Statistics on the Austin housing market show a continued increase in inventories. The table below shows inventory levels for January of Austin homes in different price ranges. The local economy is strong in Austin but the housing market is being effected by the tightened credit regulations and the negative psychological atmosphere is the overall U.S. economy. All of our housing price ranges have moved into a Buyer’s Market and home prices above $500,000 are in a severe Buyer's Market with inventories almost stagnant. An excellent buying opportunity exists for homes in this price range.
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Inventory Levels Based on Home Price in the Austin Area for January 2009
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Home Prices
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Sales
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Listings
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Jan.Inventory
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Dec.Inventory
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100K-200K
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393
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2782
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7.1 months
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4.2 months
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200K-300K
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174
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2001
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11.5 months
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7.2 months
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300K-500K
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130
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1828
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14.1 months
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9.0 months
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500K-1M
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37
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1169
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31.6 months
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18.4 months
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Although the median price of homes is down 6% from one year ago, the average price per square foot is down 8%. Sales were so slow in January that most individual areas of the city did not have enough sales to make a comparison to last year, statistically meaningful. Areas with sufficient sales volume showed the following price changes in cost per square foot from last year: Pflugerville -3%, eastern Round Rock -14%, western Round Rock -5%, southwestern Austin -6%, northwest Austin -13%, and Lake Travis -18%.
I still expect that the housing recovery in Austin will be quicker than most areas of the country and should occur once the credit markets loosen up again. We were one of the last areas to feel the housing price drops and we should be one of the first areas to recover. |
