Austin Home Price Trends Comparing Year 2009 To 2007



Posted: Saturday, January 16, 2010

by Brian Talley
Austin real estate

Since the last housing peak and fall experienced in Austin Texas between the years 2000 to 2001, average single-family home sale prices and volume have increased at a significant pace. The number of homes sold peaked most recently during 2006 while Austin home sale prices peaked during 2007. Since that time sales volume and prices have fallen in just about every part of Austin, albeit much less than many other cities around the country. None-the-less, there were some areas of Austin neighborhoods that experienced positive home price growth between 2007 and 2009.

Since average home sale prices began to decline during 2008 and throughout 2009, we decided to compare average sold prices during 2009 to 2007 to get a better idea of the losses and gains. While some areas would be expected to stay strong such as zip code 78746 in the coveted Eanes Independent School District (Eanes ISD) where all the public schools are rated exemplary by the Texas Education Agency, average sale prices gained a small 1.57%. Other highly desirable areas lost ground such as zip code 78703 (West of downtown and west of Mopac but east of the river) where prices dropped 7.58%. Some areas that experienced the highest price declines are on the outskirts of west and northwest Austin. For example, zip code 78733 just north of Bee Caves Road and just east of the City of Bee Cave (located in Eanes ISD) lost over 23%. The 78734 zip code in the Lakeway area lost just under 20% while northwest Austin's zip code 78726 lost just under 19%.

Other areas of strength were zip codes 78750 in northwest Austin around the popular Westwood High area where some students have the opportunity to attend all exemplary rated schools from elementary to high school. Zip code areas 78704 and 78745 just south of downtown pulled out slight gains of .01% and 1.94% respectively. The central zip codes around downtown Austin experienced price reductions of 4-8%. Downtown zip code 78701 shows a 37.82% increase, but there were only a handful of homes sold in this zip code so the numbers do not have as much credit.

For buyers there are different angles to consider when deciding where to purchase their next home. On one hand buyers may find the best values where prices have dropped the most. On the other hand, buyers might consider purchasing a home where prices have been the most stable over the last few years. Either way, Austin continues to buck the national trends with continued growth and relative employment stability, which suggests long term demand for Austin homes. According to Texas' State Demographer, Austin Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) population will grow 33.9% between the years 2010-2020 from 1.7M to 2.92M. By the year 2040 the Austin MSA is projected to have a population of just less than 4M. That is over twice the size of the current Austin MSA! If the projections hold true, Austin homeowners should enjoy continued market stability and growth for years to come.

This article was provided by Brian Talley of Regent Property Group LLC, providing information about Austin home price trends to those people looking to purchase or sell a home in the Austin area.

This article was written on behalf of Brian Talley of Regent Property Group LLC, a top Austin REALTOR providing Austin real estate services and providing buyers with a tool to conduct an Austin home search.
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