The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the number of homes listed for sale has declined in many U.S. cities in November, reversing a strongly negative trend. In the 27 metropolitan areas covered in the ZipRealty survey, housing inventory dropped by an average of 28% over the last year and 2.4% during the last month. In…
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Austin real estate news combined with editorial and opinion.
$500B in Home Value Disappears
According to ZIllow , Total home values in the United States fell $489 billion in the first 11 months of 2009. A large drop, to be sure, but it marks a significant improvement from 2008, when homes lost a total of $3.6 trillion in values. In addition, about one-third of the markets we covered (48 of…
21c Austin: New Renderings Magically Appear
This week, it has been reported that the developers of 21c are coming back to Austin to provide an update on the status of the project. Apparently, the plans are now complete and they are ready to proceed with a third version of the project on a large site located at the intersection of Red…
Austin: 3rd Best City for Development
From my perspective, it is always great for Austin to be included in a top five list that includes San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Washington DC. This week the Urban Land Institute , a 2,000 member not-for-profit real estate and developer network, released its list of the 5 cities for development in 2010. In order, the Institute’s…
October Surprise: Austin Home Sales Surge
We reported 9 days ago that downtown Austin condo sales were up 44% year-over-year while prices were down 3%. This was good news but not necessarily indicative of the broader Austin market. Today, newly released MLS numbers show that central Texas existing home sales soared 38% in October with 1,823 houses selling compared with 1,322 a…
New, Less Restricttive FHA Rules for Condo Loans
In a dramatic temporary reversal of policy , the Federal Housing Administration is giving condo buyers a much-needed break. Last week, the FHA, the federal agency that insures low-down-payment home loans for private lenders, said it was relaxing its building underwriting guidelines as a way of helping the struggling sector ride out the downturn. The move…