From the category archives:

Sales Market

Austin Real Estate Market – July 2010 Update

August 18, 2010

The Austin real estate market is chugging through the summer and producing some interesting stats. By that I mean that the stats shown below look better than some of the actual outcomes we are seeing in the market. Some homes are selling fast, at or close to list price, and others are not moving. In [...]

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Austin Pending Sales Update – Through May 2010

June 25, 2010

Take a look at this chart showing the number of homes that go under contract, or “Pending”, in Austin each month over the past several years. The green line is 2010. I could almost stop writing at this point and just let the chart tell the entire story. But have a careful look at the [...]

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How Long Does it Take To Add a New Listing to Austin MLS?

June 5, 2010

I just finished adding one of our new listings to the Austin MLS. Years ago, this took about 15 minutes. There was far less data included and only 8 photos with no comment space for photos, no pdf attachments, and far less space to type the general description of the property.Today, a nearly overwhelming amount [...]

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Travis County Property Tax Protest Season is Here Again

May 5, 2010

I just received my property tax appraisals from Travis Country Appraisal District (TCAD)  and Williamson County Appraisal District (WCAD) for 2010. Doesn’t look like I’ll need to protest any property values this year. Some properties are borderline high, but not worth the time and effort to dispute because a) they are close enough, within a [...]

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With Buyer Tax Credit Over, What’s Next for Austin Real Estate

May 2, 2010

With the April 30th expiration of the home buyer tax credit, it’s time for buyers, Austin sellers and Austin Realtors to figure out what happens next. Austin Sellers who didn’t get offers might wonder, “are the buyers all gone now?” Austin Buyers who didn’t get their act together and claim the tax credit might wonder, [...]

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Austin Real Estate Market Update – March 2010

April 28, 2010

The Austin real estate market for March 2010 saw a not surprising 22% increase in the number of sales compared to the same month a year ago. Average sold price was up 2.22%, median sold was slightly down at -0.66%. Before we call that “good news”, it would help to know that March 2009 was [...]

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Home Values in Texas Likely to Remain Stable

April 27, 2010

(Used with permission) Risk of Major Home Price Decline Low in Texas, By David S. Jones, senior editor, Real Estate Center, Release No. 19-0410 COLLEGE STATION, Tex. (Real Estate Center) — A new study from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University explains why Texas’ housing market fared far better than other states during [...]

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The Government Has Made Me Stupid About Real Estate

April 22, 2010

As we head into the final weekend preceding the final work week of April, and the $8,000 1st time homebuyer tax credit winds down (thank God), I’m seeing a surge of new Austin real estate listings coming on the market each day as well as a huge increase in the number of showings for most [...]

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Austin Real Estate and Automated Valuation Tools

April 13, 2010

You’ve no doubt heard of Zillow, and know how inaccurate its Austin real estate valuations can be. That’s not completely the fault of Zillow because Texas is a non-disclosure state, meaning when you sell your house, it’s nobody’s business what you sold it for, or what the buyer paid. This results in limited sold data [...]

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Many Home Buyers Will Consider Tax Fraud in Early May 2010

March 28, 2010

The $8,000 First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit will end April 30th. By “end”, I mean Friday April 30 is the last day to write a contract that qualifies. The transaction must also close by June 30th, which should be plenty of time. But an interesting thing will start happening May 1st, 2010. Buyers who miss [...]

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