By KIM ESTES, Four Points News
The median sales price for homes in Grandview Hills increased by a large 29 percent from 2013 to 2014, while dropping 2.79 percent in River Place. Noting that the number of homes sold in Grandview Hills fell a simultaneous 30 percent, from 26 to 18, Craig Smyser, with RE/MAX Capital City, said, “The data set of homes sold is small, so there is always more distortion in these cases.”
“While there is some correlation to lower supply resulting in higher prices,” Smyser said, “these two numbers are too dramatic to account for all the swing.
“Sometimes, it just happens to be a mix of a few more higher-end homes selling more than usual,” Smyser said.
Median Sale Price 2013- 2014
Grandview Hills
2014 $432,500
2013 $335,000
29% increase
River Place
2014 $555,000
2013 $570,900
2.79% decrease
Steiner Ranch
2014 $431,650
2013 $410,000
5.28% increase
Westminster Glen
2014 $975,000
2013 $950,000
2.26% increase
*Source:Craig Smyser, with RE/MAX Capital City
Adding to the variability in Grandview Hills statistics are the average price per square foot and the average sales price. The average per square foot price increased by only 2.88 percent, from $121.61 to $125.11, while the average sales price rose 16.39 percent, from $397,865 to $463,093.
Austin Board of Realtors released the information from the year-end 2014 Multiple Listing Service report.
Smyser provided detailed information on Four Points neighborhoods. Moreover, he noted that the median price – or the price in the middle, taking out the highest and lowest prices – is the most widely used number for comparing prices from one time frame to the next.
Specifically, the median sales price of homes in Grandview Hills grew from $335,000 in 2013 to $432,500 in 2014.
The River Place median sales price dropped from $570,900 in 2013 to $555,000 in 2014. The average sales price also decreased from $702,270 to $679,425, or 3.25 percent, and the average price per square foot dipped from $180.13 to $175.88, or 2.36 percent. The number of homes sold increased by only one – from 80 to 81.
Steiner Ranch posted a 5.28 percent improvement in median sales price, increasing from $410,000 in 2013 to $431,650 in 2014. Per square foot, these Four Points homes showed the highest increase, going from $138.68 to $150.16, or 8.28 percent. The average sales price rose similarly, by 8.58 percent, from $462,387 to $502,043. Thirty-one fewer homes were sold; specifically, 322 in 2014 versus 353 in 2013 for an 8.78 percent decrease.
Westminster Glen had a 2.26 percent increase in the median sales price from 2013 to 2014, rising from $950,000 to $975,000. Average price per square foot dipped, however, from $214.91 to $204.30, a 4.93 percent loss. The 2014 average sales price was $1,015,928 million compared to $991,047 for 2013, a 2.51 percentage change. Total number of homes sold decreased by one, from 19 to 18.
In the bigger picture, in which the MLS River North area encompasses Four Points, the 2014 median sales price was $487,000, a 5.18 percent increase above the 2013 median sales price of $463,000. Smyser noted it was less than the eight percent increase for Austin area homes overall, which came in at a median sales price of $242,500.
ABoR reported this is the fourth straight year of annual home sales increases in the Austin area.
Barb Cooper, 2015 ABoR president, said, “Last month, the U.S. Census Bureau named Austin the third-fastest growing big city in America since 2000. That steady job and population growth has continued to drive increases in home sales volume and, combined with low housing inventory levels, home prices as well.”
Housing inventory levels remained low in 2014, despite breaking an 18-month trend of monthly decreases in the second quarter.