The housing market in the Austin area began its "soft" turn in December 2006. For the first time since 2003 we had a month with fewer sales then the previous year. The spring of 2007 saw strong sales in Austin, Round Rock, Pflugerville and Cedar Park, but the "DOT-COM" bust of the mortgage industry and the media "HYPE" surrounding it have caused buyers to climb on the "fences". All of this occurred without anything changing in the Austin economy.
What has happened is that the Austin Area has become a story of three markets according to Gary Keller of Keller-Williams Realty!
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1/3 of homes are "out of the market" and over-priced.
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1/3 of homes are chasing the market in what is referred to as "NO-MANS-LAND". This is the phenomenon where sellers´ are willing to adjust their price but they are adjusting too slowly for buyers to respond. In other words, the bait for the fish is just above where the fish are swimming and every time sellers lower the bait the fish have moved to a lower level too!
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1/3 of homes are in the market. These homes are selling quickly and getting multiple offers.
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So what does this mean to you, a prospective seller of real estate? It means that the market is more predictable. It is easier to determine what the market is and it is easier for us to predictable measure the market and price homes properly. It means that it may take longer to sell your home. It means that skilled and hard working sales agents who know how to market and sell will dominate the market place. Most of the homes we market still sell in less than 30 days. It means appraisers will be more conservative in appraising the value of homes for the mortgage companies they represent and that appraisal issues may rise. It also means a return to popularity of Government supported FHA and VA loans. It may also mean that sellers may have to be creative in financing by offering seller financing and be more flexible in their terms. |