I wanted to give you snapshot of what’s happening in the Austin Real Estate market through February 2007.
Current Market Summary February 2007All Single Family Sales
2007
2006
1,714
1,543
1%
All Active Single Family Listings
2007
2006
7,212
7,143
- 2%
Single Family Median Price
2007
2006
$176,000
$166,050
+ 4%
Single Family Pending Sales
2007
2006
2,486
1,942
+ 17%
As you can see the average price per home is rising. What I’m seeing is the amount of inventory of homes under $200,000 in especially in Central Austin is shrinking fast. Right now there are only 9 listings under $2ooK in the MLS areas: 1b,1a,2,4,6,7 which comprise all the central Austin areas in our MLS. Last year I recall there were about 20 properties under $200K. Almost all the listings under $200K are in area 2 of the Austin MLS.
(See the MLS Map below to see the areas)
Now when I get a buyer who tells me they want to buy a home in Central Austin for under $200K I have tell them it’s going to very tough to find that price range and most like they will to look in Area 2. This is the new reality of our market pricing. It does all come down again to LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION which determines the rising prices in properties central.
Here are the active market stats for homes for sale in the 78703 zip code of Austin right now. The trend shows that inventory is down and we are seeing rising prices. Currently there is approximately 2 months of inventory right now.
There was a story in the Statesman today about a vote to change the zoning to allow a Novare Group Holdings, and Andrews Urban to build two new downtown condominium towers including one that will 35 stories tall. It will be located next to the new post office located at West 5th and 6th between Nueces and San Antonio streets. Click here to see a map the area.
Once the new post office is complete Novare wants to build another condo tower that would be 40 stories tall and have over 500 condos. They are also going to build a boutique hotel that would face Republic Park.
Both of these projects will contain retail space as it is vital to the making the downtown a destination point for shopping and so the people that are going to live there have places to shop as well.
The Condo Tower is slated to be open by the Fall of 2010.
The Developers want to zoning changes made so they can build larger buildings. The Planning Commission has approved the zoning changes and the city council is going to vote on it today during a public hearing.
Mayor Will Wynn has expressed his full support for these projects as it fits into his vision of downtown. Here is what the Mayor had to say about this:
Mayor Will Wynn and many local developers have said the existing post office site is underused, with a 1 1/2-story postal station occupying 76,000 square feet of a choice downtown block. In August, the U.S. Postal Service tapped Novare/Andrews Urban to redevelop its downtown site.
“Back when I was trying to drum up interest in someone redeveloping the post office block, this was precisely what I had in mind,” Wynn said in an e-mail Monday. “I’m looking forward to pushing the detonator when it comes time to demolish our existing downtown post office. And I’m going to request that they use a lot more dynamite than was used on the Intel building,” he said, referring to the recently demolished shell of a half-finished chip design center abandoned in 2001 during the tech downturn.
The pricing for these units will be similar to the 360 Towers which ranges from $190,000 to $550,000. It’s reported that the 360 Towers have sold 75% of their units already. They expect to sold out a little later this year. That happened is less them 3 weeks! Amazing! Where is all the demand coming for these condos? There is a lot money going into downtown Austin right now.
Someone sent me this clip from “The Office” on NBC. It’s a :30 clip of Steve Carrell’s character on the show confessing why he needs to own real estate before he dies. I hope owning real estate is on your list! To view the clip on YouTube click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8g5t4tsXRo
There was a good article in the Austin American Statesman about how the Mueller Housing Development is attracting a lot of interest for first time home buyers who want to get into the first home. Buying your first home is a dream many people have and as prices going up on housing that dream will become harder to realize here in Central Austin.
They’ve been holding sessions focused on first-time home buyers, credit repair and housing styles. Prospective home buyers can pick up a registration form at Mueller Central, 4550 Mueller Blvd., or download a registration form at www.mueller austin.com/builders.html
The process is not first-come, first-served. Prospective home owners must choose one builder and one house type and pay a nonrefundable $50 fee for a prequalification letter from the builder’s lender. The deadline for registration is April 30th.
The homes will be priced from $120,000 to the $600,000s, with the bulk priced between $200,000 and $450, 000. The affordable housing, about 25 percent of the overall project, will range from $120,000 to $160,000.
I previewed this area last week and think this is a great opportunity to buy into central Austin at affordable pricing. It’s especially beneficial to a lot would be home buyers who thought they couldn’t afford it, but only if you are willing to act soon.
Now if you live in Round Rock a very cool development is about to happen in your area and for all of North Austin. Many of you know about La Frontera at the confluence of three major regional highways: IH 35, SH 45, and North Loop 1 (MoPac). Well read below about a new Town Center that is going to be developed out there in the next year.
For those who thought the center of La Frontera in Round Rock was still a grassy knoll, think again. North American Properties received city approval and closed on the purchase of nine acres in December, and broke ground on the site for a four-story town center last month.
La Frontera Square, located east of the Marriott Hotel at Hesters Crossing and La Frontera Boulevard, will feature 349 luxury apartments atop 45,000 sq. ft. of retail, restaurant and office space. According to Mike Pacillio, NAP principal, the office space and patio seating at the restaurants will overlook The Green, the park adjacent to the center.
The First of its Kind
The first phase is expected to be complete by the middle of next year, with the final phase opening in Spring 2009. Pacillio said they hope to get the leasing office open as soon as possible and plan to focus on completing any office, retail or restaurant space early in the process.
Even with completion more than two years away, Don Martin, La Frontera co-developer, looks forward to Round Rock’s first vertical, mixed-use development.
“When La Frontera was originally master-planned seven years ago, there were not any developers doing vertical, mixed-use in the suburban markets in Texas,” Martin said. “Now that has changed, and we targeted this site to try and find a developer like NAP. We are excited about what they are building.”
Martin said the town center will resemble The Triangle in Austin on Lamar Boulevard near 45th Street. He expects Austin and surrounding cities like Round Rock and Pflugerville will begin seeing more of these kinds of projects because of high demand. “People want to live where they can also drop in at the local café or stores downstairs,” Martin said.
Location, Location, Location
The Square, visible from IH 35 and Toll 45, will be the focal point of La Frontera. “In some cases, workers in the area buildings can choose to live in the residential units creating a situation where they can live, work and shop and not have to use their cars to commute to work every day,” Martin said.
Martin said the project will also help Round Rock and La Frontera attract other office developments and businesses. “All in all it’s a win-win for La Frontera by attracting other developments, which in turn helps the other apartments and the existing retail,” Martin said.
Under the new PUD language, La Frontera Square was tweaked to allow for an alternate landscape plan, an increase in the number of apartments and the addition of structural parking.
Just like Lakeside and Enclave Apartments, the center will have two internal parking garages, one allocated for the retail, restaurants and office, and the other for residents.
I’ve been listening to Larry Winget, the author of It’s Called Work For A Reason! for a few years and sometimes his statements piss me off. But he does get me thinking about life and how things work for us. In this latest post he sent me he talks about that we need to Prepare for the Worst. Now I know that’s not popular with these motivational speakers but he does have a good point here.
I’ve had real estate deals go bad on me and my clients, and when that happens people start to freak out. They don’t know what to do, and start behaving in bad ways that don’t help anyone. It’s sucks and this post Larry makes can help us all realize this can go bad for us and we need to prepare for the worst! There are too many things that can happen in a real estate transaction we don’t have any control over. We can hope and expect the best but we sure need to prepare for the worst. That’s were your real estate agent can help you. But you need to ask them about it. I invite my clients to ask me what can go wrong that will miss this deal up. I’m happy to tell them all the ways that a real estate deal can go wrong. I’ve got a list of over 99 ways that I’ve seem deals go bad. Feel free to ask me for it and I’ll send it to you.
Take notice investors and potential condo buyers! Read the flyer below from the Magnolia Condos on South Lamar. I like this condo project because the prices are reasonable and this a GREAT location. They are offering a $1500 bonus to agents which I will happily donate to a buyer’s closing costs. Plus you won’t have any HOA fees for the first year! But you have to act before March 15th!
There is more development happening near Lakeway and on Lake Travis.
Work is moving quickly on Rough Hollow, our new community on the shore of Lake Travis near Austin. The community’s Yacht Club Marina is scheduled to open this summer and will be the center of life in Rough Hollow. Residents will also have the chance to become members at Crescent Communities’ Twin Creeks Country Club nearby.Visit www.roughhollow-crescent.com to sign up for future updates.
In a story in Reuters, U.S. home loan refinancing surges as rates plunge shows scores of people who are refinancing their home mortgages again as rates have gone down to their lowest level since early last December. Applications were up over 16% from a year ago.
With an abundance of adjustable-rate mortgages resetting in 2007, consumers holding these loans have been refinancing into fixed-rate loans in recent months.
While this maybe a good sign for existing homeowners to get lower payments on their mortgages. There is some disturbing news I’ve gotten from several mortgage lenders about what’s happening in the market that’s not getting talked about.
I heard that the FICA scores that lenders look at for consumers can qualify for when buying a house have been raised 40 points from 580 to 620. And the Zero down loans are going out the window if you’ve got a low score and you’ll have to able to put 5% downpayment just to qualify. What does all this mean? Well we could see a lot of buyers disappear until they get credit scores raised or come up with more money for downpayments. The lenders have told me they aren’t going to be able to offer some of the products they’ve had for a number of years. Do the math, less loans + fewer buyers = lower home sales.
We’ll have to see how this plays out. I’ll be checking back in on this soon.
