Exclusive: Strong September Downtown Austin Condo Sales Break Drive New Annualized Records

We’ve updated the AustinTowers | TOWERS Realty Downtown Austin Condo Market Index for September, 2011, and once again, our seasonally neutral 12-month tracking index set four new records. With September sales included, the 12–month index set records for the most sales (16.4/month), the highest $/SF ($310), the highest % ask (96.3%) and the second lowest average days on market (87.1).

With high-end new and resale units in the W and Austonian starting to hit the MLS, prices are likely to continue to increase. But the change is more than just a mix shift: prices are improving, liquidity is increasing, and time on market is shrinking for mid-priced units in desirable buildings. More units are being sold for $300K to $1 million, and the supply of units on the market and priced at less than $200K is greatly reduced.

The change in market dynamics is best exemplified by a small unit in the Railyard condominiums. The 749 square foot unit was on the market for 85 days and priced at $199,870 at the time of sale. Competitive bidding pushed the final sales price to $205,000. For the first time in a while, no downtown condos sold for less than $200,000.

During the month of September, condo sales increased 33% from the same month last year — from 12 units in 2010 to 16 in 2011. In comparison with the three prior Septembers, units sold last month were newer and more expensive and generally larger. They sold quicker and for a greater percentage of the asking price. While the summer ended with a push to value: September saw sales across multiple price bands: 6 units sold for $200k – $300K, 6 for $300K to $500K, and 4 for $500K to $1 million. Unusually, 11 units were larger than 1,000 square feet.

The sales were in an unusually wide variety of projects. For the second month in a row, more units were sold in the Shore (6) than in any other project. Two units each were sold in The Railyard and 904 West. The remainder of sales were spread across six additional buildings including the W and Austonian. For the first month is a long time, no sales were recorded in 360 . The sales in the W and Austoniann both sold for more than $575 / square foot.

As usual, additional private sales — which are not reflected in the MLS data — continued to close at Spring, Four Seasons, the W and Austonian.

See the full index here.

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