As we all know, 2008 has been a rocky year for the economy. In September and October, the real estate and mortgage loan market got to feel the consequences of this. I figured that people want to see how this has affected us here in Austin.
I have gathered information from Austin Board of Realtors (ABOR) to show you how the market here has been doing. As you can see further down on the graphs, we are doing well. The volumes of houses sold are lower, but the prices are not decreasing, they are increasing.
At the end of this article, I will sum this up and give you my thoughts about the future of real estate in Austin, Texas.
December 2007 - Single Family Homes, $191,250 was the median price for single-family homes, an 8 percent increase from one year ago. 1,655 was the number of single-family homes sold, a 16 percent decrease from one year ago
January 2008 - Single-Family Homes, $187,000 was the median price for single-family homes, an 7 percent increase from one year ago. 1,321 was the number of single-family homes sold, a 10 percent decrease from one year ago
February 2008 - Single-Family Homes, $180,000 was the median price for single-family homes, a 2 percent increase from one year ago. 1,553 was the number of single-family homes sold, a 10 percent decrease from one year ago
March 2008 - Single Family Homes, $186,680 was the median price for single-family homes, an 5 percent increase from March 2007. 1,832 was the number of single-family homes sold, a 21 percent decrease from one year ago
April 2008 - Single-Family Homes, $187,900 was the median price for single-family homes, a 2 percent increase from one year ago. 1,981 was the number of single-family homes sold, a 14 percent decrease from last year
May 2008 - Single-Family Homes, $196,120 was the median price for single-family homes, a seven percent increase from May 2007. 2,154 was the number of single-family homes sold, a 20 percent decrease as compared to May 2007
June 2008 - Single-Family Homes, $200,000 was the median price for single-family homes, a four percent increase from June 2007. 2,211 was the number of single-family homes sold, a 20 percent decrease from one year ago
July 2008 - Single-Family Homes, $195,000 was the median price, a 3 percent increase from one year ago and a record for July. 2,071 was the number of homes sold, a 21 percent decrease from one year ago
August 2008 - Single Family Homes, $195,000 was the median price, up 2 percent increase from one year ago and a record for August. 1,992 was the number of homes sold, down 20 percent from one year ago
September 2008 – Single Family Homes, $182,600 was the median price, unchanged from September 2007. 1,670 was the number of homes sold, down 8 percent from one year ago
October 2008 – Single Family Homes, $192,520 was the median price, up seven percent from one year ago and a record for the month. 1,331 was the number of homes sold, down 25 percent from October 2007
October Report Shows Rise in Value of Austin Area Properties
November 20, 2008 - Despite national economic pressures, Austin area homes remain a sound investment option, according to the latest Multiple Listing Service (MLS) report from the Austin Board of REALTORS®. In October 2008, the median home price ticked up seven percentage points from October 2007 to $192,520, a record for the month.
The leasing sector experienced a 26 percent upswing, with 1,082 properties leased in October. Meanwhile, single family home sales fell 25 percent in October from one year ago to 1,331.
October's 9,944 active listings rose five percent from one year ago, contributing to a very healthy housing inventory level of 5.6 months. The average number of days a single family home sat on the market increased by seven percent from last October to 75 days.
Pending sales and new listings both experienced drops from October 2007, with pending sales slipping 37 percent to 1,234 and new listings falling 14 percent to 2,713. Single family homes sales contributed $324,312,791 to the Austin economy in October, down 24 percent from last year.
"The most recent report from the Austin Board of REALTORS® reflects the impact of the national economic upheaval on the local market," says ABoR Chairman Socar Chatmon-Thomas. "However, Austin is still enjoying home price appreciation and has an excellent growth record for population, employment and income."
While housing market sales cooled, October saw a jump in Austin's leasing sector. Leases contributed $1,379,550 to the local economy in October 2008, a 31 percent increase from one year ago. The median price of lease properties was $1,150, down three percent from last October.
GRAPH 1
GRAPH 2
As our price-median graph shows us (view graph 1), the price for homes in Austin are steadily increasing. We had a dip in value around September and October, but my predictions combined with the current data provided, it will regain its current increase of value. Austin remains strong as far as price, but we do not have as many interested buyers. (view graph 2). This proves/means in my opinion that you can still get just as much money for your home; it just takes us realtors a bit longer to sell it.
My conclusion to the whole article is that you still have a great chance to sell your home for a decent amount, an amount that is acceptable to you. The market is not as open as it used to be, but it still a market where you can profit from IF you play your cards right.
The world is in your hands!!
/Kettil Olsson, Team Olsson Real Estate
Information found on http://www.abor.com/
Visit: http://www.austinrealtortx.com/
for more information, or
http://blog.austinrealtortx.com/ for all blog entries
Visit: http://www.austinrealtortx.com/
for more information, or
http://blog.austinrealtortx.com/ for all blog entries
