Is the Austin Real Estate Market Heating Up?

On three occasions in the past week, I had clients express interest in new Austin listings they got an email alert on from a custom search we have set up for them.  When we went to schedule a showing, within a few days of it being listed, we were informed the house was already under contract.  Wow – three times this happened in one week, pretty unusual anytime but especially this time of year.

So it got me thinking, is the Austin housing market heating up?  Let’s take a look at some data from the Austin Board of Realtors.  Data for January is not available yet, but as of 12/31/2011 the available supply of properties across Austin was 7,758 units, representing a 22.5% decrease from the 10,005 available a year earlier on 12/31/2010.  That’s a pretty meaningful drop in supply. In MLS area 1A which comprises a lot of the Northwest Hills Area Homes, supply had dropped 39.4% from 137 units to 83 units.  In MLS area 1N which covers a lot of Northwest Austin Homes supply had dropped 38.8% from 170 units to 104 units.  Those are some pretty large drops in supply compared to the same time last year.  This is a result of 7 months of year over year increases in sales, with less housing coming on the market.  It means less choices for buyers and in theory more competition for the well priced quality homes in Austin.

But it doesn’t mean the market is heating up unless there are buyers out there competing for the homes.  I pulled some real time data out of MLS to get a feel for that.  Of the 27 houses listed in area 1A since Jan 10 (about the past 30 days) 8 of them or about 30% are already in a pending contract status, and all of those 8 went pending in 7 days or less from hitting the market.  In area 1N, of the 54 houses listed in the past 30 days, 17 of them or just over 30% are already pending contract, and they all went pending in 11 days or less from hitting the market.

In my opinion, this seems like in fact the Austin real estate market is picking up. If you’re think of selling a house in Austin, and I told you 30% of the houses go pending in 11 days or less I think you would be pretty encouraged.  But remember, they key is to have it priced appropriately and in good condition.  If you are looking to buy a home in Austin, when you see a house you like, that appears to be priced right and in good condition – I would advise taking a look at it as soon as you can.  Setting up a custom search and getting automatic email alerts for new listings that meet your criteria is a good idea so you know about a potential home when it hits the market.  Did I mention you can do that on this website – to get started, click here to register.