Moviemaker Magazine has ranked Austin the #1 city for movie making and also living. A variety of factors contributed to this honor including a good base of film workers and ample studio space which includes Austin Studios and a new project under works called Villa Muse Studios which will include state of the art facilities for film, television, music and video games.

 Studys show the film industry brings in around $360 million to the local economy every year and is expected to increase significantly with the addition of Villa Muse Studios. Recently the Perryman Group estimated that once Villa Muse was completed, it could bring in as much as $20 billion into the local economy per year as well as anywhere from 40,000 to 110,000 news jobs.

 Dozens of films and television shows have recently been filmed in Austin and the surrounding areas including Friday Night Lights, Fireflies in the Garden, Stop Loss and Grind House.

Story courtesy of JIM BERGAMO, kvue.com

Despite news reports of a struggling housing market across the nation, Austin’s market remains healthy and forecasts predict this trend will continue.With a healthy inventory of roughly 10,000 homes currently available and a number of people relocating to Austin for jobs, it’s a great time for buyers and sellers.

Austin area home sales courtesy of Lynne McCoy of Fidelity National TitleÂ

The National Association of Realtors is forecasting a stabilization in the so-called erratic housing market. Job growth and the replacement of subprime lenders to borrowers with weak credit with government-backed loans are cited as the main reasons for the improved outlook. The trade group also said its index that forecasts near-term home sales inched upward in October. The trade group’s seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for existing homes rose 0.6 percent to 87.2 from an upwardly revised September index of 86.7. Existing home sales are likely to total 5.7 million in 2008, slightly up from the 5.67 million homes sold in 2007.

Locally, we can expect a healthy outlook on ‘08 as well. Housing values have increased three percent from this time last year with a median price for a single-family home valued at $180,000. “With local job and population increases, the Austin Board of REALTORS predicts substantial growth in Central Texas for the next 20 to 30 years”, states ABOR Chariman Charles Porter.Â

For more information visit the National Board of Realtors website at www.realtor.org