Spring is in the air and homeowners across the city are preparing to put their homes on the market. Some of my clients have managed to get ahead of the pack while others are still getting their homes ready to sell. Either way, I’m making sure they realize the statistics indicate they may have a lot of competition this summer.
I have noticed a definite increase in buyer traffic over the last month. I'm not sure how much of this is related to Obama's Housing Stimulus Plan which offers certain buyers an $8,000 income tax credit versus an overall perception that good deals can be had in this buyer's market.
While media reports continue to focus on negative news, you might be interested to know that 1,730 single family homes actually sold in the Austin area during January and February, which are the slowest months of the year. Additionally, the median sold price of $185,000 was actually $5,000 higher than the median sold price two years ago. However, those that sold took an average of 89 days compared to only 64 days two years ago.
At the end of February there were 11,519 homes on the market compared to 9,864 two years ago, representing a meager 16% increase in inventory. The homes currently on the market have a median list price of $245,000 and have been on the market an average of 114 days. The number of new listings coming on the market in February actually decreased 15% compared to February of 2007.
So what does all this mean? First of all, the data clearly indicates that home prices in Austin are holding steady. Inventory is climbing, but not at an alarming rate. This is likely because fewer people are putting their homes on the market when they don’t absolutely have to move. Unfortunately, this also means there are fewer local buyers in the market. However, of those that are moving locally, I am starting to see a trend of families looking to ‘right size’ their home in order to reduce the overall expenses involved in having a larger home than they actually need. This is certainly a reversal from the 'move-up' trend that has been so common over the last 5-10 years.
Many people I talk to from other cities find it hard to believe that Austin continues to stand out as a relatively bright spot in the national housing market. As I've said before, Austin did not experience the big upswing in home prices and has therefore been less susceptible to price depreciation. Builder Magazine, a national trade magazine for the home building industry, just released their list of healthiest housing markets in the United States. The top five were all Texas cities: Houston ranked first, Austin second, Fort Worth third, San Antonio fourth and Dallas fifth.
If you like to look at charts and analyze the data, you can see how the market has evolved over the past 2 years at our Austin Market Statistics page. If you would like to see similar charts for a specific neighborhood, community, price range or property type, please let me know.
For more Austin Texas Real Estate information, please visit http://www.RomeoM.com