Forbe’s released a new list of “Where US Home Sales Are Rising”, and if you don’t follow the real estate market closely, you may be in store for some surprises. The cities with the best home sales records right now are those where experts have suggested buying while the market was at it’s bottom. These cities are not beginning to see their upswing, despite the national recession. Just as the housing downturn began in these markets where artificial appreciation rates caused prices to skyrocket (and then plummet) and then spread to the rest of the country, this upturn is likely to begin to increase buyer confidence which is likely to spread to other parts of the country. This recession just may be as sort-lived as experts are predicting.
Although prices are still down from their peak values a couple years ago, cities with soaring sales numbers include Las Vegas, Pheonix, San Diego, Detroit, Los Angeles, Atlanta, San Jose, CA, Washington DC, San Fransisco, and Sacramento, CA. This news is still bittersweet. Sellers are more realistic, but have the potential to make back their losses buying their next home at a lower price as well.
So what does this mean for Austin? Austin hasn’t seen the dramatic price decreases, although we are seeing lower offers than usual. These lower offers represent buyer confidence more than any other market factor. As the markets on our coasts stabalize, consumer confidence is likely to trickle back into Austin just as the news of “doom and gloom” did a year ago.
Austin is sheltered from more than coastal weather, the strong local and state economy supporting Austin keeps our markets steady. Our job market is no longer dependent on one or two employers, and our steady 4-6% appreciation rates are in line with our growth rates. There’s a reason Austin makes the healthy market lists!
