The Austin American Statesman published  a story a few days ago that made it look like the national cooling of the housing market had hit Austin.  The article stated that home sales in the 5-county Austin area were down to just a 1% increase.  However, looking at the graphics and stats from the Austin Board of REALTORS® that things are not what they appear to be.

 

For the month of March, 2007, the median price of a home in the Austin area was up 6% and the average was up 5%.   The overall growth on units sold was only 1%.  So how can it be that we’re in a slow-down if the prices are still on the rise?  Let’s take a closer look.

 

Unit sales in the price ranges from $70,000 to $129, 999 were way down.  The different price brackets in this range had the number of units sold down between 17% and 28%.  That is a very large decrease.  Homes in the $190,000 - $199,999 price bracket saw an increase in units sold of 20%.  The price range of $250,000 - $259,999 saw an increase in units sold of 15% and the range of $$400,000 - $499,999 was up 10%.  The price range from $700,000 - $799,999 and units sold of over $1,000,000 was down 1%.

 

Let’s look at something else now.  Areas close to downtown have seen huge increases in the median price of homes.  Area 8E, which is bounded by Lake Austin, MOPAC and 360 saw an increase in the median price of a home sold of 57%.  That doesn’t exactly go along with a declining market.  Having said that, there are MLS Areas that saw declining prices and a decrease in units sold.

 

What I am getting at is that you just can’t look at a 5-county market and make generalizations about home sales.  Well, perhaps I should say that reasonable people shouldn’t do it even though the press loves it.  Some areas saw gains in units sold and some saw decreases.  Some areas saw increases in prices and some saw decreases.

 

If you are interested in how various areas are performing or if you are concerned about the value of your property, especially if you are considering selling, please feel free to contact me.  Please keep in mind that if you are currently working with an Austin area real estate agent, you should go to that person first.