1 - 2012 - Crossland Real Estate

Austin 2011 Real Estate Sales Breakdown by MLS Area

The Austin real estate 2011 sales breakdown by MLS area is below. Most areas of Austin are holding steady. I’ve color coded the results columns of each area to show whether or not that area performed above or below the greater Austin market on whole.

For example, let’s look at MLS area “W” (West Austin).

MLS Area	Year	# Sold	Avg Sold	Med Sold	Avg SQFT	Avg PSF	Avg Days	Med Days
W	2011	285	$475,430	$340,000	2,960	$160.62	84	55
	2010	269	$411,614	$338,500	2,820	$145.96	75	46
	Change	5.95%	15.50%	0.44%	4.96%	10.04%	12.00%	19.57%

This shows are W outperformed the Austin real estate market in some categories, but not in others. Those categories break down as follows:

Number of Sale: The number of sales overall in the Austin market rose by 6.9% in 2011. Number of sales rose by 5.95% in MLS Area W, so it gets flagged a red colow code for under-performing the overall market.

Avg Sold Price, Median Sold Price, and Sold Price per Square Foot all outperformed the market as a whole. Avg and Median Days on Market underperformed as well.

That said, pricing metrics are the most important in determining the direction of the market, so keep that in mind as you review the various areas and how they did in 2011 compared to 2010. Squre footage is not ranked but is shown for referrence and used to calculate sold price per sqft.

The color coding allows you to see in a glance areas that did well, did not do well, and that were mixed. A row of “all red” means the area under-performed on all metrics. Several areas unfortunately did just that.

Forgetting the MLS Key Really Stinks

by Steve Crossland

No doubt every Austin Realtor has forgotten – or almost forgotten the electronic MLS key when showing a property. That really stinks when it happens. Me and Sylvia are still old school and carry around these horrible devices. The alternative would be to use an iPhone app that requires a small infrared stick that plugs into the bottom of the iPhone. The problem with that is if you lose your iPhone, or the battery goes low, you’ve also lost your MLS key. I’d rather spread the risk to separate devices. I also don’t want to have the tiny plugin stick to keep track of or junking up my key ring.

Anyway, I drove way up northwest by the lake today, past Lakeway, to show some buyers who had driven up from Corpus Christi to meet me at a house. This was a 45 minute drive from my house. About 15 minutes away I realized I left my MLS key laying on my desk, where it had been charging.

I quickly assessed the options in my head while not panicking, but almost panicking. I checked the listing agent on the MLS printout and noticed it was a KW agent in Lakeway. I just happened to be on 620 not far from the KW office.

I called the agent and got ahold of the assistant. “I’m on my way to show your listing on {Street name} and left my MLS key at home. Is there a combo box on the property or is the MLS box the only way in?”, I asked cheerfully, keeping my optimism high. “No”, the well informed assistant told me, “there is no combo box”.

“OK”, I said. “Do you have a spare key in the office that I could come by and pick up? I’m not far from you” . There was no spare key either.

I was now about 12 minutes away. I could either:

a) Turn around and know for sure that although I’d be terribly late arriving (like, 75 minutes late), I could call and ask the client to go get lunch and show up later for the appointment.

b) Show up on time and deal with it, knowing I might not be able to get in.

c) Call a Realtor friend close by and beg them to meet me there.

I’ve always been lucky. I decide to give myself a chance to get lucky and proceeded to the appointment to face the music. I’d just have to figure out a way to get inside.

Austin Real Estate Market Update – Dec 2011 End of Year Stats

by Steve Crossland

The Austin real estate market did about what we expected in 2011, which wasn’t much. Basically treading water with some slight improvements, but nothing that represents a notable shift in market activity. Instead, it looks like momentum is building for a breakout year of increased activity and rising prices either in 2012 or 2013.

Let’s start with a look back at the past 12 years for some context.

From 1999 to 2001, you see the effects of the Tech Bubble, as Austin experienced strong job growth, which in turn drives housing demand. From 2002 through 2004 (and most of 2005, though not obvious from the graph), Austin housing prices were flat, as we suffered the hangover of lost jobs after the Tech Bubble bust. Then in 2005 jobs returned as well as a lot of real estate investors who felt that other areas such as Phoenix, Las Vegas, Boise, Florida, etc. (which we now know were in a severe bubble) were playing out. So we had a mini burst of strong buyer demand through about the middle of 2007. After dipping in 2008, prices have slowly climbed since then, though many homes still sell for 2007 prices. By 2010, overall values were back to 2007 prices and have now surpasses the 2007 high. That’s the Austin real estate market in a nutshell, for the past 12 years.

Let’s look at the gains in 2011 compared to 2010.

Seller Should Pay at Least Token Repair Amount

by Steve Crossland

We recently had a transaction where the seller refused to negotiate any repair adjustments. None at all. This is actually not completely unusual, but most of our buyers do receive at least a small amount to offset repair and condition issues that were revealed by the inspection and not disclosed on the Seller’s Disclosure form.

But on this particular transaction, the buyer received a favorable contract price. The seller felt that the home was a good deal as-is at the contract price and was unwilling to offer anything else. Buyer was ok with that, so no problem.

But then the listing agent wanted to buyer to go ahead and terminate the Option Period in writing. Buyer had no motivation to do so and didn’t want to give up that right, so the seller and agent ended up having to fret and worry (needlessly) for an additional 5 days. This could have been avoided if the seller and agent had been willing to give up at least a token amount toward repairs. Here’s why.

Austin 2011 Real Estate Sales Breakdown by MLS Area

Forgetting the MLS Key Really Stinks

Austin Real Estate Market Update – Dec 2011 End of Year Stats

Seller Should Pay at Least Token Repair Amount

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