Steady Growth Predicted

February 9, 2007 on 7:24 pm | In Housing Market, Austin Economy | No Comments

From the AUSTIN REALTOR, February 2007. Published by the Austin Board of REALTORS

Austin Home Sales Show Steady Growth in 2006
Single-family home sales in December were higher than during the same period in 2005, capping another record year for the Austin-area housing market. Certain parts of the Austin metropolitan proved especially popular with buyers in 2006. Houses in Areas N and SW, which respectively border Hays and Williamson counties, sold particularly quickly. Homes in Area N decreased their average time on the market by 20 days, while the amount of time those in Area SW sat on the market dropped by 21 days.Hays County also posted notable gains, with Area HH’s record 1,125 home sales besting the previous year by 236. Average days on market for these homes was 69 days in 2006, a decrease of 8 days from 2005. 

 

Economists Expect Healthy 2007

February 9, 2007 on 7:21 pm | In Housing Market | No Comments

Article published in Feb 2007 AUSTIN REALTOR, a publication of the Austin Board of REALTORS.

Economists Expect Healthy Market in 2007
The Local View
While the national real estate market suffered a downturn in 2006, single-family home sales in Central Texas remained strong, posting record numbers throughout the year. More homes were sold in the Austin-area during the first two quarters of 2006 than in the first six months of any other year. Between January and June, 13 percent more single-family homes were sold than in the first half of 2005. March marked the first recordbreaking month in 2006, a trend that continued through the end of the year. The 2,373 singlefamily homes sold in March remained on the market for an average of 68 days, which is 18 percent less time than in March 2005.In the second quarter more records were broken, with the number of single-family homes sold in June up 21 percent from the previous June. The total dollar volume of these sales increased 36 percent from one year ago.The fourth quarter of 2006 solidified the year’s record-breaking routine. The median price of single- family homes set a record for October. At $175,000, it was up 9 percent from the same period in 2005.

End of year home sales also showed a healthy gain over 2005: singlefamily home sales reached 26,958, up 10 percent from one year ago. Altogether, these single-family home sales added $6,355,015,356 to the economy in 2006, 20 percent more than in 2005.

Also notable in 2006 was the fact that homes sat on the market for the shortest amount of time in four years.

The National View
Existing home sales enjoyed their third-best performing year on record in 2006, according to researchers at the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). Though the market remained unstable for the first half of 2006, NAR chief economist David Lereah noted that it probably reached its low point in September.

He cited gains made in October and November 2006 housing sales as evidence of a stabilizing market.

While some areas, such as California and Florida, experienced a bust in 2006 following their fast growth, many other local markets remained healthy. Among those healthy cities cited was Austin, which experienced a 6 percent median price gain in 2006 after modest price growth in 2004 and 2005.

2007 Forecast
Pending home sales throughout the nation indicate a stabilization trend.

“Although some monthly declines are possible, when we look at the forecast for existing-home sales in 2007 on a quarterly basis, we see gradual improvement over the course of the year,” says Lereah.

Texas can expect a healthy real estate market in the coming year, due to affordable home prices and ongoing job growth. The Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University reported that in the second quarter of 2006, national home sales fell by 7 percent, while Texas home sales increased by 11 percent.

Reports from the Real Estate Center citing that Texas is home to three of the top-ten most populated U.S. metros, as well as four of the fastest-growing cities in the nation, indicate that this trend is likely to continue through 2007.

Examining general economic indicators can help predict the real estate market for 2007. Inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), is expected to fall from 3.2 percent in 2006 to 2.2 percent in 2007. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is projected to fall slightly from 3.3 percent in 2006 to 2.9 percent in 2007.

These economic factors, along with forecasts for continued stability, indicate that Central Texas can expect a healthy real estate market in the coming year.

 

 

Austin Home Search - Tell People

February 6, 2007 on 4:50 am | In Austin MLS, Austin News | No Comments

Special Note from the Owner of www.AustinHomeListings.com

I think we offer the best Austin home search experience on the web.  As you may already know, we have the cool mapping feature, predefined neighborhood queries, virtual tours and more. To top it off, we don’t even make you register unless you want to use the advanced features like setting up your own favorite’s folder or signing up for regular email alerts. 

Of course, we created the best Austin Home Search tool so we could meet new clients, provide outstanding service, and of course, earn a decent living. We always believed that if someone likes our site, they will probably like working with us.  We are customer focused, and detailed oriented much like this site. Of couse, we recognize that many of you will use our website and still work with other REALTORS. (In fact, we know a lot of REALTORS use our site because it is easier to search than the real MLS. That’s a future blog post.) We’re ok with that too, but for all those people who love our site, we ask one thing in return…

Please tell people about www.AustinHomeListings.com. I’m serious. The more people that use our site, the more likely it is that we get a new customer, earn revenue and ultimately reinvest some cash back into the site and develop new Austin Home Search features such as Arial mapping, local retail information and more.  So either hire us as your REALTOR (you won’t be sorry) or at least tell your friends about www.austinhomelistings.com, link to the site, blog about us, etc. 

Thanks for your continued support,

Great Austin Properties Management