Texas Realty Blog

½ Year Texas Home Sales Fall

The National Association of Realtors® latest forecast calls for improvement in existing home sales during the fourth quarter of 2008, as buyers start taking advantage of benefits provided in the recently signed Housing and Economic Recovery Act.

This forecast is certainly welcome news on the heels of the doom and gloom reports that are so prevalent these days. Let’s take a look at housing sale statistics for Texas’ major metropolitan areas for the first half of 2008 to see how our local markets have fared.

Housing Statistics January through June 2008

Austin

Number of Homes Sold:  12,072, down 19% from 2007

Homes Currently for Sale:  11,619, up 29% from 2007

Months of Inventory:  5.2, up 44% from 2007

Median Sales Price:  $189,400, up 4% from 2007

Average Sales Price:  $244,500, no change from 2007

Dallas

Number of Homes Sold:  25,291, down 16% from 2007

Homes Currently for Sale:  29,902, down 5% from 2007

Months of Inventory:  6.5, up 7% from 2007

Median Sales Price:  $159,000, down 2% from 2007

Average Sales Price:  $216,000, down 2% from 2007

Houston

Number of Homes Sold:  34,370, down 13% from 2007

Homes Currently for Sale:  40,799, up 4% from 2007

Months of Inventory:  6.5, up 12% from 2007

Median Sales Price:  $152,300, up 1% from 2007

Average Sales Price:  $206,800, up 2% from 2007

San Antonio

Number of Homes Sold:  10,188, down 17% from 2007

Homes Currently for Sale:  13,188, up 17% from 2007

Months of Inventory:  6.9, up 33% from 2007

Median Sales Price:  $150,000, up 2% from 2007

Average Sales Price:  $183,200, up 2% from 2007

Sales are down in all four major metropolitan areas, but prices have remained the same or appreciated in all areas except Dallas, which is excellent news for Texas.

Statistics provided by A&M University Real Estate Center.

San Antonio and Houston Named Solar America Cities

Last year, Austin was named one of a handful of Solar America Cities.  More of Texas will soon be relying on the power of the sun, as San Antonio and Houston were just named among twelve new Solar America Cities for 2008.

Through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar America Cities partnership, San Antonio and Houston will be working to accelerate the adoption of solar energy technologies for a cleaner, more secure energy future.  The cities’ solar partnerships (non-profit agencies, universities, solar companies, etc.) have committed to developing a sustainable solar infrastructure that removes barriers and encourages the adoption of solar energy by its residents and businesses, and increases the number of solar installations in the city. San Antonio and Houston will follow in Austin’s footsteps by taking a comprehensive, city-wide approach that lays the foundation for a viable solar market and provides a model for other cities to follow.

City Spotlight: McAllen-Mission Area Tops Growth Charts

By DeeinAustin™

McAllen, Texas has been the talk of the nation for a few years now.

The McAllen-Mission-Edinburg area in South Texas (past San Antonio) consistently tops national charts for highest expected job growth, appreciation and housing growth.

GROWTH COMPARISON CHART
This chart was created in Google Docs to show you how McAllen, Mission, and Edinburg compare to each other as well as two major cities in Central/South Texas.

TOP THINGS TO DO WHEN YOU VISIT MCALLEN, MISSION, OR EDINBURG TEXAS

Sticker Shock! Sluggish December Smacks You in the Face

By DeeinAustin™

I wonder if anyone uses the term, "sticker shock" anymore. Sticker shock was used backed in the 80s and 90s to describe the raw, gut reaction that consumers had when they saw an extremely high price tag on a item. The term wasn't used to describe real estate, but I think you should prepare for sticker shock on December market stats.

If I had to describe the face of a sticker shock victim, it would look like what you'd expect from someone who had their hand struck with a hammer or who jumped in the Alaskan waters sans speedo.

A quick peek at December stats show that it was a sour month for Texas real estate. Lack of consumer confidence, high oil prices, less investors, and the holidays caused Austin real estate sales to be down 27% from 2006. Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio didn't beat last year either.

[Wait for the resounding OUCH...]

Now that the shock is over, let's break this down.

THE TRUTH ABOUT TEXAS REAL ESTATE

Community Spotlight: Historic Gruene and New Braunfels

By DeeinAustin™

I took a trip to New Braunfels this past weekend. I'd been hearing about rapid growth in the area, so wanted to see for myself. New Braunfels and the Gruene (pronounced, "green") Historic District are our Destination Spotlight for this week.

New Braunfels,Texas is a sleepy town about 30 miles South of Austin on the way to San Antonio. The areas is a getaway destination for busy professionals in Central Texas as well as out of state visitors.

College students from San Marcos and Austin also visit during the summer for fun on the Guadalupe and Comal Rivers.

View the short photo tour below of new construction in the area. Click the photos to view a larger version.

"GRUENE GARDEN" LUXURY GARDEN VILLA COMMUNITY

Community Spotlight: Alamo Quarry Market and Quarry Village San Antonio

By DeeinAustin™

This week's community spotlight is the Alamo Quarry Market and Quarry Village in San Antonio.

ALAMO QUARRY MARKET and QUARRY CROSSING

The Alamo Quarry Market was part a previous article on North San Antonio shopping areas that incorporate residential living and office space along with entertainment, dining and shopping. Alamo Quarry Market is a mixed-use retail project incorporating retail, dining, entertainment, and specialty shops.

The Alamo Quarry Market website has the brief history of this beautiful development. The location is at the quarry of the old Alamo Cement Plant.

Quarry Crossing is an upscale project incorporating specialty retail and theme restaurants.

UPCOMING ALAMO QUARRY VILLAGE LUXURY APARTMENTS

Texas Lawmakers Take "Green" Boot Approach to Sustainability

By DeeinAustin™

Let's face it. Non-Texans sometimes perceived our state as being behind on the times. Lately, Texas is being recognized for being forward-thinking when it comes to green practices and sustainability. Texas is not just growing a green thumb, we're passing laws that put a "green" boot in the backsides of corporations, developers and new construction builders to encourage them to adopt new practices.

Here's what I mean.

A friend who works for Pepsi-Co International mentioned that large corporations have implemented more strict green requirements from suppliers. In order to supply products or services to Pepsi-co, your company must regularly report measures in areas such as recycling, carbon footprint and sustainable practices. Round Rock-based Dell Computers, Inc. has similar green guidelines for suppliers.

Green requirements are being adopted by Texas State Agencies in the areas of green building, sustainable development of subdivisions, affordable housing, and commercial construction.

COOL GREEN INITIATIVES IN TEXAS

North San Antonio Steps up Shopping and Entertainment

By DeeinAustin™

I visited my hometown of San Antonio this past Thanksgiving. It was fascinating to tour the city and see new mixed-use developments, shopping districts, and family entertainment complexes.

San Antonio has some of the best theme parks, historic architecture, and golf courses in the nation, so it's a great place for retirees, golfers and tourists. When growing up in San Antonio in the 80s and 90s, however, the city was a boring place to be for young people. That seems to be changing, especially in Northeast and Northwest San Antonio.

BEST "NEW" SAN ANTONIO ENTERTAINMENT & SHOPPING AREAS FOR ALL AGES

San Antonio is doing a great job of attracting large commercial ventures to fill in the need for family entertainment and shopping for all ages. Many of the shopping districts are attracting residential multifamily or building this component into the development during latter phases.

Trans-Texas Corridor, Slated to Connect Dallas to Austin and San Antonio, Still Controversial

By DeeinAustin™

I was in a Leadership Austin class on all day Wednesday. We discussed some interesting updates on new urbanism, transit-oriented development, commuter rails, and other changes to Austin and Texas that I'll share in upcoming weeks and months.

A variety of infrastructure and development tools are being used in anticipation of millions of new residents coming to Texas in the next decade.

The theme of the past few Leadership Austin sessions have been economic development and infrastructure needed in Texas to keep up with consumer demand. We are not a shrinking population and are growing at a very fast pace.

For example, Austin the only city in the U.S to consistently double it's population every 20 years since the 1900s. This creates both challenge as well as opportunity. Accordingly, important decisions need to be made, some of which will be very controversial.

TRANS-TEXAS CORRIDOR, YOU PRO OR CON?

San Antonio Days on Market Decent Despite Slow Mortgage Market

By DeeinAustin™

You're probably aware that the first week or so of each month is when we report on the major markets in Texas. We've already covered Dallas, Houston and Austin, so San Antonio is at the market analysis plate.

MLS Statistics are provided by the San Antonio Board of REALTORS® (SABOR). Download mls-stats1007.pdf or visit the SABOR website. You'll notice that, like Houston and Dallas, the San Antonio Board of REALTORS® provides excellent data to consumers and non-members.

The Austin Board of REALTORS® provides a monthly summary, but doesn't let sellers and buyers statistics to easily download a full report.

SO HOW'S SAN ANTONIO REAL ESTATE DOING?