The average and median sold prices in Austin are up for February 2009. Average sold price is up 6.29% from Feb a year ago and median sold price is up 2.65% from last year. Last month (Jan 2009) you might remember sold prices had dropped about 5%. So the Austin market is “undulating” a bit, sort of like the stock market except that we’re now actually up YTD for the same period 2008 as well.
Volume of sales dropped 25% for Feb compared to Feb 2008, but that’s an improvement from the volume drop of 40% in Jan. The number of “Not Solds” (expired or withdrawn) is at 50% for February, meaning half the listings that departed the MLS were failed sales efforts. Let’s look at the breakdown of the rest of the Austin single family home sales for Feb 2009:
• Number of homes sold is down 25% (was down 40% last month) from 1,315 Feb 2008 to 989 Feb 2009.
• Average list prices in Austin were up 6.89% over the same month last year to $264,044.
• Average sold prices in Austin were up 6.29% over the same month last year to $252,132 from $237,218 a year ago.
• Median sold price was up 2.65% to $194,000. Last year in Feb it was $189,000.
• Average List to Sold price ratio is 95.49%, down slightly from 96.00% the same month last year.
• Avg sold price per square foot is up 0.18% to $114.04 compared to $113.83 a year ago in Feb.
• Avg days on market is up 12 days (18.75%) from 64 last year to 76 this November.
• Median days on market is up 15 days (20%) from 69 days last year to 83 Feb this year.
• Number of “Not Sold” (exp or withdrawn) is up 20% over the same month last year, to 50% of all removed listings compared to 42% for the same month last year. This is actually a fairly healthy drop from the 61% Not Sold ratio in Jan and the 58% in December.
Most of this is favorable, but it would be foolish to think one month means anything. We would need to see a sustained trend upward, for three months in a row leading into the summer, accompanied by better economic news nationally, before I’d get too excited about the Austin market. Still, as real estate markets go, Austin is stubborn and is hanging in there better than almost any other city in the U.S.
The stats outlined above are shown in the chart below.
Austin Real Estate Sales Market Update |
Homes only (condos, duplexes, etc. not included) compiled from Austin MLS data |
|
Jan 2009 |
Feb 2009 |
Feb 2008 |
Yr % Change |
# Sold |
780 |
989 |
1315 |
-24.79% |
Avg List |
$249,669 |
$264,044 |
$247,099 |
6.86% |
Med List |
$189,900 |
$199,900 |
$189,000 |
5.77% |
Avg Sold |
$235,513 |
$252,132 |
$237,218 |
6.29% |
Med Sold |
$180,875 |
$194,000 |
$189,000 |
2.65% |
Sold/List % |
94.33% |
95.49% |
96.00% |
-0.53% |
Avg SQFT |
2173 |
2211 |
2084 |
6.09% |
Med SQFT |
1950 |
2043 |
1907 |
7.13% |
Avg $ SQFT |
$108.38 |
$114.04 |
$113.83 |
0.18% |
Avg DOM |
82 |
83 |
69 |
20.29% |
Median DOM |
66 |
64 |
53 |
20.75% |
# Expired |
537 |
400 |
451 |
-11.31% |
# Withdrawn |
682 |
589 |
492 |
19.72% |
Not Sold |
1219 |
989 |
943 |
4.88% |
Not Sold % |
60.98% |
50.00% |
41.76% |
19.72% |
The year to date chart is below, showing how we’re doing through Feb 2009 compared to Jan-Feb 2008.
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