home sales history

More about foreclosure/short sale impact in Austin

“Central Texas is not in the same boat as many other parts of the country. While home sales remain at a slow pace, prices have not dropped, and many economists say an upturn is in the making for 2012 as the region continues to add jobs.” The prevalence of distressed home sales (short sales and foreclosures) in other markets has had much to do with their declining home values and continuing market malaise. Continue reading →

Austin Building Permits and New Construction — Signs for the future?

Volatile. Unpredictable. Erratic. I have used all those adjectives to describe market conditions for Austin/Central Texas residential real estate over the past few months. They all apply, and 2011 will call for ongoing analysis and forecasting. New construction and newly issued building permits should give us a glimpse at the future, however. Continue reading →

Austin Market Dashboard Update

The February market snapshot shows mixed results, but important point of emphasis regarding the Austin/Central Texas residential real estate market remains remarkable strength in property values. Continue reading →

Time to invest in Austin

The strength of current gross rents, and the stability in multifamily pricing for most of last year, suggest that we have seen the bottom of this cycle. New project announcements and building permits for multifamily construction (including substantial additions to the inventory of available apartment units) show that large investors and developers are betting on coming growth. Now is the time for smaller investors to take advantage of the trend as well. Continue reading →

Austin and other cities – sales and median price growth

Austin was one of only two cities to experience positive growth in both prices and unit sales over this 12-month period. Austin’s 5% increase in median price was below the 7.8% average rate of increase since 1990, but still a strong performance. Couple that with growth in unit sales of more than 3x the national average, and this is really impressive. Continue reading →

Foreclosure Impact in Austin

Foreclosure activity in Austin is definitely higher than it was pre-recession, and there is no doubt that the effects of the recession and housing downturn have flattened home values here over the past few years — prices are lower today than they would have been if the recession had not happened. All in all, though, Austin and Central Texas continue to contrast dramatically with the cities and states that so thoroughly dominate news about the housing sector.

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How Does Texas stack up in the Case-Shiller report?

I have elaborated before about the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index and how representative it is (or not) of conditions in the Austin/Central Texas real estate market. News reports today are offering shock as the Indices for December 2010 returned to two-years ago levels, prompting fears of a “double dip” in housing. Here’s an up-to-date look at how Austin compares. Continue reading →

A quick comparison

The Austin Board Of Realtors® reported yesterday that “Sales of single-family homes in the Austin area were 14 percent higher in January 2011 than January 2010.” (See Austin Business Journal article.) Since that data differs from my Austin Market Dashboard update yesterday, I just want to point out …
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Pricing to sell — the real world

Price your house right the first time. Why spend more time on the market just to sell for less? Continue reading →

What can you get for your money in Austin?

What a prospective home buyer wants and and is willing to pay for inevitably lead to decisions about location (or strong location preferences require realistic expectations about what is available within a given budget). So what can you get for your money in Austin real estate? Continue reading →