Mueller Austin TX Control Tower

Mueller Austin is heavily featured in any list of green neighborhoods – it was the first neighborhood that was designated as a LEED Silver Certified Plan from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). Not only are the homes built to an energy efficient rating scheme (Austin Energy’s Green Building Program), but the way the neighborhood is designed as a walkable mixed use community is considered and sustainable. The fact that it’s less than 3 miles to downtown is a factor, as are the extensive green spaces and commitment in the commercial buildings to LEED certification.

What does this mean for the homes sold there? The neighborhood gets a great deal of attention, and the 140 acres of parks and trails attract a great many visitors, so the grapevine for home sales is often abuzz.

The market is still in the middle of a construction boom – David Weekley and Standard Pacific are still working on production homes, in addition to larger custom homes. Greenway Lofts is selling the last of it’s low-rise condo building too. Not all of these homes are listed on the Austin Multiple Listing System – in fact most aren’t. Of the homes that were in the MLS, here are the statistics year to date for 2011:

•  The median sales price including condos and the income-qualified affordable homes is $364,225
• The median sales price without affordable homes is $374,225
• The average sales price without affordable homes is $393,557
• Average days on market is 51 days (market rate homes)
• Sales prices are as high as $679,000
• List prices are as high as $899,000
• 14 homes have sold, 3 are under contract and 9 are active (market rate)
• 3 homes have been withdrawn from the market, of which 2 have been re-listed with other agents and one of these has sold.

Overall the market remains balanced with around 3 months of market rate home inventory.

You can check out Mueller Homes For Saleand get an updated analysis of the

Mueller Housing Market

Parts of Hyde Park have recently been designated as a Local Historic District, which means that permission is required to remodel the exterior, construct or demolish a home in that part of this central Austin neighborhood. This may impact pricing for homes in that area, and in this austin real estate blog post, we look at the broader Hyde Park area as covered by the Neighborhood Association.

The median price of sold houses in Hyde Park Austin that were listed for sale in 2010 was $300,000. Of 154 listings in the year:

• 50 were withdrawn
• 19 expired
• 59 sold
• 18 are still on the market
• 8 are currently under contract

What does this mean? Only 53% of home listings have sold in 2010, the rest remain unsold or have failed to sell. The average days on market for the homes that sold was a relatively healthy 56 days.

The average sales price to list price ratio for Hyde Park homes selling in less than 30 days was a little over 98% which is great, though some pricing was a little more optimistic on the parts of the sellers with homes selling in 31-60 days averaging a ratio of just 93%.

The diverse housing stock yielded sales prices of between $119/sqft and $332/sqft which is accounted for by the vast array of sizes and ages of home in the area.

It was a tough year for just under half of people wanting to sell in Hyde Park. Compared to 2009, 10% less homes sold and the median price of those sold was 9.1% lower in 2010. While this could simply be due to different houses selling last year due to the first time homebuyer tax credit, I think values have slid a little.

Get a market snapshot of the Hyde Park housing market, or search for homes for sale there.

The wider housing market has an impact on the local market here in Austin TX. While it pays to take broad sweeping generalities with a pinch or two of salt, it makes interesting viewing. If you’ve been googling housing market, you’ll have seen this paid advertisement for the Goldman Sachs Housing Market Forecast for 2011.

In it, the managing director of global research Jan Hatzius predicts modest declines in house prices across the US, of the order of 5%. This is pretty significant for most homeowners. He also said that the overvaluation challenge of the housing market bubble of 2006 is behind us, and house values are somewhat predictable right now. Low mortgage interest rates coupled with accurate valuations actually put house values under long term trends, he adds.

So what does this mean? If valuations are accurate and declining in the large, how does this affect the price of an Austin TX house? The overall forecast in my opinion is for the coastal bubble states. Texas has the 32nd largest economy in the world and is seeing growth. People are moving to Austin. State unemployment is low relative to the rest of the US.

The real estate fundamentals of Austin continue to be strong. My forecast would be that there will be no decline in Austin house prices, and modest gains in some key perennially popular neighborhoods: close to employers, close to downtown, and with good schools.

Stay up to date with the Austin housing market with a free personalized report for your neighborhood.

Austin’s MLS Area 4 includes Hyde Park and Patterson Heights. Here’s a run down of how many homes sell in each month (over the last 5 years). The graph charts the contract date (when the offer is accepted) for single family homes with a list price between $300,000 and $400,000.

Monthly Home Sales

The chart shows sales in 5 full years. As you can see, the most activity happens in March, April and May.

Conversely, there is typically less competition in other parts of the year.

• Search for Hyde Park homes
• Snapshot of Hyde Park housing market

Austin MLS prices

Austin’s 78756 is a vibrant area containing the Rosewood neighborhood.

There are a number of historic, locally owned businesses on Burnet Road and Northloop whose iconic signs define the area.

There are condos and houses in the area in a vast swathe of pricing – from efficiency condos below $80,000 to houses about $700,000. There are also a few duplexes in the neighborhood.

The median sales price in the last 12 months for single family homes is $337,000, with an average price per square foot in 78756 of $221.

What is your chance of selling your home in 78756? That really depends on which Rosedale Realtor you use.

Statistically, more homes have failed to sell in 78756  than have successfully sold in the last 12 months. This is shown below.

Rosedale Home Sales Data

Looking at the amount of homes for sale in 78756 right now, there are around 6 months of inventory in the Austin MLS.

• Search for Rosedale homes
• Snapshot of Rosedale housing market

Homes at the Mueller Airport in Austin, TX have available since the end of 2007, with most residents moving in 2008 or later. To date, around 340 homes are occupied, with a total of 10,000 residents planned. Here’s the market stats for the market rates homes in Mueller to date:

Average # of bedrooms / bathrooms: 4/3

Average size of a home at Mueller:  2383 sqft

Average days on market for a house at Mueller : 95 days

Average list price: $419,678

Average list price to sales price for a home at Mueller: Please contact for details.

The affordable program at the Mueller Airport is not included in these statistics, nor the statistics for the town homes or condos that are available at Mueller Austin.

Some homes at Mueller aren’t available on the MLS. For example Standard Pacific Homes at Mueller only keep one of each of their available floorplans listed on the Austin MLS, while they have 7 in inventory.

Useful links:

• What’s my Mueller Austin Home Worth?
• See Mueller Airport Homes  For Sale
  
• Contact an Austin Real Estate Agent

Tarrytown Annual House Listings

Tarrytown is a prestigious neighborhood in Central Austin with a wide range of home prices from $150,000 and up.

The chart on the left shows that a relatively high proportion of homes do not sell, which is partly a factor of the higher sales prices in Tarrytown.

Sales volume declined sharply in 2008, and the ratio of unsold homes went up, as it did in most areas of Austin. Homes worst affected were at the higher end of the market there.

Tarrytown Average Sales Price

The average sales price for a single family house in Tarrytown actually dropped in 2008 by about 3% over 2007.

Tarrytown remains a desirable location in Central Austin, and while interest rates are low, I expect move-up buyers to take advantage of the market in Tarrytown.

• More information about the Tarrytown neighborhood
• see Tarrytown Homes For Sale
• An updated market snapshot of Tarrytown

Hyde Park is a favored spot in Austin for its closeness to UT and wide range of housing options.  The number of Hyde Park homes sold in 2008 was lower than in the previous five years. Less than half the number of single family homes sold in 2008 than did in 2006 or 2003.

How have house prices held up in the last few years in Hyde Park? Find out at the Central Austin and East Austin homes blog.

Useful links:

• Homes For Sale in Hyde Park area
• Updated Market Snapshot of Hyde Park

Brentwood Annual Home Sales

Brentwood is a thriving neighborhood in North Central Austin containing a great park and some original Austin landmarks like Threadgills.

Here are some statistics which show trends in the housing market for single family homes in Brentwood.

Over the last two years, home sales have slowed with sales in 2008 less than half of those in 2006. The number of listings which didn’t sell (either expired or withdrawn) has increased dramatically, and the ratio of unsuccessful listings (those that don’t sell) to successful listings (those that sell) has risen from 16% in 2006 to 110% in 2008.

Statistically in 2008 your single family home sale was more likely to fail than succeed.

Brentwood Average Home Prices

So where’s the good news? The Brentwood homes that did sell in 2008 sold with an average time on market of 38 days, which is the fastest in 5 years.  So the homes that were priced, staged and marketed correctly achieved sales quickly.

The other good news is that average selling prices are still rising in Brentwood as show above.

Useful links:

• Read more about the Brentwood Neighborhood
• see Brentwood Homes For Sale
• An updated market snapshot of Brentwood