Well, for one thing, there is a bit more activity, and that’s a good thing! Downtown continues to be attractive for current office tenants. It’s even drawing businesses from the suburbs as the “Center City” and urban life in Austin continues to grow.

Rates are holding across the markets and a level of optimism still prevails, but…..Austin and Texas, while an island of activity and growth, are not totally invulnerable to the economic slowdown.

We expect to continue to see activity throughout the year with winners and losers more balanced than what we saw between mid-2004 and 2007.

We expect the cautiousness of uncertainty to continue to create short-term fixes rather than long-term commitments, until the world view is more transparent and/or until the market players on the product side create demand through pricing excitement.

In any case, Austin remains a positive place to be and a great long-term bet in real estate!