Monday, April 20 – Austin Metro Area Real Estate Update
Current Austin Metro Area Inventory
378 new homes emerged on the market in the past 7 days. A 21.9% increase from last week.
367 homes went under contract in the past 7 days. A 52..9% increase from last week.
268 homes sold and closed in the past 7 days. A 71.7% increase from last week.
87 homes withdrawn or temporarily taken off the market. This is a 10% increase in homes withdrawn from the market since last week.
Week Four “Shelter-In-Place”
Happy “4th Shelter-in-Place Monday” everyone!
Well, the stats clearly show us that buyers and sellers had a lot more confidence last week to step into the real estate market with dramatic increases in new listings and pending sales. The weather was sure helpful and kept everyone’s spirits high. There was speculation as we entered into this pandemic that our normally busy Spring market would get pushed into our summer season and this, so far, appears to be the case.
Interest Rates & Loan Qualification Changes
As of 1pm on Monday rates were resting at 3.25% for a 30 year Conventional loan and 2.875% for a 15 year conventional Loan. Refinance rates are between 3.5 & 3.75%. There wasn’t a lot of big news coming out last week in the mortgage industry. Fannie Mae is working on programs for more drive-by appraisals and trying to make the closing process more virtual instead of in-person. This would be a huge help right now and one that many hope will be a permanent solution.
To discuss the mortgage scene with one of our preferred lenders connect with their contact info below.
Mortgage & Money Tips of the Week
Continue to investigate the full effects of any loan forbearance or loan forgiveness program to ensure you know all of the facts before you proceed! There many options out there for homeowners and renters in need of assistance. The National Association of Realtors has assembled this short FAQ page for some quick tips and resources.
https://narfocus.com/billdatabase/clientfiles/172/21/3628.pdf
Austin Metro Market Overview
For the Agent Jill Team this past week was a microcosm of the weekly stats story at the top of this article, with new listings, pending contracts, and more buyers and sellers emerging with confidence on how to navigate real estate during COVID-19. So, it was a typical busy Spring real estate week in Austin with all of our new “short term normal” atypical routines and environment.
I had an opportunity to attend another weekly webinar with local real estate analyst Mark Sprague of Independence Title this past week. His outlook for the Greater Austin market and Texas is good. He says “Austin and most Texas metros should rebound quickly due to the low unemployment, need to fill jobs, not enough real estate inventory, etc.” Houston will experience the most challenge because of the oil industry. New builds and construction have been slowed which will continue our inventory shortage. He doesn’t predict a surge of foreclosures or short sales from this as the banks are motivated to work with clients at this time. Mr Sprague continues to share the strengths of our area saying, “the Austin economy continues to be based strongly on technology, higher learning, and state government with multiple other channels contributing. That’s important because many of the metros that experienced the economic crisis were dependent on one or two industries as well as highly leveraged financing. Highly leveraged financing has gone away, and the Austin Chamber’s focus on recruiting multiple segments of industry should help tremendously.” He goes on to say that ” If the virus is brought under control in a couple of months (90 days from the start of the ‘shelter in place’ order), we are probably looking at the local economy recovering through the 3rd quarter of this year with a much stronger 4th quarter. Again, it just depends on the severity.” He clearly communicated that this will not be a turn of a switch recovery but a roll out of improvements and relief. “We are all in this together,” Mr Sprague says and “Those industries that have and will take a beating should come back. Again, it just depends on the length and depth of the crisis. At this point, we have not seen an economic slowdown in the Austin and regional housing market”. Overall Mr Sprague continues to share a bright light in all of this in Austin’s ability to recover from the financial set back of COVID-19.
So we continue to stay safe, social distance, and do what we can to help our community walk through these challenging times with hope.
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