Austin Real Estate Market Update – August 2006 Stats

Austin housing price gains are increasing. The average Sold Price for a home in Austin this August is up 13% from August a year ago. The Median Sold Price is up 8%. Average Days on Market is 60 days. Last month (July 2006), average prices were up 8% from a year earlier. August is showing the strongest monthly jump in price gains so far this year. See charts and stats below for overall numbers and a breakdown by MLS area.

 

Austin Sales Stats August 2006
Previous Month and Year Comparison
All MLS Areas – Houses Only
July 2006
August 2006
August 2005
Yr % Change
# Sold
2583
2529
2566
-1%
Avg List Price
$254,346
$256,508
$226,966
+13%
Median List Price
$182,000
$189,000
$174,950
+8%
Avg Sold Price
$247,675
$249,472
$221,030
+13%
Med Sold Price
$179,900
$185,000
$170,632
+8%
Avg Size SQFT
2123
2144
2102
+2%
Median SQFT
1933
1948
1927
+1%
Avg $ per SQFT
$117
$116
$105
+10%
Avg Days on Mkt
59
60
67
-10%
Median Days on Mkt
35
36
45
-25%

 

Below is a breakdown of August Sales (Houses Only – no condos, townhomes, etc.) by Austin MLS Area. There are a couple of things to note when looking at this data. First, small sample sizes cannot be trusted. Some areas don’t have enough sales for the data to be reliable, which explains some of the large swings in the percentage of increase or decrease. Second, overall numbers can mask the micro trends of an MLS Area.

For example, I know for a fact that some parts of Area SW (the 78739 and 78749 zipcodes) have much higher appreciation than the numbers below indicate. Filtering out those zipcodes, there is actually a pocket of area SW that decreased in value over the past year looking only at August 2006 compared to August 2005.

Finally, New Home sales (new builder neighborhoods) skew the data somewhat due to the fact that no resale home is ever going to be a brand new home, and builders often do funny things with their pricing that inflate the final sales number, such as granting generous incentives to buyers on upgrades. Some areas that look strong overall are actually having a tough time selling resale homes because of competition from new home sales.

The point is, we look at trends over several month’s time and never rely on a single month’s data to make decisions regarding which areas might be best for purchasing.

Of the 55 MLS Areas below, 45 are showing an increase in average sales price over the same month last year. This is a trend that happens every month, so I think the overall upward climb of Austin real estate prices is the real deal.

 

Austin Sales Stats August 2006
Previous Month and Year Comparison
Average Sales Price By MLS Areas – Houses Only
July 2006
August 2006
August 2005
Change
MLS Area
# Sold
Avg Sold
# Sold
Avg Sold
# Sold
Avg Sold
% +/-
Area 1A
30
$506,562
33
$514,505
33
$439,840
+17%
Area 1B
65
$489,654
58
$452,601
60
$400,521
+13%
Area 1N
67
$302,439
66
$275,110
73
$268,865
+2%
Area 2
53
$225,084
57
$211,172
50
$198,410
+6%
Area 2N
39
$138,066
42
$141,950
30
$118,019
+20%
Area 3
30
$172,809
48
$178,864
48
$180,366
-1%
Area 3E
12
$103,886
8
$110,286
9
$95,054
+14%
Area 4
34
$312,904
25
$295,264
28
$311,494
-5%
Area 5
56
$164,706
42
$147,306
29
$121,403
+21%
Area 5E
8
$130,084
16
$104,632
16
$102,780
+2%
Area 6
31
$358,819
26
$304,029
31
$250,396
+21%
Area 7
9
$351,550
9
$377,643
10
$352,300
+7%
Area 8E
30
$779,086
25
$879,649
32
$614,656
+43%
Area 8W
45
$954,309
50
$654,014
48
525,335
+25%
Area 9
8
$143,589
10
$169,904
5
$148,300
+15%
Area 10
160
$156,093
145
$155,390
133
$139,561
+11%
Area 11
35
$108,229
23
$117,713
24
$95,527
+19%
Area BA
36
$139,704
36
$150,614
44
$135,066
+12%
Area BL
5
$243,892
6
$259,400
3
$120,600
+115%
Area BU
19
$238,826
27
$221,205
24
$283,452
-22%
Area BW
18
$137,571
15
$170,148
10
$164,475
+3%
Area CC
21
$119,159
22
$150,439
20
$105,950
+42%
Area CL
239
$175,646
251
$179,093
257
$165,630
+8%
Area EL
16
$117,480
13
$146,231
15
$131,154
+12%
Area FC
0
0
1
$74,900
0
0
N/A
Area GP
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Area GT
93
$205,727
114
$221,930
101
$197,803
+11%
Area HD
51
$349,232
48
$407,219
35
$320,689
+27%
Area HH
117
$166,062
95
$186,041
73
$159,464
+17%
Area HS
19
$168,670
15
$186,351
14
$204,536
-9%
Area HU
34
$147,822
55
$147,426
32
$155,651
-5%
Area HW
28
$212,072
35
$310,255
29
$229,902
+35%
Area JA
17
$193,728
19
$213,900
8
$182,643
+17%
Area LC
4
$182,000
3
$102,800
1
$239,000
-57%
Area LH
13
$266,490
18
$319,470
16
$217,410
+47%
Area LL
3
$512,666
11
$176,739
16
$270,200
-35%
Area LN
68
$314,767
50
$326,114
56
$301,817
+8%
Area LS
100
$466,725
85
$466,254
99
$391,201
+19%
Area MA
26
$154,280
40
$147,064
25
$132,760
+11%
Area MC
4
$157,187
3
$97,333
1
$84,000
+16%
Area N
60
$168,430
45
$189,510
65
$162,752
+14%
Area NE
48
$151,533
34
$145,872
43
$139,777
+4%
Area NW
90
$232,937
77
$226,834
102
$214,688
+6%
Area PF
177
$154,475
161
$168,371
143
$140,018
+20%
Area RN
50
$462,914
56
$530,065
57
$402,222
+32%
Area RR
295
$202,557
288
$197,685
350
$191,283
+3%
Area SC
16
$238,734
18
$200,443
13
$163,884
+22%
Area SE
8
$94,106
10
$103,637
17
$100,858
+3%
Area SV
12
$140,608
16
$158,809
14
$112,269
+41%
Area SW
129
$266,453
157
$242,614
153
$229,041
+6%
Area TC
20
$97,496
16
$105,601
24
$83,555
+26%
Area W
26
$511,651
37
$529,305
36
$421,878
+25%
Area WE
2
$64,750
2
$145,875
5
$80,000
+82%
Area WW
4
$178,375
2
$120,000
4
$91,937
+31%
Area OT
5
$91,234
6
$181,583
2
$129,500
+40

 

Austin MLS Map

13 thoughts on “Austin Real Estate Market Update – August 2006 Stats”

  1. Hi Leo,
    I’m not sure about Pflugerville. I know existing homes in certain areas of PF are not moving at all. I talked to an agent last week with a listing there that hasn’t even been shown once after 3 weeks on the market. It’s priced right and in good shape, only 3 years old. The new subdivision across the street is paying Buyer Agents 8% and giving buyers $15K in incentives/upgrades. I’ll have to dig around in the data some to see what the increase can be attributed to. There may be a more expensive new subdivision that’s pulling the average up with their solds. I’ll have a look when I get time.
    Steve

    Reply
  2. Steve, I think I found out what the deal is, and it confirms your suspicion. Just dug up the stats from MLS and here’s what I get:

    Aug 2006
    avg. $/sq.ft. = 81.1 median=78.9
    avg sq.ft = 2148 median=2102
    avg build yr= 1998 median=2000

    Aug 2005
    avg. $/sq.ft. = 87.7 median=78.14
    avg sq.ft = 1837 median=1722
    avg build yr= 1996 median=1999

    And there you have it, a 17% jump in average house size and a 7.5% decline in average $/sq.ft. Those builders are flooding the neighborhood with ever bigger and bigger homes in order to justify higher and higher prices. And with the incentives they give, no wonder everyone buys.

    Reply
  3. Any idea what hot new subdivisions exist in Austin right now? Other than Avery, Steiner, Falcon Pointe, and Circle C, what other subdivisions are experiencing price increases? I haven’t seen a price increase at ShadowGlen (though I heard from my builder that they are going to increase their prices at the end of the month), but I’ve been checking out Pioneer Crossing as a possible spot for relocating my mother in law. She is looking for a new home (She’s more interested in picking all her options and wants to live no more than 20-25 minutes from us) and her price range is $150-$200K.

    Reply
  4. As usual, always great info for us out-of-town investors – thanks for sharing. Also, why doesn’t the Statesmen publish this information on their website any longer? Thanks again.

    Reply
  5. Hi Mark,

    > Any idea what hot new subdivisions exist in Austin right now? Other than Avery, Steiner, Falcon Pointe, and Circle C, what other subdivisions are experiencing price increases?

    Generally, follow the good schools and expensive land. There is nothing but 200 miles of cheap, flat farmland east of Austin while much of the land west and SW of Austin is subject to environmental restrictions and is more difficult and expensive to develop. I’m really amazed at where Dripping Springs is compared to 10 years ago. I think it’s becoming an affluent, higher end area.
    Steve

    Reply
  6. There are couple new subdivisions in and around Southwest Parkway area that are really nice. I don’t know whether they are appreciating fast or not, but the homes and condos there are fastly approaching or surpassing $300k. For some reason, I hate Circle C. It’s too big and it’s still building. The HOA there are notoriously militant and it’s residents are mostly young professionals. The very curved age distribution made that place more homogeneous, which is not a good thing, in my opinion. On the other hand, it’s one of those “master planned” communities that has a lot of amenities. Seems like a big plus for a lot of parents.

    I think the local media are trying to not bring up the hype of austin real estate. Many people will make a lot of fast cash by jacking up the price in short time, however, soon the the demand will not be able to keep up and the market will crash. In the end, majority of the people will be hurt. After all, according to Statesman, Austin’s job growth is actually the weakest among all major cities with 20% of the companies plan to hire and 21% of companies plan to lay off people.

    Reply
  7. anyone have any opinions how the new AMD plant will impact property values for developments such as Lantana? for example could traffic become an issue down the road possibly effecting property values?

    Reply
  8. > opinions how the new AMD plant will impact property values

    Hi Scott,

    I think overall average prices will be going up as a result of additional higher income earners entering the Oak Hill housing market. I don’t think additional traffic will be a major factor.

    Steve

    Reply

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