Real Estate: Week Review - Austin MLS

Units for Sale:
For March 4, 2012 - March 10, 2012 (compared to the same week in 2011)

New listings are down this week 1.35%.
Pendings are up this week 18.79%
Solds are up 39.53%

Average Prices  
For March 4, 2012 - March 10, 2012 (compared to the same week in 2011) 

Sold average sales prices increased 15.41% to $270,637.  In 2011 it was $234,508 for the same week.

The Austin Area Market Snapshot

The number of active listings are down 18.98% from last year during the same week, but new listings are up less than 1% this week compared to the same week last year.

Pending sales are up this week 30.90%. Current number of pending sales are 3,161 with an average list price of $255,151.

Sold residential units are up 46.47% compared to the same week last year.

Keller Williams Realty - Growth In Downturn

Keller Williams Realty reported today at its national convention that it ended 2010 with 79,315 associates, 701 market centers (offices), and associate profit share up 7.2 percent, with its agents receiving $34.6 million dollars back. Since the inception of the profit sharing program, the company has given back over $304 million in earnings to its agents. Additionally, CEO Mark Willis shared in his annual State of the Company address to more than 8,000 convention attendees that, since the real estate market’s sharp downturn in 2005, the company has grown 30 percent in agents, 40 percent in market centers, 21 percent in closed units and 11 percent in closed GCI.

The growth of the company can be attributed to the growth of its agents. Agent productivity continued to rise with units closed up 6 percent from December 2009 to 2010, while comparably, the NAR membership as a whole went down in closed units 4.8 percent. Overall the company’s associates saw productivity year on year percentage increases across the board in listings taken (up 13 percent), contracts closed volume (up 9 percent) and contracts closed units (6 percent).

To Read Full Press Release

Texas Real Estate: 3rd Quarter Housing Report

The most recent Texas Quarterly Housing Report states sales volume is up. For the period of Aprial through June 2010, sales of existing single family homes increased 14% to 66,079 compared to the same quartore of the prior year. We are still seeing strength in the Texas real estate market. To read the entire report: www.texasrealestate.com

August Real Estate Statistics

For the homes that sold in August, we experienced an increase in sales price and square footage compared to August 2009. 1,568 listings closed for the month of August as well, 80% of the sold homes were $350K or less. The significant difference between this and last August is the volume. of transactions, however year today we are up 3.6%.



Based on information from the Austin Board of Realtor (ACTRIS). All data is provided as is. Data maintained by the Board or ACTRIS may not reflect all real estate activity in the market.

Growing your Real Estate Practice: The Next Wave

In the coming years, it is estimated 55M “seniors” born 1925 to 1946 (G.I. Generation, Silent Generation & Boomers) will be entering the residential housing market place. When will depended on your market but it would be wise to being your preparation now.

Prepare now in order to tap into the “senior” resource by actively marketing and building referral base.

To effectively work with this demographic:
• Know the your local market
• Reach where they live, eat and meet
• Find and tap into local senior resources
• Build a senior friendly network
• Actively market to seniors moving into/out of your area.
• Learn what is important to them

June Market Statistics: Austin Texas

Days on market dropping and sold prices are rising. Austin looking good in June!

FHA: Facing Reality

The Federal Housing Administration has been focusing its efforts to shore up its finances on stricter rules for lenders, but in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan is expected to announce changes to rules for borrowers, requiring more skin in the game.

Changes expected to be announced at the hearings include:

•Borrowers will need to put more money up front. Right now borrowers can put down as little as 3.5 percent. One bill in Congress calls for that to be raised to 5%. Private lenders today require between 10% and 20%. Most want 20% unless your credit score is above 750.
•Borrowers may have to pay more in insurance premiums. Right now that premium is 1.75% of the loan value plus 0.5% or 0.55% per year.
•Sellers will be restricted by how much they can help the borrower. Right now a seller can pay as much as 6% of the home's value in closing costs. The maximum level is expected to be lowered to 3%.
•Borrowers may need better credit scores. Right now the score can be as low as 500. While that's the law, lenders don't usually accept scores that low. The FHA is expected to raise that minimum score. This may not be as noticeable as the other changes because most lenders do expect a higher score, but this change will prevent abusive lenders from lending to unqualified borrowers.

The take away: Change is coming and its time to make the purchase of your new home.

To read the entire article: FHA Finally Facing Reality

Real Economic Recovery

In my daily reading, I came across an article by James Gaine that, in my opinion, put in simple terms what needs to happen for a real recovery of the U.S. economy. As we all know, the U.S. economy functions on borrowed credit. In the not so distant past that came to an abrupt halt. We are currently in the 23rd month of a recession. The average length of a recession since the Great Depression is 15 months. To come out on the other side, several things must happen: business must make a profit, household debt must revert to normal level, employment and home prices need to stabilize and rise and investor confidence must return. When we reach the critical mix of the aforementioned, we will then see a true recovery. To read the article in is entirety there is the link (http://recenter.tamu.edu/pdf/1916.pdf).

This Month In Real Estate: August 2009

Each month, This Month in Real Estate provides expert opinion and analysis on real estate trends across the nation. The aim of the consumer-oriented segments is to help combat the "doom and gloom" messages of the national print and television media with real information on real estate.



If you have any questions about the Austin real estate market, please contact me.

Investing in Real Estate

It could be a good time to invest in real estate, given the abundance of foreclosures and other distressed properties with reduced prices. It could also be a bad time to invest in real estate, if you don't know what you are doing.

There's the rub.

It's a good time to invest, but it is difficult. Now when you go out to invest you are competing with a dozen offers. The investors are back. Just like buying a home to live in, taking the real estate investment plunge requires taking stock of your financial goals, planning and lifestyle before taking the plunge.

Pretty much like buying any property. If you've got the time, the money and the lifestyle that lends itself to managing a real estate investment, you are just about half way there.

Monetizing the First Time Homebuyers Tax Credit

A new program that the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) released on Monday, June 22nd. Many buyers may already know, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides a federal tax credit to first-time homebuyers that is equal to 10% of the purchase price of their home up to $8,000. In an effort to monetize the tax credit, TDHCA created the “90-day Down Payment Assistance Program.” If you have questions about this program, please contact me.

Bond Market & Interest Rates

Added supply has been one of the main culprits behind the recent sell-off in Bonds and corresponding climb in home loan rates. So where is that supply coming from? First, all those refinances you've heard about lately are actually turned into Mortgage Backed Securities after they're closed, which adds more Bonds to the market. Plus, government spending plans have to be paid, therefore, record levels of Treasury Securities are being auctioned off these days. Although the Fed has a program to purchase some of these Mortgage Bonds, the number of new Bonds simply outweighs what the Fed is able to buy - therefore driving Bond prices lower and home loan rates higher.

This Month In Real Estate: June 2009

Each month, This Month in Real Estate provides expert opinion and analysis on real estate trends across the nation. The aim of the consumer-oriented segments is to help combat the "doom and gloom" messages of the national print and television media with real information on real estate.



If you have any questions about the Austin real estate market, please contact me.

Pending Home Sales Rise in April

The number of U.S. homebuyers who agreed to purchase a previously occupied home in April posted the largest monthly jump in more than seven years, a sign that sales are finally coming to life after a long and painful slump.

The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday its seasonally adjusted index of sales contracts signed in April surged 6.7 percent to 90.3, far exceeding analysts' forecasts. It was the biggest monthly jump since October 2001, when pending sales rose 9.2 percent.

Are we at the bottom of the market? It may be too soon to tell. We will have to watch the next 45 to 90 days to see if these pending sales turn in to closed sales/transactions.

Short Sales

Many sellers in today’s market have little or no equity, or simply, the seller owes close to or more than the property is worth. In these situations, lenders are apt to accept less than the full amount due, commonly referred to as a ‘short pay’ or ‘short sale’.

Many folks who are ‘upside down’ on their mortgage opt to simply ‘walk away’ from their home, and allow it to foreclose. The short sale offers a much better solution and provides a win-win for the lender and home owner.

From the lender’s perspective, a short sale saves many of the high costs associated with the foreclosure process: attorney fees, the eviction process, delays from borrower bankruptcy, damage to the property, costs associated with resale, etc. In a short sale scenario, the lender gets their money faster and is able to cut its losses.

The bottle line, if your home is worth less than you owe, you can still sell it via a short sale – without bringing any money to the closing.
If you have any questions about this process, please contact me.

Austin Market Stats - April

This Month In Real Estate: May 2009

I thought you would want to see the latest in a series of news reports on real estate trends. It's called "This Month in Real Estate."
We understand how hard it is to escape the national media's dire predictions for home buyers and sellers in today's market.
But there's another side to the real estate story: this market offers amazing opportunities for buying and selling real estate right now -- in your area.



Get the Flash Player to see this video.

We're not missing those opportunities, because we're in the market every day, working for our clients to make the most of this market. And we can't wait to do the same for you!

If you would like the best deals on the market, then please email me at cyndi_bell@kw.com.

Forbes ranks Austin No. 8 on best places for biz list

Forbes.com ranks Austin the 8th best place for business and care-ers in its latest list.

Texas' Capital City rose significantly from 47th on last year's list. Austin was behind cities such as No. 1 Raleigh, N.C. And No. 4 Fayetteville, Ark. The list was ranked according to factors such as cost of doing business and projected employment growth.

Forbes.com cited Austin's projected annual job growth rate of 2.3 percent--the fifth fastest in the country, and its relatively low sub-prime mortgage exposure.

For its reporting on Austin, Forbes.com spoke with the Charles Schwab Corp., which expanded its Austin presence in 2007 when it purchased the 401(k) Co. "The city of Austin is extremely business-friendly. They have bent over backwards to accommodate us," Glenn Cooper, head of real estate at Schwab, told the news site.

The top 10 cities on the list were as follows:

Raleigh, N.C.
Fort Collins, Colo.
Durham, N.C.
Fayetteville, Ark.
Lincoln, Neb.
Asheville, N.C.
Des Moines, Iowa
Austin, Texas
Boise, Idaho
Colorado Springs, Colo.

"Source: Austin Business Journal; Friday, March 27, 2009 "

Austin Market Stats - March