Price per square foot up
By LYNETTE HAALAND
Four Points News
In the Four Points area, home sales and prices in the first quarter of 2017 declined compared to the same three months a year ago.
“For January through March of 2017, unit sales declined from 78 to 71 year-over-year, a drop of 9 percent,” said Tom Radack, owner Bartlett Real Estate, Keller Williams Realty. “The median price declined from $497,500 to $470,000, although the price per square foot increased from $159 to $169.”
Multiple Listing Service data compiled from the Four Points communities of Grandview Hills/Parke, River Place, Steiner Ranch, Westminster Glen and the Comanche Trail area also shows that in the first three months of the year, the number of days a home was listed for sale was down from 45 to 32.
Bartlett Real Estate compiled data from the Multiple Listing Service from Jan. 1 through March 31, 2017. This report uses median price, sold price per square foot (SP/Sqft), cumulative median days on market (DOM), and March sales and inventory. The Four Points subdivisions in this report are Comanche Trail, Grandview Hills/Parke, River Place, Steiner Ranch and Westminster Glen. Data used is the median value.
The primary sales activity is in the price range of $400,000 to $599,000 with the majority being between $400,000 to $799,000.
“Buyers are trending to more affordable homes where they can find them and/or watching closely the price vs. value,” Radack said. “Prices are trending to flat or declining resulting from the increase in inventory and lowered sale prices of comparable homes.”
The total inventory of homes in Four Points, including active listings and pending sales, increased from 153 to 183 in the first quarter 2017.
“With the rise in the months of inventory, we are in or approaching a ‘balanced’ market, from the previous several years of a ‘sellers’ market,” Radack said. “This is a good situation for both buyers and sellers alike.”
Rising mortgage rates can also reduce the maximum loan amount and purchase price, as well, as home affordability, he said.
“With interest rates rising, more buyers may be encouraged to buy now in fear of higher rates in the future,” Radack added.
The Four Points area is a very diverse area in price, topography and other factors, so the situations for each property can vary.
“One should always consider that real estate values are local, and even as finite in some situations as neighborhood and street,” Radack said. “The market is still excellent here and all indications are it will continue to be that way for a while.”
Travis County
Four Points results are part of the Travis County results where single-family home sales declined 2.6 percent year-over-year to 1,256 home sales in March 2017. But the median home price rose 9.3 percent year-over-year to $355,000 in March 2017, according to the March 2017 Central Texas Housing Market Report released recently by the Austin Board of Realtors.
During March, active listings increased 8.2 percent to 2,866 listings in Travis County.
Of single-family homes sold in the county, 21.7 percent were sold for less than $250,000, 51.4 percent were sold between $250,000-$500,000 and 26.9 percent were sold for $500,000 or higher.
Austin-Round Rock
In the Austin-Round Rock MSA, single-family home sales declined and increased in the city of Austin in March.
In the city of Austin, sales volume among single-family homes priced less than $300,000 fell sharply in March 2017, while the volume of homes sold for $300,000 and higher increased significantly during the same time frame.
Single-family homes priced between $150,000 and $250,000 spent less than one month on the market in March 2017. During the same time frame, Austin single-family homes priced $500,000 and higher spent more than 60 days on the market and posted significantly higher inventory levels.