Recently a lot of people have been asking me for information on the Austin real estate market. Here is a quick look at what is happening:
The number of sales is down compared to recent years, but not drastically. Inventory is up but prices are holding steady. Austin has seen a slight decrease in average price, but this is a statistical drop and not consistent with real estate prices. There are a couple of reasons for this: jumbo and stated loans are much harder to get now so the activity in the upper price ranges has decreased. (jumbos loans are much harder to get and stated loans have gone the way of sub-prime loans) Also, because of the economic climate many people are remodeling and staying in their current homes rather than moving up. These factors have drastically reduced the upper tier activity. Furthermore, the federal first time home buyer tax credit is spurring activity in the lower price ranges. Record numbers of homes in this price point are selling. The decrease in activity in the upper tier market and a disproportionate amount of activity in the first time buyer category has altered statistical real estate values in Austin, but we have not seen a meaningful drop in actual prices.
On the whole Austin real estate is very strong. Unlike the rest of the United States foreclosures have been a non-issue in Austin. Homes are tending to stay on the market longer than in previous years. This is consistent with the higher inventory numbers. Periodically buyers will find a seller in a difficult situation and capitalize on the opportunity. For the most part buyers are not getting away with many low-ball offers or cherry-picking under priced REO homes, but his hasn’t stopped them from trying. The higher inventory levels have given them the luxury of being picky in their home search.
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