Jay Gohil - Austin Business Journal:

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What is the Austin housing market’s greatest strength right now? Austin’as population is expected to grow substantiall y over the next20 years. With its vibrant community and a mediah home priceof $189,000, the Austin area continue s to draw people who are looking to live in a thrivingb city at a reasonable cost. What is its greatest challenge Real estate is alocal business. At times, it’xs challenging to overcome the negativde perceptions consumers have about the housing markety based on nationalmedia attention. Fortunately, the Central Texaes housing market did not see the dramaticx increases in home prices experienced in otherr majormetropolitan areas.
Austin area real estatew saw stable and steady growth over the past five What factors are differentiatingf the houses that sell from those languishing onthe market? There are more homeas on the market today than therw were a year ago. Buyers have more choices and are spendingg more time looking for a home that suits their needs. Homeowners who work with Realtors to perform a comprehensiv e market analysis and price theire homes competitively are more apt to sell theirfhomes quickly. What, if anything, do sellers need to do toda y thatthey didn’t have to do three years ago to sell theif homes?
Homeowners looking to sell in today’s market shoulf be ready to price their homes appropriately, especially if they are lookingv to sell their homes within a few The average home spends 79 days on the markegt before selling. Is affordable, close-in housinb going to be a significanyt challenge inthis region? Why or why not? Housing affordability is a concern in any thriving metropolitanh area. As the city develops, we are seeing a lot more growthb inthe east, northwest and southwest partsw of the city. We are fortunatwe that in many cases, the commutinv time to downtown Austin from these communitiezs is still under20 minutes.
It lookes like the gap in homesales — 2008 numbersx compared with 2009 — has been closing each month. When do you think this area will be on an upwar dswing again? We don’t know when Austi n home sales will experience an upswing, but we’re confident that owninvg a home in the Austin area is one of the best ways one can builc wealth. We are hopeful that interesty rates will remain low enough through the end of the year to alloww home buyers an opportunity to purchase thehome that’sd right for them. In this market, what is sellingv better? New homes or existintg homes? We are not seeing a significant differencw between new and existinghome sales.
Buyer s looking for Austin area real estate have more choicesthan before. Some buyers prefer a newer home and a slightlty longer commute to while others are looking to be in the centereof town. It looks like Austin doesn’t have a larges overhang of single-family home inventory. But if and when the area need s tobuild more, will the national atmosphere for homebuilders prevenr that from happening here? Many homebuilders have reduced or halted their housing starts locally basec on national economic conditions. The national atmosphere has made it difficult for most homebuilderxs to build homes before contractware finalized.
Some economists have predicted a potentiall shortfall of homes over the next few yearz if the population in Central Texas continuesa to grow as it has done over the last 20 Is now a good or bad time to startt a career in residentialreal estate? The real estater market always has room for smart, hard-workingb professionals who want to help people find the home of their dreams. All businesses go througj cycles, and real estate is no The real estate business is notfor everyone. It can take a lot of time and dedicatioj before yousee activity.