Austin Real Estate Market Update – July 2008

The average sales price for houses in Austin in July 2008 remained about level, decreasing slightly (0.05%) to $262,114. The number of failed sales efforts (expired or withdrawn) was 42%, which is a large number. Days on market continues to climb also, to 60 days average on market and 39 median days on market. Those numbers are not bad actually, but last year DOM was 51 and 31, so things are definitely slower this year.

Here is a quick summary of the July stats.
• Number of homes sold is down 24% from 2,544 July 2007 to 1,926 July 2008.
• Average sold prices in Austin were down 0.05% over the same month last year to $262,114.
• Median sold price was up 3.65% over the same month last year to $199,000.
• Avg sold price per square foot is down 2.62% from July 2007 to $121 per sqft.
• Avg days on market is up 9 days (18%) from 51 last year to 60 this July.
• Median days on market is up 8 days (26%) from 31 days last year to 39 this year.
• Number of “Not Sold” (exp or withdrawn) is up a whopping 56% over the same month last year, to 42% of all removed listings.

Below is the chart with these stats, along with a YTD chart.

One thing to note is that it was about this time last year, or a bit earlier, when we really started to notice the Austin real estate market slowing down. Because of that, I think moving forward we’re going to see the year over year gaps narrow somewhat as we move into comparing a slower period 2008 to a slower period 2007. In other words, we’re a year into our Austin lull, so were not comparing a hot market for the year prior to a cool market as we have been for about the past year.

Austin Real Estate Market Update for July 2008
All Austin / Central TX MLS Areas – Houses Only

Jun 2008
Jul 2008
Jul 2007
Yr % Change
# Sold
2032
1926
2544
-24.29%
Avg List
$274,504
$271,058
$269,722
0.50%
Med List
$209,000
$203,443
$196,250
3.67%
Avg Sold
$264,653
$262,114
$262,233
-0.05%
Med Sold
$202,000
$199,000
$192,000
3.65%
List/Sold %
96.41%
96.70%
97.22%
-0.54%
Avg SQFT
2133
2170
2114
2.65%
Med SQFT
1949
1965
1919
2.40%
Avg $ SQFT
$124
$121
$124
-2.62%
Avg DOM
61
60
51
17.65%
Median DOM
36
39
31
25.81%
# Expired
522
522
367
42.23%
# Withdrawn
687
875
568
54.05%
Not Sold
1209
1397
935
49.41%
Not Sold %
37%
42%
27%
56.43%
On the Market (houses) as of July 21, 2008:
12,756 = Active Res Listings in Austin MLS (12,466 last month)
10,620 = Total Single Family Homes listed (10,335 last month)
1853 = Condo/Townhome/Loft/Garden Homes listed (1870 last mo.)
283 = Mobile/Manufactured Homes

Below is the year to date breakdown.

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Austin Real Estate Sales Breakdown by MLS Area – June 2008 YTD

Below is the breakdown of year-to-date home sales in Austin by MLS area. This is for houses only, no condos, townhomes, etc. I’m often asked, “how is the Austin real estate market?”, to which I reply, it depends on which market you are talking about. There are multiple “markets” and sub-markets in Austin. Here are some summary points I gleaned from the stats.

* Of the 42 Austin MLS areas tracked below, all but 1 have fewer sales Jan-Jun 2008 compared to 2007. The only area with more sales than the same 6-month period last year was the UT area with 26 sales YTD this year compared to 24 last year.

* 28 of the 42 Austin MLS areas have higher average sales prices for 2008 than the same period last year. That’s 2/3 of Austin’s MLS areas experiencing price increases for average sales price.

* The same number (28) of Austin MLS areas have increases in Median Sold prices compared to a year ago.

* 24 MLS areas saw an increase in both average and median sold prices.

* 27 of the 42 Austin MLS areas saw an increase in average price per square foot on homes sold.

* Of the 24 MLS areas that saw an increase in both average sold and median sold prices, 21 of those areas also showed an increase in the average sold price per square foot. This means half of all Austin MLS areas have experienced price increases in all three of the main metrics that indicate price appreciation. These areas generally tend to congregate around Central Austin. 14 of these areas are within a 20 minute drive of downtwon. 7 are east of IH35.

* 7 of the Austin areas saw a decrease in all three metrics of avg, median and psf sales prices. Those areas were 8W (Eanes West), EL (Elgin), LN (Lake North), LS (Lake South), MA (Manor), SC (Far SE Austin) and W (West Austin). It’s interesting that, with the exception of area LN, all of the areas with triple drops are either way above or way below the Austin average and median sales prices. This jives with what we know, that both the upper and lower ends of the market are slow.

* 7 of the 42 MLS area saw a decrease in the Days on Market, meaning homes are selling faster in those areas than a year ago. Most areas saw an increase in days on market, indicating slower sales.

Check the chart below to see how your particular area is doing. As usual, questions and comments are welcome.

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