My New Blog

I recently did a comparative market analysis for a seller - a rock in the pit of my stomach given that he hasn't owned the property for long - and was relieved that the past 7 months is still not dragging prices south. In fact, overall in the Travis Heights area, where we will be listing, the price has gone up 2.6% in the past year.

It's no 2007 but compared to the nation, it's positive news. Where my Seller and I are going to be hit is on the days-on-market and by the number of competing homes for the fewer available buyers. That's why we'll be preparing the house like it is going on a first date; keeping its integrity by being what it is but by showing it as the very best it is. It will outsine its competition.

Austin "low risk" for home price correction

Austin Business Journal

The Austin metropolitan area is not likely to see a major correction in home prices, according to PMI Mortgage Insurance Co.’s First Quarter 2009 Economic and Real Estate Trends Report.

When it comes to risk of a home price correction, Austin is the 17th most-stable among the nation's 50 largest cities, the report shows. However, all four of Texas' other major cities are among the top 10 most-stable on the list.

The index ranks the nation’s 50 largest metropolitan statistical areas according to the likelihood that home prices will be lower in two years. It uses home price appreciation, employment, affordability, excess housing supply, interest rates, and foreclosure activity to determine these probabilities. The Miami area had the highest risk, followed Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif, and Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach-Deerfield Beach; Fla.

The most stable market was Pittsburgh, followed by Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio.

California-based PMI (NYSE:PMI) markets residential mortgage insurance and credit-enhancement products.

April 1, 2009

http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2009/03/30/daily37.html

A not-so-surprising affect on new home sales in Central Texas.

CONSTRUCTION DOWN NOW, SUPPLY DOWN LATER

AUSTIN (Austin American-Statesman) – Figures show that Central Texas builders have started 47 percent fewer homes in first quarter 2009 than the same period last year, a trend some say could lead to a housing shortage in the near future.

Builders started 1,215 homes from January through March compared with 2,297 a year earlier, according to a report issued Wednesday from market research firm Residential Strategies Inc.

Additionally, new home construction in Central Texas last year fell to its lowest level since 1997, with builders starting 8,987 houses. In 2006, they started 16,802.

The tightening market is affecting prices as well. In the first quarter, the median price for a new home under construction in the Austin area was $216,448, up from $212,897 a year ago.

With comparatively few homes going up and builders selling off their supply, it would currently take 5.3 months to sell all the new homes on the market. A six-month supply is considered balanced.

Local developer Terry Mitchell says that with the latest figures showing nearly twice as many new homes sold as started, this market may get tighter sooner than he imagined, adding that some areas could face a shortage of lots and homes in 12 to 18 months.

http://www.statesman.com/business/content/business/stories/realestate/04/02/0402newhomes.html