Many of these unfortunate homebuyers became victims of the adjustable rate mortgages offered to sub-prime borrowers, buyers with shaky credit who were lured into homes with inflated prices.  Many of these families were able to obtain 100% financing and even finance their closing costs.  They got in with a low “teaser rate” and then the interest rate went up.  Now they find themselves in a situation where they cannot afford their house payment, yet they cannot sell for what they owe, they have no equity.  This is a very good reason to have a qualified Realtor on your side.  One thing that the general public does not always realize is that onsite sales agents represent the builder, not the home buyer.

Refinancing, that is also an area that people get into trouble.  I have heard so many folks saying that they refinanced and were able to get money back through their equity and they are going to buy a car or new furniture, etc.  Why would you want to pay 30 years on a disposable item that you will use for 10 years or less?  Yes, it is at a lower rate but you are paying on it for 30 years.  I can’t tell you how important it is to talk with a trusted individual who deals with this all of the time before you walk into a bad situation.

Area home sales, prices up

Austin Business Journal - September 22, 2006 Single-family home sales in the Austin area continued their climb in Austin, according to the Austin Board of Realtors.

More than 2,800 homes sold, which represents an August record and marked a 6 percent increase over the same time last year. The median price of those homes increased 8 percent, to $182,500.

Sales brought in more than $683 million in revenue, an increase of 19 percent, according to data from the board's Multiple Listing Service. Properties sat on the market for an average of 60 days, 10 percent less time than in August 2005. The number of active single-family listings in the MLS dropped by 2 percent, to 8,137.

"The Austin market continues to buck the national trend because this city is really in the infancy of its life as a major metropolis," says John Rosshirt, the board's chairman. "Relative to other big cities, Austin's prices are a steal. Plus, the quality of life here makes it a desirable destination for people and businesses looking to relocate."

The Austin Board of Realtors is a nonprofit, voluntary organization representing more than 7,500 licensed Realtors in Central Texas.

Heidi Schoonover

Alamo Title Company

m.512-944-8310

p.512-249-0333

f.512-249-0538

NEW HOMES

Austin new home market stays hot

Experts raise caution about investor sales.

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Central Austin continues to buck signs of a cooling housing market seen elsewhere in the country.

Area builders started 4,266 homes in the third quarter, up about 8 percent from the same quarter of 2005, and closed on 4,518: a record, according to Residential Strategies Inc., a Dallas -based firm that tracks new home activity.

Thanks to strong job growth and moderating mortgage rates, Austin's housing market has been healthy all year. In contrast, markets are cooling rapidly in many other parts of the country.

"It seems to be the rest of the nation is doing poorly, and we tend to go against that," said Mark Sprague, Austin partner with Residential Strategies.

Over the past 12 months, Central Texas builders have cranked out 16,973 homes, up more than 20 percent from a year ago.

The construction pace indicates that builders are confident that there are plenty of buyers either already here or moving in.

The median price in the quarter rose 8.5 percent, to $196,933, as builders shifted their emphasis to higher-priced homes, in part because of an influx of buyers from more expensive markets.

For example, starts of homes costing more than $300,000 have risen 64 percent in the past years, triple the overall increase in starts, according to Residential Strategies.

Starts in the $151,000 to $200,000 price range rose 14.8 percent.

The escalating price of construction materials also is driving up the cost of many new homes.

Although Sprague was upbeat about the state of the Austin housing market, he raised one caution about sales to investors, which can give a false sense of market demand.

"The hope is that investor interest will subside in the coming year so as not to overhype the market, as has occurred elsewhere in the nation," he said.

Local real estate consultant Charles Heimsath agrees.

"The market is inflated by investor demand, which doesn't actually put bodies into houses; it just turns a sale," Heimsath said. "Then, eventually, you create a bubble, and eventually the bubble will burst. I'm not saying that will happen in Austin, but it's something we need to carefully monitor."

Sprague said he thought the Austin market will remain strong through 2007, unless the job growth picture changes.

The region has been adding jobs for 32 months in a row.

In August, the local work force reached 714,000 jobs, up 2.8 percent from the same period a year ago.

Heidi Schoonover

Sales Representative

Alamo Title

More good new!

Houses selling like hot cakes

Austin Business Journal - Monday

The housing slump affecting the rest of the country isn't reaching Austin, according to the latest numbers from the Austin Board of Realtors.

Austin's latest multiple listing service report posts records for single-family home sales and monthly revenue.

More than 2,300 single-family homes sold in September -- a 3 percent increase from the previous year and a record for the month.

The median price was up 3 percent to $167,000.

Altogether, single-family home sales contributed a record $533.6 million to the local economy -- up 9 percent from September 2005.

Active single-family listings moved 5 percent higher from 2005 to 8,203. But the amount of time these listings sat on the market dropped 15 percent, to an average of 58 days. ABOR says that is the shortest amount of time single-family listings have waited to sell since September 2001, when the average was 46 days.

"If you want proof that Austin is a real estate hot zone, all you have to do is look out your window," Board Chairman John Rosshirt says.

For instance, in Northwest Austin, single-family home sales increased 47 percent and garnered 18 percent more in price from last year.

Heidi Schoonover

Alamo Title

Sales Representative

512-944-8310