Earlier this year, Fannie Mae stopped guaranteeing mortgages in new or newly converted condo developments in which fewer than 70 percent of units have been sold or are under contract. Fannie’s previous rules set the cutoff at 51 percent. Freddie Mac recently sent a bulletin to sellers and servicers announcing plans to adopt similar restrictions…
News
Austin real estate news combined with editorial and opinion.
Star Riverside Auction: Bizarre Side Show or Outright Scam?
Star Riverside, a large condo project under way on the south shore of Ladybird Lake near I-35, has announced that it is going to auction 64-units in partnership with ibidcondo with no minimum price and no minimum bid. Before you call your mortgage broker and grab your credit card checks, the fine print on the Star…
CNN Report: Condo Auctions Common (Mentions Brazos Place)
An article from earlier today on cnn.com discussed the national condo auction market (it is growing fast) and the incentives provided to move condos nationwide. The issue is that condos take years to develop while condo demand can change very fast. As real estate markets across the country have retracted over the last year, condo developers…
Analysis: Brazos Place Auction
The Brazos Place auction is big news: residents are outraged, bargain hunters are taking note, and the media is marking the first downtown condo auction with glee. The big story is that opening bids start at less than half of original listing price for most units. The real question should be: what will the units…
Surprise “Fire Sale”: 20 Brazos Place Units in Upcoming Auction
In an unfortunate turn for the downtown Austin condo market, the Detroit-based developers of Brazos Place — a 72 unit condo conversion project on 8th and Brazos — have posted the remaining 20 units for sale in a surprise auction on May 17. Like most auctions, the starting bid price is very low — as little as $80,000…
60-Unit East Austin Condo Project Sells Out
While it’s not our primary focus, there are plenty of interesting condo developments rising outside of downtown Austin. In the portion of East Austin, close to 6th street and within a mile of I-35, a number of affordable, interesting mid-rise projects have risen over the last couple of years. Today, the 4-floor 60-unit 2124 Condos…