First-Time Buyers Clearing Surplus for Austin Contractors
October 21, 2009 – In the month of September, existing home purchases in the Austin, Texas area increased by 6.4 percent according to the Austin Board of Realtors, and the numbers seem to show that around half of those sales went to first time home buyers in the price range of $100K to $200K. It is predicted that October will be an even stronger month, with sales up 24 percent from last year. This is excellent news, not only for the regional economy as a whole, but particularly for the ailing construction industry that needs to see the existing surplus of lower-end houses depleted so that new construction can surge again.
A major contributor to this increase in sales, which is the first increase seen in the area in over two years, is the $8,000 federal tax credit available for qualifying first time home buyers. This credit is available to buyers who, as a couple, make less than $150,000 a year or, as an individual, make less than $75,000 and have not owned a home in the previous three years. Many fear that as the funds for this tax credit deplete, the recent home buying trend will turn south. Thus, there are currently several proposals in front of Congress to extend the stimulus.
Central Texas contractors are closely watching the housing market, as the health of their industry has traditionally being bound at the hip to the real estate market. Lately, economists have been predicting that the region should see more and more recovery, with a full recovery likely to be achieved in early 2011. These lean economic times will result in only the strongest construction businesses remaining to seize upon the market’s rebound. In the meantime, construction companies which had previously based their business on new construction are diversifying into smaller contracts, like kitchen and bath remodeling.
jobtrio.com Staff
Construction Industry Newswire
Tags: austin, bath remodeling, construction companies, construction industry, texas
This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 at 2:21 pm and is filed under Austin General Contractors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.