Austin is consistantly on every top ten list related to housing, jobs, entertainment, and quality of life. Our housing market has been strong, with only a slight slow down during a downturn that has dramatically affected the rest of the country. Currently our number of home sales is down by about 20%, however the actual dollar volume sold has remained constant as our home prices continue to go up. There are presently over one thousand people a week moving to Austin area. Those people all have to live somewhere. We are in a Buyers Market right now, and it is also a great time to buy investment properties in Austin.
Sincerely,
Betina

Listings are up, sales are down but compared to the rest of the country, Austin is doing well. Kiplinger rated Austin the 6th best place to live in the USA.

Austin is an amazing place to live and invest. As with the other comments, appreciation is not gang-busters but on the positive side of that coin, neither is our adjustments that most of the other parts of the country are experiencing.

If your outlook is not short term , and rather more of a 3-5 year time line, you should be fine and actually make some decent returns. Again, appreciation is not STELLAR! So, expect an average of 4-6% and if you receive greater, good for you.

I hope this helps!

Texas, in general, has not seen the bubble type of effect that other parts of the country have so it is still a good investment. In todays market new homes seem to be a good deal because the builders are willing to reduce profit to sell excess inventory where as a home owner usually is not.

The Austin real estate market is one of the most stable markets in the country. From 2001-2006 the east and west coasts saw double-digit price appreciation while Texas real estate markets, including Austin, saw modest 3-5% gains. The declining housing prices and stalled real estate markets across the country are adjusting to conservative levels in-line with demand. Some housing markets such as Detroit, may never quite regain the demand due to loss of jobs in the area.

Meanwhile, the Austin job market continues to flourish with new, high-paying businesses moving to the area daily. With a steady stream of new jobs and one of the most educated, talented labor pools in the country, Austin is poised to be one of the hottest housing markets in the country, recession or no recession!

Here's a good article for you: http://www.kvue.com/news/local/stories/012708kvuenoslumphere…

Austin is definitely a great place to buy now and it will continue to get stronger as companies keep moving here and the employment hiring is growing with record numbers. Austin is quite different as we never had the 30% gain on homes like other cities. Austin is very healthy and will only get better.

You might want to try going to Google and setup an alert about the RE Market in Austin, TX. It sends daily alerts with all kinds of great info!

Hello Laura,
Like many before me have replied, the housing market in Austin is staying strong and large companies such as Google are continuing to bring more businesses here, keeping our economy strong as well. In addition, Federal Interest Rates dropping, it is a great time to purchase a home in market such as Austin that is still undervalued, and investors see those opportunities just as well. If you are considering purchasing a home, I would take advantage of our current Buyer's market, as the tides tend to turn back to a Seller's market in the Spring and Summer months.

Best Regards and Happy Hunting,

Kirsten Tait
Keller Williams Realty

I see good things coming from my crystal ball. As you can see from everyone else's response, they do too!

Here's a link to nother great article, dated 1/24/2008, touting Greater Austin as one of the best areas to buy & own real estate. Very appropriate to this question, I thought.

While we cannot ignore national factors, I think it's critical to look at real estate from a local perspective. Each city has it's own economic and housing factors to consider.

Danny Gallant - Realtor
The Gallant Group @ Keller Williams
512-92-1273

FROM Entrepenuer.com - Today


Best and Worst Places to Buy a House

by Danielle Babb
Thursday, January 24, 2008provided by

Whether you're looking for an investment property or a place to live, here's a look at the cities you should seek out and avoid in 2008.

The housing crunch and the excessive inventory -- exceeding 10 months on resale homes -- continues to take its toll on housing prices. But over the long term, housing is still a good investment. In fact, it's more than an investment; it's a home. Plus, you're not really saving anything by renting, as the costs of renting and owning are about equal (well, owning may be a little more). The tax benefits of home ownership far outweigh renting, too. With good housing prices in many great areas, this may indeed be the time to buy.

So now that I've convinced you this is a good time to buy a home, the next question is, Where do you buy one? No matter where you look, you should check out some basic economic fundamentals before buying. Is job growth stable in the area? Is income keeping up with inflation? Is crime above the national average? Is there a higher-than-average rate of foreclosures? These issues and others play a factor when deciding where to buy a house.

More from Entrepreneur.com:

• Checking Out Online Investment Advice

• Taking Your Annual Financial Pulse

• Taking the Emotions Out of Investing

As a real estate investor and analyst, it's my job to provide buyers with qualified information on where to buy -- and where to stay away from. Here are my thoughts for 2008 based on the indicators noted above.

The Top Places to Buy

Whether you're an investor like me or you're looking to purchase that next move up, here are my picks for the best areas to buy a home:

Killeen, Round Rock, Austin, Texas: Killeen has the lowest average home price in any market in the nation while still maintaining quality. Round Rock and Austin have seen incredible job growth and very stable home prices despite the downturn nationwide. Jobs continue to grow here -- a factor for keeping inventory low and prices stable.
Mission Viejo, California: Mission Viejo has the lowest crime statistics in the nation. With no murders in 2007 and a low rate of violent crime, this is a good place to raise a family. Prices are relatively stable, and the job market in the nearby cities of Irvine and San Diego means there is consistent demand from job seekers.
Palm Beach, Florida: I'm taking a risk here because this area has been pummeled by foreclosures in 2007. But there are also a lot of boomers retiring, and Palm Beach is looking mighty attractive. If you don't like this high of a risk (which translates to great prices), check out Tampa or Clearwater in the same state.
Las Vegas, Nevada: Yes, Las Vegas has been hit hard by incoming investors, who watched their home values disappear and then left those homes empty. Las Vegas comes in quite high on the national foreclosure list, almost always within the top three metro areas. But there's an upside -- a very strong job market. In 2007, Las Vegas experienced a 12 percent increase in population, partly driven by retirees looking for Sunbelt states to move to. Coupled with low prices, we could see inventories reduced here, which would also stabilize prices. Be careful what you buy, but I like it.
Places to Avoid

Kevin Finch



512-218-4855 Office

512-914-2033 Mobile

512-218-48

Check out the following site from a local title company...there is a lot of great articles on the bottom left.

All indicators for Austin's housing market are positive. The employement rate and job growth are some of the best in the country. We're seeing a consistent influx of new people moving to Greater Austin and our real estate is still considered undervalued on a national level.

I've posted several recent articles on our outlook at the blog listed below.

Danny Gallant - Realtor
The Gallant Group @ Keller Williams
512-92-1273

Great question. There definitely are predictions and one that is very clear is that the Austin population is anticipated to double in the next 20 years. The Austin area is one of the healthiest economy's and real estate markets in the country and is rated as "undervalued." Although our market softened since last August, overall prices in Austin have not gone down and January is showing a clear pick-up of activity. All of this puts Austin on pretty solid ground. Oh ... and interest rates ... low and getting lower. It's a great time to buy in Austin, TX and most professionals I talk to are optimistic.

The economy here is great and only getting better. Even in bad times, Austin has 2 things that help. 1 The UT school system and 2. the state gov. When times are bad, student enrollment is up and the state also hires more.

I suspect that this market will see more people putting money down on every transaction and that homes sales will continue to go up.