Well, it may seem like I harp on this fact enough that it would get kind of boring, but since it plays an important role in Austin area real estate activity, it should be noted at least periodically.

Before Austin home buyers purchase homes they typically go see those homes... before they go see those homes, they typically look online to determine which homes to see. 

So, logically we could determine how Austin area home sales will perform based on how many people are looking at homes online, correct.  Yes that is correct, so here is a summary of online traffic for Austin, TX homes:

During the time when the Federal home buyer tax credit was in place, online traffic was very high... our personal web sites and national directories were experiencing more visitors than at any time in 2009 and 2008.  What happened during the months that followed this online traffic was, you guessed it, higher home sales.

Now, after the Tax Credit deadline on April 30, online traffic began declining rapidly and by mid May was at the lowest point we had seen in all of 2008 and 2009. The results was fewer home buyers viewing homes in person, and fewer home sales than in March and April of course. I do expect to see home sales fall in June 2010 from June 2009 based on this information.

Many local agents and home sellers have ecome concerned about the lack of online traffic and especially the lack of home buyers seeing homes in the Austin area. The good news is that over the last 10 -14 days, that online traffic has steadily climbed back to the levels we saw in 2008 and 2009 before the Tax Credit.  Hopefully, we will see home sales remain steady as well, because let's face it, being in a soft market, that just happens to be the best soft market in the U.S. is not something to complain about!