October 2010 MLS Data Texas Cities

October 2010 MLS data for many Texas cities (current as of Nov. 29, 2010)
Sales

Change from
Last Year

Median
Price

Change from
Last Year

Months'
Inventory

Amarillo

216

down 19%

$125,500

up 1%

6.8

Austin

1,331

down 32%

$195,000

up 9%

6.5

Corpus Christi

238

down 25%

$134,200

down 1%

10.5

Dallas

2,928

down 29%

$156,000

up 2%

7.1

El Paso

416

down 23%

$134,400

up 3%

7

Fort Worth

541

down 36%

$115,400

up 2%

7.3

Harlingen

59

down 24%

$81,700

down 8%

27.4

Houston

4,072

down 25%

$148,900

up 1%

7.9

Lubbock

185

down 26%

$114,100

down 1%

7.4

Odessa

71

down 19%

$113,000

down 13%

4.3

San Angelo

90

down 18%

$109,200

down 8%

6.4

San Antonio

1,311

down 25%

$148,700

up 7%

8.1

Temple-Belton

105

down 29%

$119,200

no change

7.8

Tyler

202

down 26%

$136,000

no change

13.5

Wichita Falls

113

down 4%

$100,700

up 1%

8.1

Texas

14,404

down 26%

$145,100

up 2%

7.8

Keeping you informed and wishing you all the best, Anne

ANNE JOHNSON-CHEVERERE

Realtor(r)

512-917-5260 Cell 512-328-5151 Office 512-328-0404 Fax

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RE/MAX Austin Skyline 4611 Bee Caves Rd., Suite 200 Austin, Texas 78746 annejohnson@austin.rr.com anne@HookemHomes.com SEARCH ALL LISTINGS REMAX.COM

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Vote For Kelly Anne

The web site crashed – the instructions are now to submit an email which Kelly Anne’s name – and that’s your vote.  Here is the email address.

info@elluminize.com

Thanks to all,

Anne

 

ANNE JOHNSON-CHEVERERE

Realtor®

512-917-5260 Cell

512-328-5151 Office

512-328-0404 Fax

 

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RE/MAX Austin Skyline

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Austin, Texas 78746

 

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The finest compliment I can ever receive is your referral. Please remember me when your friends, family, and co-workers are thinking about buying or selling residential and investment real estate.

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Please vote for her - daily. http://elluminize.com/vote/wp-content/plugins/wp-photocontest/view.php?post_
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Thank you, Anne

ANNE JOHNSON-CHEVERERE

Realtor(r)

512-917-5260 Cell 512-328-5151 Office 512-328-0404 Fax

Follow me on

LinkedIn Twitter

Facebook
HookemHomes.com

RE/MAX Austin Skyline 4611 Bee Caves Rd., Suite 200 Austin, Texas 78746 annejohnson@austin.rr.com anne@HookemHomes.com SEARCH ALL LISTINGS REMAX.COM

The finest compliment I can ever receive is your referral. Please remember
me when your friends, family, and co-workers are thinking about buying or
selling residential and investment real estate.

Posted via email from annejohnson's posterous

The Downtown Austin Condo Market - Steady

Shonda Novak of the Austin American-Statesman recently provided an in-depth look at the downtown condo market.   Here are some highlights and excerpts from her article.

Despite coming to market during the worst national recession in decades, the newest projects have managed to hold their own.

“The market in the past 12 months is far stronger than what we experienced in the previous year,” said David Ward, executive vice president for Atlanta-based Post Properties Inc., which developed the Four Seasons Residences with Ardent Residential. “The fear that was prevalent during the depth of the downturn has been replaced by confidence.”

At the Four Seasons, 77 of the 148 units are sold or under contract, the developers said. The count at the other projects: 70 of the 178 units at the Austonian; 158 of 247 at Spring; and 84 of the 159 at the W, where the first buyers will be able to move in within a few months.

At the Four Seasons, where prices range from $400,000 to $4 million, Ward said pricing “has been very stable.” The Austonian has even raised prices on some units.

In general, sales activity “has been surprisingly good, given the very high price point of this latest wave of condominium construction,” said Charles Heimsath, a local real estate consultant for many downtown developers. Heimsath noted that the average asking price among the four projects is just over $1 million.

Aside from a recovering economy, the developers of the new projects have two other things in their favor.

One is that most of the projects targeted very affluent buyers. Heimsath said a fairly high percentage of buyers in the four new projects paid cash for their units, which are second or third homes for some.

Another is the absence of new competition. As lenders turned off the spigot for new construction during the downturn, several proposed projects have been postponed or shelved. 

When construction started on Spring that year, Zuniga said, “we thought we would be 70 percent sold at completion.” But she said those expectations were adjusted when the recession hit in 2008, and the project ended up with about 35 to 40 percent of its units spoken for.

“We are currently selling at a much faster pace than we thought we would be in 2008,” Zuniga said. “We just hit the 60 percent sold mark, and the pace of sales continues to increase. \u2026 We are making five to 10 new sales every month, and we expect to see this number increase as the economy continues to improve and consumer fear continues to lessen.”

To see the complete article on the Austin American-Statesman website, click here.

Sales Tax on Homes?

This from an expert CPA! Robert Ellis

That is not exactly correct, but it is closer to the truth than comfort allows.

Since Obama’s health care bill passed, it has been circulating around the web that a 3.8% sales tax on home sales was included in the legislation.  But I could never find anything in the literature, so I basically discounted it.

However, it turns out where there is smoke there is fire.  There is such a tax.  Right now the tax is supposedly limited to high income taxpayers.  But when was the last time Congress wasted a great tax on a limited part of the population?  Never?  (As an example, even retired people must pay tax on their social security.)

Besides, even if you aren’t “high income” according to the government definition, you can still be caught up in this tax.  All you have to do to be subject to this tax is sell your house for $250,000.  You pay 6% commission then you pay 3.8% tax.  10% total is $25,000.  In today’s market, that could spell the difference between being right side up and upside down.

Plus, the tax is broader than just on home sales, it includes all investments you may have.

To be fair, there is some dispute over the reach of this legislation, but I personally no longer trust the MSM to report the truth.  A government in search of money can do what they want, unfortunately.

Read it on Snopes.  http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/realestate.asp

Save Money With a DING

I learned several years ago -- from my then college girls -- how to save on airline tickets, specifically Southwest Airlines.  They taught me to set up a DING on the Southwest web site by entering some basic information such as name, email address and areas of the country that I travel to frequently. Two of my girls live in Tempe, AZ so that is where I wanted to go and they love coming home to Texas for the holidays.   They also taught me that I should only book Southwest tickets on Tuesday, a day they post their cheapest fares.

Now each Tuesday of the week, I get my DING from Southwest promoting "Click and Save".  The best prices are INTERNET ONLY bookings.  That works.

Several months ago I booked a trip to Phoenix to see my girls and celebrate my youngest daughter's up-coming 21st Birthday.  Since booking the flight, I continue to get my Tuesday morning DING and each Tuesday I go in and check to see if the fares to Phoenix lowered any.  To my amazement better deals popped up this past Tuesday and I found a way to get credit on the tickets I previously purchased.  Really cool because I can use the credit for the kiddos to fly home during the holidays.  

This is money saving information all my family, friends and followers need to know.  Feel free to contact me on a quick tutorial on how to capture the credit by using your confirmation number.  Really easy but does require some instruction.

I can't wait to see my girls.

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Off-Menu Burgers, Austin Style

This is an off-beat hamburger joint in East Austin -- Your Mom's Burger Bar!  I love good, even mediocre hamburgers, but this place sounds too good to be true.  I do believe I will try some of their creations at home, but I will have to invite some -- not so traditional buddies as taster testers.

Your Mom's Burger Bar

Located at 1701 East Cesar Chavez Unit B. on the corner of Chalmers Ave. and East Cesar Chavez in Austin, TX. Watch for me at lunch.