North 1B Luxury Comps – Highland Park West, Balcones & Mount Bonnell April 7, 2011

(Area defined by: North of 35^th St., West of MoPac, East of Lake Austin & South of 2222)

- There are currently 26 luxury homes available in this area with 7 others currently under contract. Over the last 3 months 8 luxury homes have sold. At this rate of absorption there is 10 months worth of inventory. Things were somewhat active last fall in 1B north and activity increased during the holidays and early in the year. Since that time the pace has slowed. However, 7 pending homes is a healthy sign and shows a rate of increasing activity, and I anticipate this higher activity to continue.

The activity in the $500k to $999k range accounts for almost 90% of the areas luxury sales, this is higher than normal. There are currently 13 homes available but only 2 of the 7 pending homes is in this price range. Over the last 3 months 7 homes have sold between $500k and $999k. With this rate of absorption there is 5.6 months of inventory, which is significantly better than the ULRA luxury market.

The activity in the ULTRA luxury market, $999 and up, has been very slow over the past three months but we have seen much more activity recently (5 pending homes is a strong indicator). There are currently 14 active homes available and 5 pending sales in this market. Over the last 3 months 1 ULTRA home has sold yielding an absorption rate of .33 homes a month. At this rate there is currently 42 months of inventory. We have seen these buyers start to enter the market because jumbo rates have been so attractive and all signs point to a stronger real estate market. The very negative absorption rate is more of a statistical number, and doesn’t accurately show market forces. 5 pending sales shows strong buyer activity in this market and once these close the absorption rate will be much more favorable.

Final Thoughts: The activity below $1 million has been solid and accounts for almost 90% of the sales. The ULTRA market has been very slow until recently. Luxury sellers have held firm on their pricing and this indicates a stronger market (last fall much of the luxury market was discounting their homes to find real buyers). The market data is somewhat skewed because of the high number of pending sales that have yet to close. As those homes close the numbers will be much more favorable, but I will be interested to see if 1B can keep up this pace. My though is activity in the $500 to $999 range will increase and the $1 million + activity will stay solid but slow some in the next months.

Best,

Marcus

More good news for Austin?

Hey Guys,

More good news for Austin, as PayPal considers adding 1000 new jobs in the Austin area. This is another example of Texas', and to a greater extent, Austin's popularity among businesses and individuals alike. Low taxes, no state income tax, a healthy job & real estate market, a highly educated populous and fabulous weather makes Austin a great choice. Take a look at the Austin Business Journal article for more information: PayPal

Have a great day!!!

Best,

Marcus

New real estate lifestyle site... workingtoomuch.com!!!!

Hey All!

I am happy to announce that I launched a new real estate website geared for second homes, ranches and legacy properties. I would love to hear your thoughts, and of course, if you're looking for a second home, beach house or ranch call me; I would love to help.

www.workingtomuch.com

Thanks and have a great night!

Best,

Marcus

Homes sales volume, median price consistent from year-to-year in February

Austin Board of REALTORS® releases February 2011 real estate statistics

AUSTIN, Texas – March 21, 2011 – According to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) report released today by the Austin Board of REALTORS®, 1,112 single-family homes were sold in the Austin area in February 2011, a figure that is statistically unchanged from February 2010.

In the same time period, the median price for single-family homes in Austin was $193,000, up two percent from February 2010, and homes spent an average of 98 days on the market, 27 percent longer than February 2010. In addition, new listings were down 24 percent in February 2011 compared to February 2010 and active listings were down eight percent.

“In terms of home sales volume, February 2011 looks much like this month last year. However, there are a few key differences,” said Judith Bundschuh, Chairman of the Austin Board of REALTORS®.

Chairman Bundschuh continued, “Fewer homes were on or entering the market in February. This could mean buyers may encounter more competition for properties heading into the summer selling season. At the same time, increases in the days on market means sellers should prepare to be patient if they want to earn full value for their properties.”

In February 2011, pending sales for single-family homes were down 11 percent when compared to February 2010. Chairman Bundschuh explained, “The market is still feeling the effects of the home-buyer tax credits. As we compare last year when incentives were available to this year without the tax credits, we see that month-to-month comparisons are still being influenced by the artificial stimulus the tax credits provided.”

Additionally, leasing activity in the Austin area increased in February with 1,117 properties leased, up five percent from the same month last year. The median lease price in February 2011 was $1,200, nine percent more than in February 2010.

Austin area home sales volume up 14 percent in January compared to 2010

Some great news from ABOR. I am very encouraged by the signs of strength shown by the real estate market in Austin. I have seen an nice increase in activity across all price ranges over the past couple of months. Enjoy... Marcus


Austin Board of REALTORS® releases January 2011 real estate statistics

AUSTIN, Texas – February 21, 2011 – Sales of single-family homes in the Austin area were 14 percent higher in January 2011 than January 2010 with 975 homes sold, according to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) report released today by the Austin Board of REALTORS®.

In the same time period, the median price in Austin was $190,000, up six percent from January 2010; and homes spent an average of 93 days on the market, 11 percent longer than January 2010. In addition, new listings were down 14 percent in January 2011 compared to January 2010 and active listings were down five percent, indicating a decreasing inventory of homes.

“The latest figures show that we are seeing the economic recovery continue in Austin,” said Judith Bundschuh, Chairman of the Austin Board of REALTORS®.

Chairman Bundschuh continued, “Looking at these results, sellers should be encouraged that demand and prices are strong, but they should expect to be patient to achieve full value. Buyers should know that fewer listings combined with increased demand could mean they will encounter more competition for properties.”

Texas Public Beaches vs. Private Property Rights...

Hi all, I just found an article by Gabriel Lopez in the most recent issue of Texas Realtor. It sheds some light on the new Supreme Court rulings on Texas beaches, public easements and private property owners. It is definitely worth the read. Enjoy...
Marcus

A new line between private property and the beach?
Court case shores up property rights for coastal properties.

by Gabriel Lopez

The Texas Supreme Court recently issued an opinion
that slightly waters down the powers the state of Texas has to enforce the Open Beaches Act. If you sell beachfront property or work with buyers interested in acquiring property at the coast, you’ll want to know about this change.

Just how do you define beach?
The Open Beaches Act, passed in 1959, sought to codify rights already granted by earlier court rulings. The act prohibited anyone from creating, erecting, or constructing any “obstruction, barrier, or restraint” that would interfere with the unrestricted right of the public to access Texas beaches (where the public had acquired a right of use or easement).

While inland easements are easy to define by their static metes and bounds, anyone who has ever gone to the beach knows that, depending on the time of day, there may be more or less beach to use. There’s also a distinction between wet and dry beaches.

Wet beaches are the zone that extends from low tide to high tide. These have always been considered public property held in trust for the people of Texas. A dry beach is considered the area between the high tide and the vegetation line. In Texas, dry beaches have remained open to the public by virtue of continuous use for as long as anyone can remember. The recent court case concerns dry beaches.

A little iced-tea analogy
If you, like me, have a fondness for sweetened iced tea in summer, you can appreciate having the perfect mix of ingredients in your glass. Any iced-tea drinker worth his weight in sugar (or NutraSweet or Extra or even Splenda) knows that balancing the tea, the melting ice, and the sugar is a skill just short of alchemy.

Sometimes you have just the perfect mix and, while you’re not looking, an oblivious server—like I was during college—refills your glass. Everything changes.

Oceanfront beaches are a little like that iced tea. They change all the time. The tide and vegetation lines shift. Beachfront property lines retract or extend when previously dry lands become submerged by the surf or dry out after being submerged. That makes public beach easements dynamic as well.

Most boundary shifts are gradual, like the ice melting in the tea. So the law does not require the state to constantly reestablish the easements each time the boundary moves. This is how public easements work along a beach. Gradual changes are accounted for, and equilibrium is maintained between private property and public easements.

What happened on the beach in Galveston

Sometimes, though, like the perfect glass of tea disrupted by a clueless server, a beach undergoes a sudden, drastic change. That’s what happened to Carol Severance, who owned several beachfront homes along Galveston’s West Beach. Hurricane Rita devastated her investment properties and moved the vegetation line dramatically up the shore.

After the storm, the entirety of one house was now seaward of the vegetation line. This made her property subject to the public easement. The state was seeking to use the Open Beaches Act to forcibly remove any structure that came to be located on what was now considered the public beach. That included the house Severance owned on Kennedy Drive.

The end of the world as we know it? Hardly…
It is extremely difficult to balance the public interest in the enjoyment of public beaches with the almost sacrosanct ability for private-property owners to exclude others from their property. Imagine if every Tom, Dick, and Harry could waltz onto your property, set up a towel, and cavort on your lawn.

The Texas Supreme Court ultimately decided that although a property owner can potentially lose property if it becomes part of the wet beach or is submerged after a natural disaster, it is not reasonable to suddenly encumber an entirely new portion of a landowner’s property that was not previously subject to a public easement.

There are those who would have you believe this will spell the end to public beaches in Texas. This is a knee-jerk reaction and a wild exaggeration. This ruling will only apply in an extremely limited set of circumstances after a natural catastrophe. The court also held that if the state wanted to preserve the public easement along Severance’s property, it could (gasp) pay for it.

To see the article click here.

To read more about the Supreme Courts ruling and opinions click here.

Interested in Texas Coastal Real Estate? click here.

Market for vacation homes is on the rise...

The Wall Street Journal just recently featured an article discussing the growth in the vacation home - second home real estate markets. The article is very interesting, but does not feature Texas coastal real estate. We have a seen a pretty significant increase in activity on the Texas Coast since September 2010, as many buyers/investors are comfortable with the economic climate and looking for an opportunity to enjoy the beach and safely park money. Click the link below for the full article. Enjoy...


Vacation Home Article





Photograph By: King Lawrence - www.kinglawrence.com