Austin Unemployment and Austin Real Estate Report August 2008

Austin unemployment continues to be on the rise in 2008.  Regarding Austin homes January through August of 2008, the number of single-family homes sold is down 23%, and home prices are up 2% for the year with overall Austin home prices down for the first time in August (comparing August 2008 to August 2007). 

Since April of 2008 the Austin unemployment has increased by 27% from 3.3% to 4.5%, which is an increase of 10,800 people unemployed.  This compares to a 13.5% increase in unemployment during the same period of time in 2007, which represented an increase of 1,600 unemployed.  The Austin unemployment rate has increased by 13% since January, an increase of 5,600 unemployed.  This compares to a 5% decrease in unemployment during the same period of time in 2007, which represented a decrease of 1,600 unemployed. 

The August 2008 Austin unemployment rate of 4.5% is still below the State of Texas unemployment rate of 5.1% and the U.S. unemployment rate of 6.1%.  While the Austin unemployment rate has increased 13.5% between January and August of 2008, the State of Texas and the U.S. experienced and even greater increases of 15.7% and 14.7% respectively during the same period of time.

So what does this tell us?  It tells me that Austin is not immune to the current national economic woes.  A prolonged increase in Austin unemployment could lead to slower growth in Austin in the short term with some people being forced to move to larger cities such as Dallas or Houston for jobs.  Home prices have remained high, which may indicate that many Austin homeowners have the financial ability to “stay put” in their existing home rather than sell it for cheap.  This just reinforces the fact that Austin is one of the most desirable places to live in the country.  This is not a bad time for buyers and investors to start looking for deals in Austin.

For my recent article about areas of Austin where home prices are down for the year visit the following link: Austin home prices.

To search for homes for sale in Austin visit the following link: Austin homes for sale.

*Unemployment data provided by the Texas Workforce Commission and raw real estate data provided by the Austin Board of Realtors and interpreted by Brian Talley of Regent Property Group.