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Monday, December 31, 2007

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Study: Austin homes prices up 8.6%


Home prices in Texas -- especially in Austin -- have defied the overall downward trend seen in other U.S. housing markets, according to a study by First American LoanPerformance.

In the Austin market, home prices increased 8.62 percent over the 12-month period ending in October. Other Texas markets included in the study's top 30 statistical areas include Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, which increased 3.92 percent; Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, up 4.52 percent; and San Antonio, with a 7.89 percent increase.

LoanPerformance Home Price Index reports 12-month home price changes by the top 30 core-based statistical areas as of October 2007.

Home prices fell in 21 states over the past year, according to the index, which provides monthly home price indices and median sales prices covering 7,451 ZIP codes, 956 core-based statistic areas, and 662 counties in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

"The real estate market continues to exhibit ongoing declines in a number of key residential property markets," says Damien Weldon, vice president, collateral and prepayment analytics for First American LoanPerformance. "The overall picture continues to be mixed, however."

The LoanPerformance HPI incorporates more than 30 years of repeat sales transactions, representing more than 45 million observations, sourced from the property information database owned by its parent company, First American CoreLogic Inc.

First American LoanPerformance is a subsidiary of First American CoreLogic, and a member of The First American Corp. (NYSE:FAF) family of companies.

On a related note, for the 10th month in a row home prices across the U.S. dropped, according to a different study.

The record 6.7 percent monthly drop in the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index was the largest drop since April 1991. The index tracks prices of existing single-family homes in 10 metropolitan areas compared to a year earlier.

A broader index of 20 metro areas fell 6.1 percent. Among the 20 metropolitan areas used in the broader index, 11 posted record monthly declines and all 20 declined in October compared to September.

In the year-over-year comparison, Miami posted the largest decline among the 20 markets with prices -- down 12.4 percent in October compared with the same month last year. Tampa, Fla., was the second-worst performing city with declines of 11.8 percent. Besides those two cities, Phoenix, Detroit, Las Vegas and San Diego also posted double-digit year-over-year declines.

Only three areas included in the study -- Charlotte, N.C., Portland, Ore., and Seattle -- posted year-over-year home price appreciation in October. Charlotte posted the largest gain at 4.3 percent.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Austin housing market a bargain

Austin housing market a bargain

Texas homes are some of the most undervalued in the nation, report says.
Austin American-Statesman; Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Austin and other Texas housing markets are among the most undervalued in the nation, according to a new analysis of data by Global Insight Inc. and National City Corp.

The companies looked at prices in 333 metro areas in the third quarter of 2007. Such reports are considered important indicators of potential decline and growth in specific cities.

In calculating valuations, the companies used a complex statistical model that included prices, interest rates, household incomes, population density and any historical premiums or discounts for each market. The percentage of over- and undervaluations is intended to reflect where a housing market's price should be.

In Austin, and in Texas overall, recent rapid increases in home prices never occurred, so the state has avoided the real estate bubble that has plagued coastal areas.

If a city's housing is over- or undervalued by up to 14 percent, it is still considered within a fair market range. Anything outside that range means a considerable over- or undervaluation.

For instance, Austin, at -9.1 percent, is in the fair market range, while Dallas, at -28.1 percent, is considered undervalued.

The writers of the report, "House Prices in America," caution about overinterpreting the data. For instance, though homes in Bend, Ore., are overvalued by 70 percent, that does not necessarily mean prices in that city are expected to fall that much in the near future.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Another great reason to live in Austin...


Greenling Organic Delivery was founded by organic-loving folks who know a flavorful, pesticide-free apple when they taste one. They also know the importance of buying local, healing the environment, and creating a sustainable society.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Alan Barber Presents "Sixman, Texas"

Alan Barber has been working on this film as long as I've know him...it's truly a labor of love.

Across Texas, small communities are struggling to keep their schools and towns alive. For one, the bell has tolled as they graduate their last class, ending generations of local pride and continuity. For another, a Cinderella football season promises to keep hope alive...

Sunday, November 4, 2007

New teas at Cafe Caffeine!


We've got two more cool, local vendors at Cafe Caffeine: Texas Medicinals and Zhi Tea.

Both have created exceptional organic teas that you have to taste to believe...even smelling them puts you in a good mood...lol.

Come in give them a try!

Thursday, November 1, 2007

It's time for Tessa's tale to be told!


In 1999 I was scheduled to speak in front of a group of educators in Austin Texas about creating fantastic presentations. Like most people, I was nervous and didn't sleep well the night before the presentation. In the pre-dawn hours I had a dream about a little girl who was scared of making a presentation and how she overcame that fear. After I awoke, I wrote the dream down and saw that it was a pretty cool little story.

Five years later, in 2004, I met a very talented artist named Margaret Burns. At the time we met she was pregnant with her first child and excited about bringing a little girl into the world. About 6 months after Mia was born, Margaret noticed the lack of books with the kind of messaging that she wanted to share with Mia as she grew older. I told her about my heroine, Tessa, and she became inspired to illustrate the story.

Fast forward to 2007. Margaret has another incredible daughter named Clara and our book is written, illustrated and ready to be brought to the world. We estimate that it will take $5000 to create the final press-ready proofs and develop a website from which Tessa can tell her first tale....with many more adventures to come!

I have created a Fundable project so that Tessa's tale can be told.

Margaret and I would appreciate you checking it out...and contributing if you can!

Thanks,

Ruth

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Bill Meets Willie!

Cafe Caffeine's good friend Bill Stidham created this painting of Willie Nelson as part of his Sacred Heart series. A big CONGRATULATIONS to him for having it signed personally. Check out his site to see the whole series.

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Show your Love to the World!

We have set up our first store! Now you can tell the whole world where you go to get your own hot cup of cool: CafeCaffeined.


Saturday, September 1, 2007

If you haven't had a chance to visit in person yet...


...we'll bring it to you! Local entreprewhizzes Tony Morfin and Joe Kogut contacted us recently and offered to create a video of a bit of the life at Cafe Caffeine. Their brainchild, VideoSomething, is a creative online advertising community and directory featuring professional as well as user generated video clips for local businesses and classified listings.

Please check out this video made by the fine folks at VideoSomething:

Experience Cafe Caffeine

Ruth

Friday, August 17, 2007

An Exercise in Forgiveness

An Exercise in Forgiveness

I like this exercise from Francis Campone. It's available as a podcast on the website.


You must forgive yourself first.

Say: "I forgive myself for everything I have done that I was not happy with."

3x/3xday

1x=body
1x=mind
1x=spirit

within 3 months it will be out of your consciousness and then you can open up to forgive others in the same way.


Forgive instantly so you can move on and live in the moment more easily.

Austin Ice Cream Festival!!!

Join NadaMoo! , Maine Root Beer and a whole lotta other cool folks at the Austin Ice Cream Festival tomorrow in Waterloo Park. You can read all about it in their blog too!

FREE ICE CREAM...RAIN OR SHINE!!!






Monday, August 13, 2007

Friday, August 10, 2007

Friday Fun!

TYPE IN a command and see what happens... sit, roll over, down, stand, sing, dance, shake, fetch, play dead etc. and...it's also very cute if you type in a command that's not recognized...!!

Make sure you type in "Kiss" too, but do it last.

I Do Dog Tricks