Has Texas managed to dodge the bullet (and avoid most of the current economic downturn)?

I wanted to continue my posts about how well Austin and Texas is doing and recently came across the following comment posted by a buyer:

“Of course all the realtors are optimistic about buying in Austin, it is their job and their bread and butter.”

It is a shame that much of the general public has such a low opinion of our industry but that is just how it is these days. I offer the following information as reassurance that the current state of affairs in Texas is not just some realtor “pie in the sky” optimism. In reviewing 2007 and the first half of 2008.

No. 1 greenest city in America, MSN.com
No. 1 in terms of job growth, Forbes’ “Best City for Singles”
No. 1 city for growing businesses, Expansion Management’s “2007 Mayor’s Challenge Rankings
No. 1 overall economic vitality, Moody’s Economy.com, “Business Vitality Index”
No. 1 of top four cities to watch, AARP’s The Magazine’s “Great Places to Live”
No. 2 for overall characteristics, Travel + Leisure’s “America’s Favorite Cities”
No. 2 best eco-neighborhood (SoCo took the honors), Natural Home magazine
No. 2 best walking city, Prevention Magazine
No. 2 fastest-growing wine region (Hill Country), Orbitz.com
No. 3 adventure city, National Geographic Adventure’s “50 Best Places to Live and Play”
No. 3 best city for young singles, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance
No. 3 top city for making movies, MovieMaker magazine
No. 5 luxury housing market, Unique Homes magazine
No. 7 hottest job market for young adults, Bizjournals
No. 10 healthiest city in America, Sperling’s Best Places
No. 16 hottest entrepreneurial city, Inc. magazine, “Boomtowns 2007″

The high-tech, a booming film industry and the University of Texas all helped propel Austin to the top of Forbes’ 2008 list of America’s Fastest Growing Metros. Forbes credits the local boom to high-tech employers like Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) as well as the University of Texas, which is producing ample engineering talent.

I wanted to emphasize that we are stiil going to feel the effects of the nationwide slump but confidence in the Texas economy and a continuing population growth are helping us avoid the extreme downturn ths is occuring elsewhere so there is good news here!