Meet Our Austin Realtors

Did you know AustinHomeListings.com is available to you thanks to a team of local Austin Realtors who want to help you purchase and sell Austin real estate?  That’s right…the professional Austin Realtors at Great Austin Properties, LLC run this website hoping you will love the site so much that you will allow one of our Austin real estate agents to assist you on your next Austin home sale or purchase.

Whether you are a regular Austin Home Listings visitor, or just starting to get familiar with our premiere Austin real estate search site, we hope you will take a moment to meet our Austin Realtors. Michael J. Reilly is the founder and broker of Great Austin Properties, LLC. Along with Michael, David Hallonquist, Tara Hays, Brian Abbott, and Sonia Berry make up the team - a team ready to show and help you purchase a great home listed on AustinHomeListings.com, and ready to help you sell your existing home.

To learn more about our Austin real estate agents, visit our new Austin Realtors page. And give us call at 512.600.1800 - we would love to hear from you!

Save Big with 1% Listings

Great Austin Properties, LLC, a full service Austin real estate brokerage, announced the Austin Move Up Program today which offers reduced listing fees of only 1% for clients who are selling their Austin area home and buying a new home with Great Austin Properties.

“The program was created to help our many Austin area clients save money selling their current home so they can move up to a new home within the Austin area. The Austin Move Up Program gives our clients the benefit of having a full service REALTOR® to help them buy a new home and sell their current home while saving thousands in REALTOR® listing costs,” said Michael Reilly, owner and broker of Great Austin Properties.

For more details about the offer, contact Great Austin Properties at 512.600.1800 or visit our Austin Move Up Program page.

Austin Home Sales Stats (05/08)

The Austin Board of REALTORS® (ABOR) compiles monthly home sales statistics. Here is a snapshot from ABOR showing sales data for May 2007 as compared to May 2008.

From this data, you can see the average and median home prices in Austin have risen over 5% this May as compared to May 2007. As with last month’s year to year comparison, inventory was up and fewer homes have sold this May as compared to May 2007.

On a positive note, 8.73% more homes were sold in May 2008 as compared to last month, with the total number of sales in Austin the highest it has been since August 2007.

Learn more about what’s going on in the Austin Real Estate market and search for Austin Homes for Sale at AustinHomeListings.com.

Austin Home Sales Stats (04/08)

The Austin Board of REALTORS® (ABOR) compiles monthly home sales statistics. Here is a snapshot from ABOR showing sales data for April 2007 as compared to April 2008.

From this data, you can see the average home price in Austin has dropped almost $8K this April as compared to last but the median home price has risen almost $3K. Inventory was up this April and fewer homes have sold as compared to April 2007.

April 2008 as compared to March 2008 saw an 8.13% increase in home sales, a 4.11% increase in active listings, a .65% increase in median home price, and a 2.07% increase in average sales price.

What will $1M get you in Austin?

Austin, Texas is known for its real estate affordability as compared to other idyllic places to live. While one million dollars in a city in California just might get you a fixer-upper, in this Texas town that’s far from the case. For example, check out this newly listed home in one of Austin’s most sought after communities, Spanish Oaks. For $1M on the nose you could live at 11919 La Barzola Bend:

We highlight this home not only because it’s our newest listing, but also because we think it’s one of the finest homes at this price point we’ve seen. And we’ve seen a lot of homes. Besides the great location in Bee Cave with easy access to Highway 71, 290, Southwest Parkway, and FM 2244 (Bee Cave Road) and across the street from the new Hill Country Galleria, 11919 La Barzola sits on a hill behind the 24/7 guard gated entrance in Spanish Oaks. The attention to detail is what sets the home apart as you can see from the photos on the 11919 La Barzola Bend virtual tour website. 

If you are interested in this home or other Austin homes for sale, or if you just want to learn more about Austin real estate, please contact Michael Reilly at 512.600.1800. Or start your Austin home search using the great search tools at AustinHomeListings.com. 

Austin Home Sales Stats (03/08)

The Austin Board of REALTORS® (ABOR) compiles monthly home sales statistics. Here is a snapshot from ABOR showing sales data for March 2007 as compared to March 2008.

From this data, you can see the average home price in Austin has dropped slightly this March as compared to last, with inventory up and fewer homes sold. However, the median home price has risen. Considering the difficult housing market nationwide, these numbers are a good sign for the Austin housing market. 

Recession-Proof Austin

According to Forbes.com, Austin is one of the top 10 recession-proof cities in the United States. With one of the lowest employment rates in the country (3.6%) and median home prices under $200K, Austin appears to be doing quite well. 

The Austin Board of REALTORS reported the median price for single family homes was $186,680 this March, which puts Austin in the top 5 of the 10 recession-proof cities as far as affordable housing goes.

Ready to put recession woes behind you? Austin may be just the place to call home. Start your search for Austin homes for sale with a great search tool and loads of neighborhood information at AustinHomeListings.com.

Reference: America’s Recession-Proof Cities by Joshua Zumbrun, Forbes.com, April 29, 2008

The Housing Crisis is Over

Many economists don’t expect the housing market to turn around nationwide until next year, but we’re hoping the optimism of the Wall Street Journal’s Cyril Moulle-Berteaux is more on target. In his opinion column today, he states “It is very likely that April 2008 will mark the bottom of the U.S. housing market.”  From the 1990s to the early 2000s the housing market boomed, making affordable housing out of reach for many buyers. Mr. Moulle-Berteaux predicts “the market will turn because normal people can afford homes again.” And as normal people start buying, home prices typically stop falling – or at least home price declines start ebbing.

In Austin, we’ve been somewhat sheltered from the housing slow down. While nationwide the housing inventory is 11 months (the highest it’s been in 25 years), Austin is currently at about 5 months supply which signals a healthy market.   

So if Mr. Moulle-Berteaux is right that the nationwide housing market is trending up, that’s good news for the country, and great news for Austin.

Start your Austin real estate search now.

Reference: The Housing Crisis Is Over by Cyril Moulle-Berteaux, The Wall Street Journal, May 06, 2008

Bad Idea to Overprice a Home

Overpricing a Home Can Lead to Lower Results
by Kathleen Lynn, THE (HACKENSACK, N.J.) RECORD, Sunday, November 18, 2007

HACKENSACK, N.J. — Real estate agents often warn sellers about the danger of overpricing a house. Now, they have evidence to show skeptical clients: research by Jeffrey Otteau, a New Jersey appraiser.

He found that in a market where prices are declining, sellers who “test the market” with a high price usually end up with a lower price than those who price realistically.

“Houses that are priced right are selling,” Otteau said. “Overpricing extends days on the market and guarantees that you will sell your home for less in a declining market.”

Otteau, of Otteau Valuation Group Inc., studied about 4,500 home sales that took place in the first half of 2007, largely in northern and central New Jersey. Most of the houses were priced between $500,000 and $750,000.

He looked at houses that sold in less than a month and found that they had a median asking price of $599,900 and sold for almost full price; the median was $599,000. When he looked at houses that lingered on the market for more than a month, however, he found that they were priced higher — at a median of $634,900 — but sold for less than the lower-priced homes, a median of $585,000. The median is the point at which half the sale prices are above and half are below.

Otteau said that pricing a house below the competition stirs up interest and reassures buyers that they won’t kick themselves later for overpaying if home prices drift lower in 2008.

Austin MLS Info Just Launched!

Great Austin Properties is happy to announce that we just launched a new website, Austin-MLS-Info.com, a great place to find information about the Austin MLS. Have you ever wondered what MLS stands for, how the Austin MLS got started, or what regions and cities are covered by the system? Ever wondered if you could do an Austin MLS search online? We’ve got the answers for you at Austin-MLS-Info.com.

Just as Great Austin Properties created Austin Home Listings to empower your Austin Home Search, we created the Austin MLS Info site to help you learn more about the system that captures Austin homes for sale. We work to make your real estate transactions a fun and easy experience with our websites and the experience of our professional REALTOR® team. If you like our sites, we think you’ll love working with us. Call Great Austin Properties at 512.600.1800 today - one of our REALTORS® is ready to assist you!