So what was the real story with Austin’s Real Estate Market?  Is the bottom really going to fall out?  And why hasn’t it yet?  I feel like a broken record sometimes, but the falling prices we keep hearing about on the news are in totally different markets in the east and west coasts.  In these areas, prices flew up by 200, 400, and even 600%.  So it’s really no surprise that home prices have fallen in these markets.  Here in Austin, we’ve stayed smart as always.  Prices consistently rise, on average, 4-6% each year.  What we’re seeing in Austin right now is a slow-down, and after the huge boom we saw that peaked in 2006, it really shouldn’t be a surprise.  Prices were still climbing steadily in this period, but there were many, many more new homes built to meet a rising demand, and do-it-yourself HDTV fans flocked to invest in their own “flip” projects.  At some point in early 2007, supply met demand, but some were still creating supply.  And projects begun late in 2006 still had to be finished before being placed on the market.  Some areas of Austin saw this more than others, and in particular, Central Austin, East Austin, and South Austin saw the biggest booms.  Suburbs saw more production, but not on the scale of these urban areas of Austin.  Now, we’re waiting for demand to catch up with supply.  We are currently in a buyer’s market, but not on the gloom and doom scale of other parts of the country (or even Austin in previous recessions).  If I was thinking of buying a home, I would buy now while deals are good, sellers are willing to negotiate, and the market has some catching up to do.  If I were a seller in this market, I would be ready to be patient, and prep my house to it’s absolute peak, hiring professionals to make sure that everything is at it’s absolute best — the best way to ensure that when a house does sell in your neighborhood, it’s yours.

 I am still confident that there is no reason to panic.  Austin has grown to the point that it can withstand most anything you can throw at it.  We have many, many different industries to sustain us.  There are advantages to out-growing the medium-city way of life and I believe we are seeing it now.  New construction has slowed but is still strong.  The best builders out there will survive and others will move to a different industry.  This is a strong city now!

Keeping you up-to-date,

Aria Schoenfelt McIntosh
http://liveaustinrealestate.com
(512) 771-1776