Texas Commercial Real Estate

Another positive review for Texas from the national survey in the Beige Book's final look at 2009. - Erik ECONOMY IMPROVING, SURVEY SHOWS HOUSTON (Houston Business Journal) - The Texas economy showed signs of improvement in the past six weeks through November, according to the Federal Reserve Ban...

The article is somewhat surprising to me. After attending the ICSC in San Antonio in October, it seemed to have low attendance (2,500+/-) and the mood was fairly sedate. Abilene has been flat in the retail sector with restaurants leading. Office and Industrial have both seen more action. - Erik E...

Lack of consumer effort to complete applications for an interest rate reduction is baffling.  It should not be a cake walk for participants to be approved for a discount on their mortgages.  - Erik FED PUTS PRESSURE ON MORTGAGE INDUSTRY WASHINGTON (Associated Press) - Treasury Department official...

We have seen the changes of the face of convenience stores in Abilene over the past three years.  When Alon purchased several hundred Skinny's stores.  Most of the stores have changed the signs on the buildings.  There is a large 7-Eleven store concept that we may see that does not sell gas.  The...

The effect on commercial buildings HVAC systems could cause fewer developments on larger construction projects.  An additional 25 to 50 cents per sf on a large building could add significantly to the budget. - Erik ORDINANCE COULD CHANGE INSPECTION CODES AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal) - A propo...

Actual number of homes sold in Abilene in October climbed as the median price dropped slightly. - Erik TEXAS' EXISTING HOME SALES CLIMB, PRICES INCH UP TEXAS (Real Estate Center, Realtor.org) - A total of 19,347 existing single-family homes were sold in Texas last month, a 15 percent increase fr...

Conservative spending and growth in the state have helped Texas in boom and bust times. - Erik TEXAS BOUND FOR FAST RECOVERY? NEW YORK (Forbes.com) - Texas' four major metros are in the top ten fastest-recovering cities nationwide, according to Forbesmagazine. Forbes ranked San Antonio the second...

Check in to LEED Certification if your market is progressive. http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=283 - Erik CITY GREEN STANDARDS COULD CHANGE AUSTIN (Austin Business Journal) - In response to developers', city officials' and commission appointees' concerns that the city's energy stan...

STATE FARM ISSUED REFUNDS ORDER HOUSTON (Houston Chronicle) - State Farm Lloyds has been ordered to issue $310 million in refunds to home insurance policyholders. Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin said this completes insurance reforms that began in 2003 following years of record rate increases....

If you haven't heard it already... CONGRESS APPROVES, EXPANDS TAX CREDIT WASHINGTON (Bloomberg News, Associated Press) - The Senate and the House have approved extending the first-time homebuyer tax credit, settling on an April 30 close date and expanding it to benefit more homebuyers. The plan, ...