What the Case Shiller Index Reveals About Austin. In 2009, Austin received was rated 2nd in the healthiest housing marketplace list according to an analyse conducted by Builder Magazine. According to the Builder Magazine, the list of healthiest cities was created on the basis of how great the cities were for people to live.
The list also took into consideration the existence of educational institutions as well as commercial districts. The 3rd aspect taken into consideration was that the city wouldn’t show any run-up in prices during a booming period. Austin showed it all and more and hence was ranked 2nd.
In the same year, Austin was rated #2 by Forbes in their “Top Ten Cities Where People are Relocating.” In a nut shell, this means that there were more people buying homes in Austin but by the end of the 4th quarter of 2009, it seemed as if the home sales were taking longer as compared to 2008. There are specific pockets or areas in Austin where the supply exceeded the demand and vice-versa. Some of areas in Austin also witnessed overselling of modest homes to sub-prime borrowers or investors. This is many ways is being looked upon as good news for the city but there are many people who still feel that Austin is on the verge of a severe downtown.
In an interview to Roselind Hejl (Coldwell & Banker), Steve Forbes the President and Chief Executive Officer of Forbes and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes magazine said, “While I wouldn’t describe it as “another shoe to drop”, I’d say that from a national perspective, there is little sign that the housing market has bottomed yet. While there has been a slight uptick in existing sales that’s likely more the result of foreclosures, speculators and bottom fishers, than an actual pickup in demand. That said, any activity that effectively removes excess inventory is at least somewhat positive.”
According to the Case Shiller Index of housing prices, Austin market has been quite steady through 2009. In fact, Austin showed an overall increase of 2% in the median price as compared to 2008. Although, the Case Shiller Index of housing prices doesn’t monitor Austin markets, from time to time they do provide reports. Some real estate experts like Roselind Hejl believes that if the Austin market was monitored then it would show zero run up prices in 2009.
But why is Austin showing such a balanced market report? This is more so because most builders in Austin have stopped building new homes. Hence, the total number of home sales decreased in 2009 as compared to 2007. Apart from the builders, the sellers are also playing an important role in reducing the inventory. There are several homeowners who have simply pulled off their homes from real estate market listings. Each neighborhood of Austin show major variation in the number of properties available for sale.
The 2010 statistics show that, 170 homes have been sold in February and there are 6,926 homes on the listings including 1,088 foreclosed homes. Who knows 2010 might be a better market for Austin in terms of homes sales.