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Century 21

Ripley Reality

NORTH OFFICE:

Effective June 16th:

6101 N. Courtyard Dr., Bldg 2 Suite 100
Austin, TX 78730

Phone : (512) 250 9882
Fax : (512) 250 0799
email : rose.optionsrealty@gmail.com
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SOUTHWEST OFFICE:

Phone : (512) 656 3281
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Category : 

Austin Sales Market

Aug 16

Believe It or Not, Foreclosures Are Down…

TAGS : , , ,
POSTED IN : Austin Life, Austin Sales Market, Mortgages, Real Estate Blog

MH900205594Don’t believe me? Check out this article from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram published last week. Not only did residential foreclosures fall 2.9 percent in Texas last month, but they dropped a staggering 10 percent nationwide. Take that, doomsday sayers!

For those of you who just love statistics, here’s how the numbers roll:

  • There were a total of 11,727 foreclosure postings filed last month in Texas (which equals 1 in 819 housing units)
  • Nationwide, 325,229 postings were filed (or 1 in every 397 housing units)
  • Unsurprisingly, Nevada continues to have the highest foreclosure rate in the nation (1 in 82 housing units), followed by Arizona and Florida.
  • However, even in California, another major foreclosure state, filings were down 38 percent from July 2009 and down 3 percent from June 2010.

Hmm… All of this looks suspicious like good news to me. I’ll end this post with some wise words from a little-known gentleman named Winston Churchill: “A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”

That’s all for now, folks. Take care of yourselves and each other, and remember…

NOW you have options!

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Jul 28

Williamson County, a.k.a. “Where the Jobs Are”

TAGS : , , ,
POSTED IN : Austin Life, Austin Sales Market, Real Estate Blog

Recently CNNMoney published a great article on the top 10 counties in the nation for job growth. As has often been the case with similar “Top 10” lists recently, Texas was well-represented, boasting 5 counties with strong employment records: Williamson, Hays, Webb, Collin and Fort Bend.

800px-Williamson_county_courthouse_2008Most impressive but probably least surprising is the fact that our very own Williamson County, home to the cities of Round Rock and Cedar Park, snagged the #2 spot on the list. The county boasted a staggering 58.9% employment growth between 2000 and 2009, second only to Lincoln County in South Dakota.

So, why has there been so much expansion in North Austin over the past decade? Economists have developed numerous explanations over the years: First, Williamson County offers easy access to Austin, the capital of Texas, which is home to the University of Texas at Austin, a highly-ranked state university. Also, with an array of high-quality schools, shopping and hospitals recently built and more on the way, the area has fantastic appeal for new and growing families.

CNNMoney, however, attributes much of “Wilco’s” growth to computer manufacturing powerhouse Dell, Inc., the county’s largest employer. Austin’s reputation for being a tech-friendly city has attracted many enterpreneurs to the area as well.

Whatever the reason, one thing is clear: The Greater Austin area is the place to be—always has been, and always will be!

Take care of yourselves and each other, and remember…

NOW you have options!

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Jul 21

Proof That Life Goes On After Tax Credits

TAGS : , , , ,
POSTED IN : Austin Sales Market, Real Estate Blog

 

MH900149487You’ve seen the news. You know the market hasn’t bounced back yet, and probably won’t for a while. If you’re hoping to buy a home, you know financing can be hard to come by right now. If you’re trying to sell, you know your home will most likely be listed longer and sell for less than you’d like.

What you may NOT know is that in the grand scheme of things, Austin is holding up quite well, according to the Multiple Listing Service report for June 2010 recently released by the Austin Board of REALTORS®. In fact, the organization called the market “stable” despite the expiration of federal homebuyers tax credits back in April.

Stable is good. We like stable. Stable means life goes on after tax credits

A few key stats worth noting from the report:

  • The total dollar volume of single-family homes sold equals $553,882,211, a 6% increase from June 2009
  • The average single-family home sold for $208,750, a 4% increase from June 2009
  • On average, homes are on the market 70 days, a 14% decrease from June 2009

So, if you’re one of those confused souls who thinks the market is shot, who thinks we’re headed toward another Great Depression, let this information encourage you. Austin is one of the best places in the country to be right now, but of course if you live here, you probably already knew that!

Take care of yourselves and each other, and remember…

NOW you have options!

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Jul 12

Putting Things in Perspective

TAGS : , , ,
POSTED IN : Austin Sales Market, Real Estate Blog

MH900251313With all the doom-and-gloom that’s all too common in the media today, it can be hard to see the silver lining in the clouds. I can write feel-good posts all day long, but sometimes it just takes some cold, hard facts to let you know that maybe things aren’t quite that bad after all. Check out these statistics and you’ll see what I mean:

The Good

  • Active listings in the Austin area have increased by 16.83% over last year. During the week of June 27 through July 3 in 2009, there were 11,603 active listings; currently, there are 13,556!
  • The number of new listings has increased by 16.89% over this time last year.
  • The number of sold units increased by 6.56% during the month of June.

The Not-So-Good

  • The average price of new listings went down by 9.5% for the month of June.
  • The average price of homes that sold in June declined 3.47%.
  • The number of pending sales decreased by 14.31% during the week of June 27 through July 3.

The Bottom Line

If you focus on the “not so good” statistics alone, Austin’s housing market looks pretty depressing (especially when you look at that whopping double-digit decline at the end). But if you take a closer look at the numbers, you’ll notice something very interesting.

For the most part, the negative stats are short-term, while the positive stats  are usually long-term. What does that mean? It means that like most of life, it’s all about perspective. If you look at the here and now (let’s say, within the past month or two), you may see a lot of big declines in new and pending home sales, but if you pull back and look at the bigger picture (a year’s worth of data or more), those same declines become pretty minimal, and you’ll even see some increases.

Like many other areas in life, where you put your focus matters. It could make all the difference between you seeing a silver lining or a big patch of dark clouds. Think about that the next time you see headlines proclaiming the end of the world in real estate.

That’s all for now! Take care of yourselves and each other, and remember…

NOW you have options!

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