Robert Cowes, President & Co-Founder of SmartTouch Interactive and Jenny Janda, Account Manager
Austin, TX – July 15, 2010
SmartTouch Interactive sponsored the HBA Greater Austin 2010 Mid-Year Housing Forecast Event held July 15. Ted C. Jones, PhD, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist, Stewart Title Guaranty Company gave an update on the regional housing market and forecast for remainder of 2010. During the presentation, Jones discussed current market conditions, housing starts, lot availability, regional growth hot spots, job growth and economic outlook.
“According to Jones, the growth of the regional housing market is directly tied to the area’s ability to create and maintain jobs and positive consumer confidence. While the US lost 1.37 million jobs since June 2000, Austin grew 94,700 net new jobs between May 2000 and May 2010. The region has gained 9,900 jobs year-to-date through May 2010 with 1,000 of those jobs gained in May 2010 alone.”
The population of the Austin Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is forecast to grow by roughly 273,000 people every five years; doubling our current population of approximately 1.7 million by 2035.
One of the most important points made by Jones during the presentation – now is the critical time to buy in Austin. With record low interest rates, mortgage payments will only remain this low for the short term. The greater Austin area only has six months of inventory, which means home prices will begin to rise, consequently making the mortgage payment for the same house you could buy today potentially costing 10-15% more as interest rates and prices go up.
“The market is turning around and this is the time to get the sales and marketing tools in place to capitalize on every opportunity,” said Robert Cowes, President and Co-Founder, SmartTouch Interactive. “SmartTouch provides the competitive advantage builders and developers need to generate leads at a lower cost and a SmartTouchCRM solution that enables them to reap the highest possible ROI from their investment. Now is the time to get these tools in place before the “feast begins” and take advantage of setting up sales conversions procedures that leverage today’s marketing automation technology. Those organizations who adopt the latest technology will recover faster and achieve a greater ROI as the market begins to peak again.”
SmartTouch Interactive is committed to being a partner with HBA Greater Austin and supporting these types of events.
To learn more about the event, visit https://m360.hbaaustin.com/ViewEvent.aspx?id=17803&instance=0.
