Month: November 2005

Austin Area home sales surge in October

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supply and demand

From today’s Austin Statsman

Supply is shrinking fast, but price increases remain modest.

AMERICAN-STATESMAN
Wednesday, November 23, 2005

A third consecutive record year for Central Texas home sales is all but ensured after an unusually strong October in which the number of houses changing hands increased by 27 percent year-over-year.

Home sales from January through October are up 19 percent from the first 10 months of last year, while the number of houses on the market declined by 14 percent, according to the Austin Board of Realtors.

But real estate agents say buyers have an unusually big incentive to take action this fall, as mortgage interest rates continue to rise.

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Austin Real Estate Expired/Withdrawn to Sold Ratio Analysis

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Real Estate Sold Vs Expired 2005

With all the talk and news articles about how wonderful the Austin Real Estate market is doing, I thought I’d take a look at a different set of numbers and share with you what I found.

While it’s good news that Austin is selling record numbers of homes, many homes still do not sell. How do the number of Expired and Withdrawn listings compare with the increase in numbers of homes sold? Let’s take a look.

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The Downside of Living in Austin – Allergies

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Bad comes with the good

Its’ official. Austin Allergy season has started for me (and many others in Austin). Austin is considered one of the top “allergy capitals” in the US. There are allergens in the air throughout the year in varying amounts but for Austin and Central Texas, Cedar Fever is the most annoying.

I felt great this morning – clear head, breathing fine, no allergy symptoms whatsoever, then it came out of nowhere … the 12-sneeze allergy attack. These are powerful sneezes in rapid succession. This happens to me every year around Thanksgiving and represents the offical kickoff of 3 or 4 months of Cedar Fever.

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Austin Home Pricing Analysis

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Austin on map

The National Association of Realtors ((NAR) compliled a home price analysis for 130 real estate markets across the U.S. as part of a study into whether or not a nationwide housing bubble exists. Their conclusion? – no bubble exists, and especially not in Austin. About Austin, the report says: “A thorough analysis of the Austin-Round … Read more

Austin Population and Growth Forecast

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How many realtors does a city need?

I came across some interesting demographic information tonight on the City of Austin website. City of Austin Demographics are changing and the City of Austin site provides a lot of info worth checking out, with predictions about where new growth will happen for the remainder of this decade.

Check out the link to Population and Household Forecast by ZIP Code for the City of Austin. Among other things, the report says that overall population growth, from 2000 to 2010, should be greatest in ZIP Code 78748 in south central Austin, with a net gain of more than 10,000 new residents.

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