View this email in your browser

Was this email forwarded to you? Click Here to Sign Up!

November 10, 2023

In today's BG Reads:

✅ Austin homes used to sell in a week. Now sales take months.

✅ Texas power grid watchdog steps down after clash with ERCOT officials

✅ Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner endorses Sheila Jackson Lee

✅ Sen. Joe Manchin announces he won't seek reelection in 2024

More stories below. Read on!

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Austin homes used to sell in a week. Now sales take months, if they happen at all. (KUT)

For nearly two years, it felt like Austin’s housing market had no ceiling.

“It's almost like everybody drank 10 shots of espresso because we were going so fast,” said Socar Chatmon-Thomas, a realtor and broker in the Austin area.

Starting at the end of 2020, in cities and towns across the country, there was a run on housing. Some people had been able to save money during the pandemic, their savings bolstered by government stimulus cash. As mortgage interest rates plummeted to historic lows, more people could afford to buy a house.

At the same time, Austin’s population surged, growing by 5% between 2020 and 2022. Tens of thousands of people, now freed from the reins of having to commute to an office, moved here from across the country to work remotely. Homebuyers flooded the market. Add to that a nationwide shortage of housing, and it felt like buying a home had become a feverish nightmare… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

New report from Austin Board of Realtors shows housing shortages in all 10 City Council districts (KVUE)

A new report from the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR) revealed that Austin is dealing with housing shortages in each district throughout the city.

The report, which cites research commissioned in August, found that more than half of four-person households earning 80% median family income (MFI) or less, which is just over $93,000 a year, face a severe shortage of homes. The report says the city is short precisely 211,023 homes considered affordable to families making the median household salary, equating to an estimated 50% undersupply.

All racial and ethnic groups in Austin earning 80% MFI or less faced a shortage of affordable homes for sale in the first half of 2023. On average, minority groups, namely Hispanic or Latino, Black and households of other races face lower housing affordability than non-Hispanic White households across all 10 City Council Districts.

In Austin, the percentage of affordable homes for sale by race:

• Black households face a 68.7% undersupply, an estimated 26,388 shortage of homes.

• Hispanic/Latino households face a 63.2% undersupply, an estimated 77,677 shortage of homes.

• Other Race households face a 57.1% undersupply, an estimated 60,746 shortage of homes.

The full report can be seen here… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Nate Paul, the businessman at the center of Ken Paxton’s impeachment, charged with four new federal crimes (Texas Tribune)

Nate Paul, the Austin real estate investor whose relationship with Attorney General Ken Paxton was central to his September impeachment trial, was charged with new crimes by federal prosecutors on Wednesday.

The U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas filed an amended indictment charging Paul, 36, with four counts of wire fraud related to allegations that he lied to business partners who invested in real estate with his company, World Class Holdings, and its affiliates.

They are in addition to the eight felony counts prosecutors filed in June, which allege that Paul provided false information to financial institutions in order to obtain loans to purchase properties… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Longtime economic development leader is taking over the Greater San Marcos Partnership (Austin Business Journal)

The Greater San Marcos Partnership has announced that Mike Kamerlander, who for years has led economic development efforts in Lockhart, will take over as president and CEO of the economic development group for Hays and Caldwell counties on Nov. 15.

Kamerlander, who has more than a decade of experience in the economic development realm, is filling the role after Jason Giulietti was ousted in May. Will Conley — a principal for engineering firm American Structurepoint Inc., a former Hays County commissioner, former GSMP board chairman and founding member of GSMP — had been serving as interim director.

Conley said in a statement that Kamerlander has demonstrated an ability to spearhead successful initiatives and foster collaboration to score tangible economic wins during his past stops. Kamerlander was vice president at GSMP from 2012-2018… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Texas power grid watchdog steps down after clash with ERCOT officials (KUT)

The independent market monitor for the Texas power grid is stepping down after clashing with officials over what she called “artificially” inflated energy prices.

Carrie Bivens has served as a kind of third-party auditor for the Texas energy market since 2020. Her departure is sure to increase speculation that ERCOT and other state officials want to curtail the powers of the market monitor.

In September, Bivens presented a report to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas saying that its new policy, known as the ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service (ECRS), had squeezed the energy market and raised the cost of electricity by $8 billion over the summer... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce names new president and CEO (San Antonio Express-News)

The Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce has a new leader. Nearly a year after beginning its search, the business advocacy organization said Tuesday it hired Jeff Webster as its new president and CEO, noting his work in the private and public sectors. He will start Dec. 1.

Webster was previously vice president of business development at Jacobs Engineering Group and has worked for other engineering and construction firms. He is a former District 10 City Council member and is chairman of the chamber’s public policy council and the San Antonio Mobility Coalition.

“I am truly honored to have been chosen to lead the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce,” Webster said in a statement. “San Antonio and its surrounding region have immense potential, and I look forward to collaborating with our diverse business community, stakeholders and partners to foster economic growth, create jobs and enhance the quality of life for all residents.” He is taking the reins as the chamber is vying for relevance, a reality it shares with many such organizations across the country. The San Antonio Chamber was once a powerhouse with considerable influence but that has waned. An increasing challenge for it and other chambers in recruiting members is combating the perception that such institutions are archaic in today’s business world. A variety of other area chambers with differing focuses are often competing for the same members, and Greater:SATX now spearheads many of the local business recruiting and retention efforts the San Antonio chamber was once much more involved in… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Mayor Sylvester Turner endorses Sheila Jackson Lee, Chris Hollins in runoffs (Houston Public Media)

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner endorsed U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee on Wednesday as the mayoral race headed to a December runoff. Turner, who has known Jackson Lee for decades, cited the congresswoman's strong allyship throughout his eight-year tenure as Houston mayor.

He highlighted her record of bringing federal dollars and resources to local communities during disasters like Hurricane Harvey and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“What I can tell you is that Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has been a partner not just to me personally, but she's been a partner to this city,” said the outgoing mayor, who is term-limited and cannot run for reelection. Jackson Lee will face off with state Sen. John Whitmire in the runoff… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

Sen. Joe Manchin announces he won't seek reelection in 2024 (NPR)

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin announced Thursday that he will not run for reelection in 2024. The decision means Democrats face an uphill climb to keep their narrow majority in next year's election.

Democrats already faced a tough map in 2024 to keep control of the Senate. They have 23 seats on the ballot and the most contested ones are in red states like Ohio, Montana and West Virginia.

Manchin says he accomplished what he set out to do for his home state. But he added he's not done with politics… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Even if the Fed stays on hold, Jerome Powell Is keeping his options open (Wall Street Journal)

Fed Chair Jerome Powell indicated the central bank wouldn’t declare an end to its historic interest-rate increases until it had more evidence that inflation was cooling.

Price and wage pressures have eased recently, leading more investors to think the Fed is done raising rates. Powell disappointed those investors in a speech Thursday by explaining why he thinks the Fed is more likely to tighten policy than ease it if any change is warranted.

While Powell didn’t build a case for lifting rates now, he pointed to earlier inflation “head fakes,” past episodes in which price pressures ebbed for a while before surprising Fed officials by picking up again. He said they would monitor economic conditions closely to avoid both the risk of having been “misled by a few good months of data,” as well as the risk of having raised rates too high, Powell said.

The Fed has raised interest rates this year to a 22-year high to combat inflation by slowing economic activity. 

Officials extended a pause in rate increases at their meeting last week, marking the first time since they began raising rates in March 2022 that they held them steady at consecutive policy meetings. Their next meeting is Dec. 12-13… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

_________________________

🔎 Have questions or in need of lobbying services? Fill out Bingham Group’s Service Interest Questionnaire and let us see how we can help.

SHARE BG READS FEEDBACK HERE

⬇️

Was this email forwarded to you? Click Here to Sign Up!

Copyright (C) " target="_blank">unsubscribe