Austin Real Estate Scene

We are still seeing the rise of property values across Travis County.

Five Travis County School Districts are seeing Double Digit increases in their property values

The biggest increase in the Eanes school district which is going up over 15%. The other areas are Lake Travis, Lago Vista, and even the Austin ISD has shot up over 12%.

These increases in appraisals by the Travis County Appraisal District are going to draw controversy because they don’t correlate with the slowdown in the Austin real estate market this year. There is lot more inventory for sale then last year and it’s not moving as quickly. This could cause a downward trend in pricing if sales don’t pick up. I’m seeing a lot of price reductions on listings throughout all of Austin and the surrounding areas. This has many home sellers confused why the value of their home went up so much and they can’t sell their house for that amount.

Home values in Williamson County this year are expected to rise 6 percent on average and commercial values about 9 percent on average, Chief Appraiser Bill Carroll said.

In Hays County, Chief Appraiser David Valle said homeowners can expect to see single-digit increases on average when notices go out May 8 or 9. Commercial values probably will be up as well, Valle said.

Brown said the housing valuations in Travis County were based on “late 2007 sales whenever possible to make sure our values are accurate.”

Brown added: “People are continuing to come into the area. And as long as we have population growth and low interest rates, we’re going to have continued demand for houses. It’s when demand dries up that house prices are likely to go down, and a well-located house is still selling well in this marketplace. The demand is still sufficient enough to keep values increasing.”

We’ll see if that demand is sufficient enough over the summer. I think they are being overzealous in their appraisal approach and I encourage anyone who thinks their property values have risen too much to protest them. You must file your protest by May 31st. For more information on how to file your protest Click Here.