The Trend in 2009 Austin Real Estate...
Monday, January 12, 2009
How do we know if the Austin real estate market is gaining strength before before we actually see statistics? How do we know if things are getting better before the market analyists give us their statistics?
Actvity is the best measuring stick. Real Estate activity is easily observed by paying attention to a few areas where real estate prospects leave their mark.
We could not measure this activity 10 years ago, but today we can see how many visitors we have on web sites, web pages, video tours, and a lot more detailed data than ever before. This was the second weekend in 2009 and the second weekend in a row where a new record was set for the number of prospects looking at Austin area homes on our web pages and video tours. Austin area home buying prospects weren't just a little more active than usual after Jan. 1, but were far more active online than in any weekend in 2008!!
Another statistic that is easily observes is open house activity. Austin area home buyers were out in force, once again in record numbers over the first two weekends of 2009. Not just in Austin, but in suburbs such as Round Rock and Cedar Park, open houses saw more traffic from home buyers than any weekend in 2008.
One more statistic that you will not get from market analyists... the number of buyers looking at Austin area homes with real estate agents tells us how many buyer have gone past web surfing and walking through open houses. We can measure the number of showings per house in the first 11 days of 2009 to any 11 day period in 2008. Guess what... though no records were set, the number of buyers looking at homes with real estate agents in the Austin area since Jan 1, 2009 would rate as one of the top 5 in 2008. Most of those strong weekends were in the spring and summer! We have only past 11 days in 2009, in the middle of winter!
I may be going out on a limb, but it could be that mortgage rates below 5% are motivating home buyers to take a look at what is available right now in the Austin real estate estate market. The first two weekends are only a snapshot, but if they are any indication, 2009 will be a better year than 2008!!
Actvity is the best measuring stick. Real Estate activity is easily observed by paying attention to a few areas where real estate prospects leave their mark.
We could not measure this activity 10 years ago, but today we can see how many visitors we have on web sites, web pages, video tours, and a lot more detailed data than ever before. This was the second weekend in 2009 and the second weekend in a row where a new record was set for the number of prospects looking at Austin area homes on our web pages and video tours. Austin area home buying prospects weren't just a little more active than usual after Jan. 1, but were far more active online than in any weekend in 2008!!
Another statistic that is easily observes is open house activity. Austin area home buyers were out in force, once again in record numbers over the first two weekends of 2009. Not just in Austin, but in suburbs such as Round Rock and Cedar Park, open houses saw more traffic from home buyers than any weekend in 2008.
One more statistic that you will not get from market analyists... the number of buyers looking at Austin area homes with real estate agents tells us how many buyer have gone past web surfing and walking through open houses. We can measure the number of showings per house in the first 11 days of 2009 to any 11 day period in 2008. Guess what... though no records were set, the number of buyers looking at homes with real estate agents in the Austin area since Jan 1, 2009 would rate as one of the top 5 in 2008. Most of those strong weekends were in the spring and summer! We have only past 11 days in 2009, in the middle of winter!
I may be going out on a limb, but it could be that mortgage rates below 5% are motivating home buyers to take a look at what is available right now in the Austin real estate estate market. The first two weekends are only a snapshot, but if they are any indication, 2009 will be a better year than 2008!!
