Austin Real Estate Market Update-- Jan. 2014

Well, the new year is off and running--hard. I like to look at the numbers every month, to compare how busy I am to what is happening in the market. It feels to me like this year may actually be starting out faster and with more intensity than last year--if you can believe that.

This can be attributed to a few simple facts: 

•  People are moving to Austin in large numbers every week. Unbelievable numbers.
•  People living in Austin are not moving out of Austin. 
•  The Austin job growth continues. New jobs from expansion, growth and new investments continue. 
•  New home builders can not keep up with the growth.

So, what conclusions should we draw from these characteristic trends of our area?

1. Sellers should be calling their Realtors long before they think they should sell--if you don't have a trusted Realtor, I would love to start talking to you. Don't wait until the spring because you think that is when houses sell. This is not a typical market!

2. Buyers can not spend time "thinking" about what works for them. Buyers have to know what they are looking for, need to be ready to pull the trigger the same day they see a home and need to be prepared. Being prepared means you and your Realtor need to be on the ball with what is happening in the area where you want to buy and need to be aware of the trade-offs that you WILL have to decide on--between price, location, schools, age, size and condition of the home you want to purchase. You never get everything on this list (best possible house at the cheapest possible price). Real Estate is always about making decisions. Make sure you are prepared for the decisions you have to make.  

So, here are the numbers for Jan. 2014 for the Greater Austin Area:

• Homes sold/closed during January 2014: 1,520
• Homes sold/closed during January 2013:  1,547
• Pending or sold since Jan. 31st:  3,016 !!!
• You can see that we were very close to the 2013 numbers in Jan, but when we look at what is happening in early Feb...oh my goodness!
• Median Price per square foot, Jan 2014: $115 psf
• Median Days on Market (DOM): 33 days
• Inventory remains low in most communities

Let's look at what happened in Jan 2014 in various parts of Austin, Single Family Homes only: 

•  Austin addresses, including ETJ: 548 homes sold
• Median price: $267k
• Median DOM: 24 days
• Median size: 1940 sf

• Cedar Park: 75 homes sold
• Median price: $227k
• Median DOM: 21 days
• Median size: 2306 sf

• Round Rock: 131 homes sold
• Median price: 190k
• Median DOM: 31 days
• Median size: 2095 sf

• Steiner Ranch, River Place, Westminster Glen and Vandegrift High:22 homes sold
• Median price: $502k
• Median DOM: 71 days
• Median size: 3632 sf

• McNeil High School communities, including Avery Ranch: 41 homes sold
• Median price: $245k
• Median DOM: 9 days
• Median size: 2172 sf

• Westwood High communities in NW Austin: 17 homes sold
• Median price: $262k
• Median DOM: 5 days
• Median size: 2162 sf

• Eanes Westlake High communities in West Austin: 25 homes sold
• Median price: $925k
• Median DOM: 47 days
• Median size: 3362 sf

• Bowie High communities in SW Austin: 43 homes sold
• Median price: $310k
• Median DOM: 16 days
• Median size: 2162 sf

• Lake Travis High communities: 56 homes
• Median price: $395k
• Median DOM: 52 days
• Median size: 2571 sf

• $MM Luxury Market over $1M: 19 homes sold

• Median price: $1.3M
• Median DOM: 47 days
• Median size: 4497 sf
• Most expensive home sold: $2.85M in River Place

• Condo/Townhouse Market in Greater Austin: 189 units sold
• Median price: $211k
• Median DOM:  27 days
• Median size: 1360 sf

 As you can tell, we have a very diverse and dynamic real estate market in Greater Austin. With so many new businesses expanding in the Greater Austin area, we are seeing growth all over. And there is growth beyond what is recorded in the MLS--namely, new homes that are never listed by new home builders. This includes contracts where the buyer contracts the builder from day one to build a home to the home owner's specifications and needs. So, in areas such as Leander, Pflugerville and varies other pockets--there are numbers of homes that are not recognized in these numbers and these numbers are big. I know that my own business has been about 50% new home construction (for buyers) during the past 6-12 months. This has become a significant part of our market, but the numbers are harder to capture for these reports. 

If you want to know what is happening in your community or on your street--give me a call. Let's talk.

Thanks,

Tim Thornton
Your Bonified Austin Area Realtor 
via:http://austinrealestatesecrets.blogspot.in/2014/02/austin-real-estate-market-update-jan.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+AustinRealEstateSecrets+(Austin+Real+Estate+Secrets)