Austin, TX's Housing Market for September

I usually see a quiet market during school openings and thereafter.  After all, we are getting into the winter months.

In September, residential units sold in Central Texas have DECREASED a whopping 43% compared to last September.  In Lake Travis ISD which includes Lakeway, Bee Caves and Spicewood, residential units sold have DECREASED only 7% compared to last September.

Now that the Attorney General released earlier this month his demand letter to the banks which resulted to a freeze in foreclosures, I wonder what October sales would look like.  It seems that we have a challenge each month in the housing market but the interest rates seems to be dropping.  A builder in Austin is offering 3.875% fixed rate conventional loan financing for 30 years!  WOW!

So if you are still on the fence about buying, you have got to be kidding me, there are so many deals to be made.  Give me a call and let's talk!

Newsweek ranks many Austin High Schools in their top for 2010

Newsweek.com picks the best high schools every year.  A few Austin high schools made it again.  I'm not surprised that Eanes School District's Westlake high school made it to the top 100, ranking at #59.  Another school beat Eanes at #54, Liberal Arts and Science Academy. Westwood made it to #91, Lake Travis at #914.

A Texas high school, Talented and Gifted school in Dallas made it to #1.  #4 is another Dallas school, Science and Engineering Magnet.  Wow that is awesome!

Here are the other Austin High Schools that made the list:

Ok, if you are wondering if your school made the list, and to find out how they came up with the best high schools in the country, view the article.

August real estate statistics for Austin, TX

What is going on in real estate in Austin, TX?  Oh no, our market has flattened in August.  Alamo Title in Austin has reported that in August, our residential sales (units) have decreased 18.91% compared to last August.  In Lake Travis ISD, our residential sales (units) have decreased 21%!

 Here are other statistics Alamo Title has announced:
New listings are down 8.35%.
Pendings are down 21.87%.
Sold average sales prices increased 10.42% to $261,006.  For August 2009 it was $236,376.
 
Is it still a good time to buy?  Absolutely!  Our interest rates are still low and look at the sold average sales, they are up last month!  If it continues to go up, hmmm do you want to buy high?

Note: The statistics above was obtained from Alamo Title of Austin.  The Lake Travis statistics was obtained from Austin Board of Realtors and has not been confirmed.

July 2010 Real Estate Statistics

Here's the latest on Austin's real estate statistics:

In July, 2010, residential units sold in the entire Austin MLS DECREASED 42% compared to last July. In Lake Travis ISD which includes Lakeway, Spicewood and Bee Caves, residential units sold INCREASED 15% compared to last July. This information was obtained from the Austin Board of Realtors and has not been confirmed or verified. This report was ran on 8/15/2010.

A 45% decrease in sales in suppossedly one of our peak selling months (spring/summer) is not very good. Could it have been because we had a surge of buyers in April/May/June due to the tax credit when they could have been our July/August buyers? What is going to happen in August? I guess we will have to wait until September to find out.

Odd Real Estate Joke - Back to School year 2010

This is my second year advertising in the Lake Travis ISD School directory and football program. In my effort to set myself apart from the many other realtors that advertise yearly, mine is a cartoon. Here is this year's advertisement.

Same goes for my marketing flyers for every home that I sell. I never use a template flyer (except for my short sales). After all, every home is different, right? So why should I use a template flyer?

Enjoy my real estate joke regarding back to school year 2010.

Double click on the image to enlarge.

A Blog about a Blogging Class

This month, I am teaching a class in my Market Center on blogging. I called it "Blah, Blah, Blogging". The class will last an hour long next Tuesday, August 17th from 11 till noon.

This will be my first time teaching this class. Other classes I teach regularly at my office are: Wolfnet, How to incorporate the MLS finder into your KW website and Short Sale class for Buyers Agents.

The class will be geared for real estate agents and hopefully convince them to pursue blogging once the class is finished. An outline of the class will be as follows:
What is Blogging?
Samples of good Real Estate blogging sites
Who should Blog?
Why should you Blog?
Blogging Platforms
What to Blog about?
Blogging Rules
Blogging widgets

I think it will be a very informative class. If you have any suggestions or topics to cover or even good real estate blog sites that are meant showing.

Lake Travis ISD has done it again!

Lake Travis Superintendent, Dr. Kirk, announced on July 22nd 2010 via email that Lake Travis ISD has earned an EXEMPLARY rating from Texas Education Agency (TEA). This rating is for the 2009-2010 school year! Exemplay is the highest rating given my TEA. AWESOME!

He also announced the individual ratings of the schools in the Lake Travis ISD as follows:

Lake Travis ISD - Exemplary
Lake Travis High School - Exemplary
Lake Travis Middle School - Exemplary
Hudson Bend Middle School - Recognized
Bee Cave Elementary School - Exemplary
Lake Travis Elementary School - Recognized
Lake Pointe Elementary School - Exemplary
Lakeway Elementary School - Exemplary
Serene Hills Elementary School - Exemplary

I am so proud! Partly because I was a Lakeway Elementary/Lake Travis Middle School and Lake Travis High School parent this past school year and these 3 schools all earned Exemplary rating. Congratulations Lake Travis, you did it again!