Austin Real estate market keeps sizzling…. see the Statesman article today. Increases in October home sales has put Central Texas on track for a record year
Sales of existing homes in Central Texas rose more than 8 percent in October from the same month a year ago, according to an Austin Board of Realtors report released Wednesday. Last month, a record 2,073 single-family homes were sold, up from 1,913 sold in October 2005.
This, combined with a higher median price, relatively quick sales and a higher number of pending sales, is good news, says Charles Heimsath, president of Austin-based real estate consulting firm Capitol Market Research.
“All those taken together says to me it’s a very strong market that shows little signs of weakening,” Heimsath said.
The Central Texas region has posted a strong pace of home sales this year, signaling that the region continues to buck national trends of a cooling housing market.
It also bodes well for 2007, as economists expect the region to hold on to its strong sales and growth. You can see a visual chart of sales prices.
Home sales in the $200,000 to $249,000 price range, however, are up 18 percent.
Among the Central Texas submarkets, the South Austin area known as area 10 posted the highest “hotness” factor, which is calculated by the number of pending sales versus active listings, Rosshirt said.
In that area, which includes neighborhoods such as Cherry Creek and Tanglewood Forest, active listings took about 18 days to sell, the report found.
Real estate agent Corey Yañez, whose specializes in area 10, says activity was fueled in part by many first-time buyers.
And that means quicker sales as well, Yañez said.
“People need to move quickly; area 10 is more affordable than other areas in Austin, but it’s very close to downtown,” said Yañez, who is with Ultima Real Estate Services.
This is very true as I’ve had buyers who didn’t move fast enough or aggresively enough to buy a house in thie competitive area of home sales. There have been mulitple offers on every deal I’ve seen. The lession is do your homework and be preparted to make an offer that’s going to HURT a little because that hurt is nothing compared to the Hurt you’ll feel if you didn’t get the home you wanted.
Contact me for more details on specific neighbhorhoods you may be interested in finding more info about.
