Austin's housing market rebounds, according to July 2009 figures

Austin, Texas ( PressReleaseCollection ) September 24, 2009 – REAL ESTATE FIGURES FOR JULY 2009 ARE COMPARABLE TO THOSE OF JULY 2008, INDICATING STABILIZATION OF THE AUSTIN, TEXAS HOUSING MARKET.

REAL ESTATE STATISTICS JUST RELEASED FOR JULY 2009 SHOW A REBOUND IN AUSTIN HOME SALES, WITH 2,069 HOMES SOLD. THIS IS COMPARABLE TO THE 2,068 HOMES SOLD IN JULY OF LAST YEAR, MARKING A 61 PERCENT IMPROVEMENT OVER JANUARY 2009 AND ONLY A TWO PERCENT REDUCTION IN OVERALL HOME PRICES FROM LAST YEAR. EXPERTS IN THE AUSTIN REAL ESTATE MARKET BELIEVE THIS INDICATES A RECOVERY IN THE HOUSING INDUSTRY, LONG BELEAGUERED BY THE SAME CONCERNS THAT HAVE PLAGUED THE NATIONAL REAL ESTATE SCENE. AUSTIN BOARD OF REALTORS CHAIRMAN JAY GOHIL COMMENTED, “THE SALES VOLUME MOMENTUM IN AUSTIN CONTINUES, NOW REACHING 2008 LEVELS. THAT’S GOOD NEWS, BUT I THINK IT’S EVEN BETTER NEWS THAT WE’VE ACHIEVED THAT INCREASE WHILE MAINTAINING A STEADY MEDIAN HOME PRICE.” JOE CLINE OF AFFINITY PROPERTIES AGREED, ADDING, “AUSTIN’S HOUSING MARKET IS ON THE UPSWING AGAIN, SO BUYERS WILL WANT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF LOWER PRICES AND INTEREST RATES WHILE THEY LAST.”

PRIOR TO 2007, PROPERTY VALUES AND SALES IN AUSTIN HAD INCREASED STEADILY. AUSTIN’S VIBRANT CULTURE AND ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY REPUTATION ATTRACTED NEW RESIDENTS, CREATING CONSTANT GROWTH IN EMPLOYMENT AND HOUSING FOR THE AREA. THE DOWNTURN IN LATE 2007 PROVOKED CONCERN THAT AUSTIN WAS SUFFERING THE EFFECTS OF THE HOUSING MARKET SLUMP FELT ELSEWHERE IN THE COUNTRY. ADDITIONALLY, NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION DECLINED IN 2007 AND AGAIN IN 2008, THOUGH GENERAL DEMAND FOR AUSTIN PROPERTIES REMAINED HIGH.

AUSTIN IS GENERALLY NOTED AS HAVING A BALANCED REAL ESTATE MARKET, WITH AN AVERAGE OF AROUND SIX MONTHS ON THE MARKET BEFORE A HOME SELLS. THIS TENDENCY HAS BORNE OUT IN RECENT YEARS, AS REDUCTIONS IN NEW HOME CONSTRUCTION HAVE BLUNTED THE EFFECTS OF INCREASED NUMBER OF HOMES FOR SALE. AUSTIN’S HOUSING MARKET HAS BEEN AMAZINGLY RESILIENT IN THE FACE OF A NUMBER OF CHALLENGES. FORECLOSURES ARE NOT AN OVERWHELMING PROBLEM FOR AUSTIN, AND EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN THE AREA CONTINUE TO GROW. THESE RECENT FIGURES PROVIDE EVIDENCE THAT THE WORST OF THE HOUSING SLUMP IS OVER IN THE AUSTIN AREA, AND THAT HOUSING PRICES WILL RETURN TO THEIR PREVIOUS UPWARD TENDENCY IN THE COMING MONTHS.

THE JULY 2009 STATISTICS ALSO REVEALED THAT OF THE 2,069 HOMES SOLD, THE AVERAGE SALES PRICE WAS $245, 921, AND THE SOLD TO LIST PRICE RATIO WAS 96.2 PERCENT. THESE FIGURES ARE REGARDED AS POSITIVE SIGNS BY MOST REAL ESTATE EXPERTS, AS THEY INDICATE AUSTIN HOME PRICES HAVE REMAINED STABLE. WHILE A PART OF THIS STABILITY IS DUE TO THE DESIRABILITY OF AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOODS AND THE WIDE SELECTION OF HOMES WITH GREEN TECHNOLOGY AND OTHER AMENITIES, AUSTIN ALSO DID NOT EXPERIENCE WIDESPREAD OVER-APPRECIATION OF ITS REAL ESTATE PROPERTY IN THE PAST DECADE. THIS HAS ALLOWED AUSTIN TO AVOID THE BRUNT OF THE RAPID DEPRECIATION FOUND IN OTHER METROPOLITAN AREAS.

AUSTIN’S REAL ESTATE MARKET REMAINS STABLE, AND THESE RECENT STATISTICS INDICATE A RETURN TO THE STEADY GROWTH AND EXPANSION EXPERIENCED PRIOR TO THE 2007 DOWNTURN. THIS REBOUND IS GOOD NEWS FOR HOME SELLERS WHO WILL BENEFIT FROM THE IMPROVING MARKET; IT ALSO PROVIDES AN INCENTIVE FOR HOME BUYERS TO ACT QUICKLY IN ORDER TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TODAY’S LOW INTEREST RATES AND HOME PRICES. FOR THE AUSTIN HOUSING MARKET, IT APPEARS AS IF THE WORST IS OVER.

ABOUT AFFINITY PROPERTIES

FURTHER INFORMATION ON JOE CLINE’S TEAM AND THE AUSTIN REAL ESTATE MARKET IS AVAILABLE AT OUR WEST AUSTIN REAL ESTATE SITE OR OUR AUSTIN REAL ESTATE SITE, INCLUDING INFORMATIVE BLOGS ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN REAL ESTATE IN AUSTIN AND THE SURROUNDING AREAS AND HELPFUL HINTS WHEN BUYING OR SELLING PROPERTIES. ONCE AGAIN, JOE CLINE AND HIS TEAM OF REALTY PROFESSIONALS ARE PUTTING THE CUSTOMER FIRST BY PROVIDING CUTTING-EDGE SERVICES FOR THE MODERN REAL ESTATE WORLD.

ABOUT RE/MAX INTERNATIONAL, INC.

RE/MAX WAS CO-FOUNDED BY DAVE AND GAIL LINIGER IN 1973. FROM A SINGLE OFFICE IN DENVER, COLORADO, RE/MAX HAS GROWN TO BE A GLOBAL NETWORK OF NEARLY 100,000 SALES ASSOCIATES IN MORE THAN 70 COUNTRIES. NO ONE IN THE WORLD SELLS MORE REAL ESTATE THAN RE/MAX. TODAY, ALL U.S. HOME LISTINGS IN THOUSANDS OF CITIES AND TOWNS CAN BE FOUND AT WWW.REMAX.COM.

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