximately 60 percent of banks have decreased credit limits on commercial construction; 30 percent have reduced the account limit on business credit cards; and 50 percent have reduced credit lines to financial firms.

Approximately 65 percent of banks said they are tightening lending standards and reducing the size and maturity of credit on commercial and industrial loans to middle- to large-market companies.

Part of the reason for the drop is a reduction in demand for commercial and industrial-related funding.

Banks that noted an increase in business said their customers had left other sources of funding in favor of banks, according to the Federal Reserve’s survey.

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