Normally, January and February are the slowest months for real estate in Austin. This year is different. It seems like everyone I talk to in my industry is struggling to keep up with an unexpected, but welcomed surge in activity.
I’m not sure whether it’s the warm weather, a more optimistic outlook, low interest rates, or a combination of all three. What I do know is that the buyers who are getting in the market now are finding some amazing deals on homes that didn’t sell during the extraordinarily slow fall buying season.
If you don’t believe my anecdotal evidence, according to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) the number of homes under contract during the last week of January was up 47% compared to the same week in January of 2008.
As I’ve said before, Austin did not experience the big upswing in home prices and is therefore less susceptible to price declines. However, there has been some correction. During the month of December, the average price for homes sold in the Austin area decreased almost 6% year over year. Looking ahead, as long as the housing inventory remains at or near equilibrium, which continues to be the case, we do not expect to see any significant further home price declines in the overall Austin market. As further evidence, PMI Mortgage, the leading mortgage insurance company, recently ranked Austin 9th out of 381 US cities as least likely to experience a further decline in home prices. For more information, visit http://www.RomeoM.com