Austin Texas Real Estate Blog

As an eight-year resident of the Blackhawk area and a 16-year resident of Pflugerville, I like to keep an eye on the market values here in our neighborhood.  When the toll roads first opened in the fall of 2006, the prices started trending upward, then they flattened out somewhat, with some tough economic factors at play.  Since the fall of 2010, the market has been very active again in this area.  As a fellow homeowner in Blackhawk, this stuff is important to me, too! 

Currently, there are 5 resale homes available on the MLS in the Fairways, with an average asking price of $235,760.  The average square footage for these homes is 2,700, for an average price per square foot of $88.55. 

Presently, there are 4 homes under contract in the subdivision, with an average listing price of $212,075 and an average square footage of 2,706, yielding an average price per square foot of $78.85. 

In 2010, there were 23 sales closed within the Fairways of Blackhawk.  The average listing price was $225,468, and the average sales price was $216,678, which means homes sold for 96.1% of the asking price.  The average square footage was 2734 s.f. for these.

 

OTHER AREA NEWS:

Located at the southwest corner of the intersection of the aforementioned toll roads (45 and 130) and about a half mile from Blackhawk, Stone Hill Town Center will eventually have over 1,000,000 square feet of shopping and entertainment.  Home Depot, Best Buy, SuperTarget, Verizon Wireless, Mattress Firm, Chick Fil-A, Bealls, Rack Room Shoes, Dick's Sporting Goods and several others are open now.  In May 2011, a new Cinemark theater and a 24-Hour Fitness are slated to open as well.

 

HOW TO REACH US:

If you are a consumer living in another area around Austin and you are interested in seeing the trends in your particular neighborhood, please don't hesitate to contact me, and I can create a custom report for you.  All of my contact information is below. 

If you are considering selling your home in the Fairways of Blackhawk (or anywhere in the general Austin area), please feel free to give me a call.  I would love the opportunity to help you get it sold quickly.  Also, You can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com.  You can also reach me anytime on my cell phone at 512-796-7653 or via email at jason@austintexashomes.com.  Thanks for checking out this brief analysis!

 

As as 8-year resident of the Meadows of Blackhawk, I like to keep an eye on the market values here in our neighborhood.  Overall, the Austin area and Blackhawk specifically haven't faced the declines seen in other parts of the country.  As a fellow homeowner, this is important to me, too!

Currently, there are 18 homes available in the Meadows, with an average asking price of $210,609. The average square footage for these homes is 2,702, for an average price per square foot of $78.82.

Presently, there are 4 homes under contract in the subdivision, with an average listing price of $228,032, and an average square footage of 3,085, yielding an average price per square foot of $73.91. There was one very low listing price (about $60/s.f.) which brought down the average a bit.

Over the past year (January 2010 through 1/6/11), there were 38 sales closed within Meadows of Blackhawk. The average listing price was $208,464 and the average sales price was $204,709. This means that homes sold for approximately 98.2% of the list price. The average number of days on the market was 66, which is less than the average for the Austin MLS. The square footage of the homes sold averaged 2,698, and the price per square foot for the sales was $76.92.

In other area news:

Located at the intersection of the aforementioned toll roads (45 and 130), Stone Hill Town Center continues to expand and it promises to provide over 1,000,000 square feet of shopping and entertainment total in 2011. Home Depot, Best Buy, several retail clothing stores, a large Cinemark theater, and a fitness center are among the current and anticipated tenants.

If you are considering selling your home in the Meadows of Blackhawk (or anywhere in the general Austin area), please feel free to give me a call. I would love the opportunity to help you get it sold quickly. You can visit my primary website at www.austintexashomes.com. You can also reach me anytime on my cell phone at 512-796-7653 or via email at jason@austintexashomes.com. Thanks for checking out this brief analysis!

This is the second part of a 7-part series dedicated to teaching you about the Austin homebuying process.  I will link to each part once the series is complete.  Here is part one for your reference: Buying a Home in Austin, Texas - Step One: Get Pre-Approved for Mortgage Financing. 

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One of the decisions regarding your Austin, Texas home purchase is determining what part of Austin (or the surrounding areas) will work best for your needs. This decision is usually driven by a number of factors, including:

Price Range - Obviously, certain areas of Austin and the surrounding area are more or less expensive than others, so part of your decision may hinge on the price point for your purchase.  In part one (link above), I described the process of determining how much you can afford.  If you already know this, it makes things much quicker.

Commute Time - If you will be dealing with a commute in Austin, it may be important to find something with a reasonable travel time to the office. Since Austin has experienced a lot of growth over the past 10-15 years, the roads and traffic have also grown.  Thankfully, in late 2006, a network of toll roads was opened, which has made commuting substantially easier from certain areas. 

Convenience to Amenities - Some of our clients prefer to be very close to shopping, restaurants, and other amenities within the community.  If this is important to you, let us know your priorities and we will find you a place that is in reasonable proximity to your needs/wants.

Convenience to Specific People - You may be moving to Austin to be closer to a relative or a close friend. In this case, the location of your home may be somewhat driven by the location of these people. 

My team is familiar with all areas of Austin, so we are able to suggest which areas will be most suitable for you using your specific criteria.

Once you have narrowed it down with regard to the area, we will focus on finding the perfect home.  This is the fun part, and it's the focus of my next post:

Buying a Home in Austin, Texas - Step Three: Finding the Home Itself

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to call me anytime at 512-796-7653 (cell) or email jason@austintexashomes.com.  You can also visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com. 

Thanks for reading! 

As a seven-year resident of the Blackhawk area and a 13-year resident of Pflugerville, I like to keep an eye on the market values here in the area.  When the toll roads opened about a year ago, the prices started trending upward and they have flattened out somewhat since then, with some tough economic factors at play.  As a fellow homeowner in Blackhawk, this stuff is important to me, too! 

Currently, there are 11 resale homes available on the MLS in the Fairways, with an average asking price of $231,252.  The average square footage for these homes is 2,724, for an average price per square foot of $86.05. 

Presently, there are 4 homes under contract in the subdivision, with an average listing price of $247,747 and an average square footage of 2,849, yielding an average price per square foot of $86.96. 

Over the past three months (June through August 2008), there were 11 sales closed within the Fairways of Blackhawk.  The average listing price was $226,188, and the average sales price was $220,286, which means homes sold for 97.4% of the asking price.  The average square footage was 2920 s.f. for these.

 

In other area news:

Located at the southwest corner of the intersection of the aforementioned toll roads (45 and 130), Stone Hill Town Center is slated to fully open within a few months, and it promises roughly 1,000,000 square feet of shopping and entertainment.  Home Depot, Best Buy, SuperTarget, Verizon Wireless, Mattress Firm, Chick Fil-A, Bealls, Rack Room Shoes, Dick's Sporting Goods and several others are open now!

To read more details about this center and to see a list of stores and restaurants, check out my recent article here:

Stone Hill Town Center - Pflugerville, Texas Shopping - UPDATE!

If you would like to see the entire layout, you can visit the developer's website and see the site plan here:

http://docs.newquest.com/brochures/stonehill.pdf

If you are a consumer living in another area around Austin and you are interested in seeing the trends in your particular neighborhood, please don't hesitate to contact me, and I can create a custom report for you.  All of my contact information is below. 

If you are considering selling your home in the Fairways of Blackhawk (or anywhere in the general Austin area), please feel free to give me a call.  I would love the opportunity to help you get it sold quickly.  Also, You can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com.  You can also reach me anytime on my cell phone at 512-796-7653 or via email at jason@austintexashomes.com.  Thanks for checking out this brief analysis!

According to a U.S. Census Bureau report that was released in March, Austin is the second fastest growing metropolitan area in the United States, ranking behind only Raleigh, NC in terms of percentage growth.

Austin grew by 3.8% during the period from mid-2007 to mid-2008, hitting a population of around 1.7 million.  This seems amazing to me, since I remember the metro area was under 1 million when I started as a real estate agent in early 1997. 

The metro area includes Round Rock, which also serves as the international headquarters for Dell Computer.  That fact alone has transformed Round Rock from a humble suburb to a thriving city of its own.

Austin continues to be one of the most desirable places to live and work, and our real estate market never experienced a "bubble" to pop, so prices have remained relatively strong here, although we have had some declines, depending on the specific location.

For 2009, we have seen strong demand, with most of my agents reporting that they have been involved in multiple offer situations in the first quarter of the year at least once (I had two myself). 

To see the entire press release from the Census Bureau, visit:

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/013426.html

If you are considering moving to the Austin, Texas area, you may be interested in checking out my online relocation package here:

Austin Texas Relocation Package

Please feel free to call me anytime at 512-796-7653 or email me at jason@austintexashomes.com.  You can also search for Austin homes at our primary website - www.austintexashomes.com. 

Once again, Austin has been recognized nationally with positive economic news.

Austin ranks No. 1 on the list of big cities for employment potential from NewGeography.com.  The Capital City posted modest job growth of just 1 percent in 2008 but that was still better than a lot of other big cities.  That growth, coupled with Austin's long-term potential to continue creating new jobs, garnered it the top spot. 

For the study, they looked at recent data as well as statistics dating back to 1996.  This was so that things wouldn't be tainted (i.e. in order to establish a trend and look at the big picture nationwide). 

Texas dominates a new list on job growth potential among the nations largest metropolitan areas.  Texas major metros round out the top five spots on the big cities list, with Houston coming in 2nd, San Antonio 3rd, Fort Worth-Arlington 4th and Dallas 5th.

For the complete large cities list, visit:

http://www.newgeography.com/content/00745-large-cities-ranking-2009-new-geography-best-cities-job-growth

For the complete list (includes large, medium, and small cities):

http://www.newgeography.com/content/00741-all-cities-rankings-2009-new-geography-best-cities-job-growth

If you are considering a move to Austin, Texas, please feel free to call me anytime at 512-796-7653 or email jason@austintexashomes.com.  You can search for Austin homes at www.austintexashomes.com. 

As a six-year resident of the Blackhawk area and a 13-year resident of Pflugerville, I like to keep an eye on the market values here in the area.  When the toll roads opened two years ago, the prices started trending upward and they have continued to appreciate overall, although more slowly right now, with some tough economic factors at play.  As a fellow homeowner in Blackhawk, this stuff is important to me, too!

Currently, there are 12 resale homes available on the MLS in the Fairways, with an average asking price of $237,104.  The average square footage for these homes is 2,737, for an average price per square foot of $88.74.  

There are 6 homes under contract presently in the subdivision, with an average asking price of $211,695, and an average size of 2,691 ($78.67/square foot).

Over the past quarter (January 1st through today), there were only 2 sales closed within the Fairways of Blackhawk.  With such a small sample set, averages wouldn't really mean much in this case.

 

In other area news:

 

Located at the southwest corner of the intersection of the aforementioned toll roads (45 and 130), Stone Hill Town Center is now partially open, and it promises over 1,000,000 square feet of shopping and entertainment upon completion.  Home Depot, SuperTarget, Best Buy Verizon Wireless, and Mattress Firm are now open, soon to be followed by Bealls, Dick's Sporting Goods, several retail clothing stores, Chick Fil-A, and much more. 

For more thorough information and a plat of the development, visit http://docs.newquest.com/brochures/stonehill.pdf

If you are living in another area around Austin and you are interested in seeing the trends in your particular neighborhood, please don't hesitate to contact me, and I can create a custom report for you.  All of my contact information is below. 

If you are considering selling your home in the Fairways of Blackhawk (or anywhere in the general Austin area), please feel free to give me a call.  I would love the opportunity to help you get it sold quickly.  You can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com.  You can also reach me anytime on my cell phone at 512-796-7653 or via email at jason@austintexashomes.com.  Thanks for checking out this brief analysis!

As a resident of the Meadows of Blackhawk for over six years now, I like to keep an eye on the property values in the area.  Ever since the toll roads opened a couple of years ago, demand has remained reasonably strong despite a rocky real estate market in 2008.  

 

Currently, there are 19 homes available in the Meadows, with an average asking price of $204,915.  The average square footage for these homes is 2,455, for an average price per square foot of $84.57.  

 

Presently, there are 5 homes under contract in the subdivision, with an average listing price of $176,598, and an average square footage of 2,258, yielding an average price per square foot of $80.74.  This is about six dollars per square foot higher than prices for 2008.

  

Over the past three months (January 1st through today), there were 10 sales closed within Meadows of Blackhawk.  The average listing price was $183,119 and the average sales price was $181,915.  This means that homes sold for approximately 99.3% of the list price.  This number does not account for any seller-paid closing costs, nor does it include any price reductions.

The average number of days on the market for this initial quarter was 111, which is higher than the average for the entire Austin MLS.  The square footage of the homes sold averaged 2,328, and the price per square foot for the sales was $79.19.

 

In other area news:

Located at the southwest corner of the intersection of the aforementioned toll roads (45 and 130), Stone Hill Town Center is slated to fully open within a few months, and it promises roughly 1,000,000 square feet of shopping and entertainment.  Home Depot, Best Buy, SuperTarget, Verizon Wireless, and Mattress Firm are now open, soon to be followed by Bealls, several retail clothing stores, a number of restaurants, and more.  

To read more details about this center and to see a list of stores and restaurants, check out my recent article here:

Stone Hill Town Center - Pflugerville, Texas Shopping - UPDATE!

If you would like to see the proposed layout, you can visit the developer's website and see the site plan here:

http://www.newquestproperties.com/property_retail/property/Stone%20Hill%20Town%20Center/SitePlan/pfu5-07.pdf

If you are a consumer living in another area around Austin and you are interested in seeing the trends in your particular neighborhood, please don't hesitate to contact me, and I can create a custom report for you.  All of my contact information is below. 

If you are considering selling your home in the Meadows of Blackhawk (or anywhere in the general Austin area), please feel free to give me a call.  I would love the opportunity to help you get it sold quickly.  Also, You can visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com.  You can also reach me anytime on my cell phone at 512-796-7653 or via email at jason@austintexashomes.com.  Thanks for checking out this brief analysis!

I have lived near Forest Creek since 1995, and I have sold countless homes in this neighborhood.  Well, maybe not countless, but enough that I know what I am doing there and I know that it has great value. 

With a challenging and immaculate golf course, it is no mystery why it remains a popular destination both for those moving up within the Round Rock area and for golf fanatics and retirees as well.  Additionally, Forest Creek Elementary is perennially well-ranked with the Texas Education Agency's accountability system. 

I wanted to take a few minutes to sum up the activity over the past year in Forest Creek:

Currently, there are 55 homes available on the MLS including all sections of Forest Creek, with an average asking price of $330,257.  The average square footage for these homes is 3,433, for an average price per square foot of $95.51.  Average figures may have less value, with the broad range of offerings right now.  The lowest current asking price is $172,000, and the highest is $650,000.

Presently, there are 4 homes under contract in the subdivision, with an average listing price of $280,802 and an average square footage of 3,230, yielding an average price per square foot of $86.94. 

Over the past year (January through December 2008), there were 90 sales closed within Forest Creek.  The average listing price was $283,020 and the average sales price was $273,201.  This means that homes sold for approximately 96.5% of the list price.  The average number of days on the market was 77, which is in line with the overall average for the Austin area MLS.  The square footage of the homes sold averaged 3,020, and the price per square foot for the sales was $90.28. 

Overall, home prices went up a hair in 2008 in Forest Creek, and with current demand increasing, this could carry into the spring/summer of 2009 as well.

If you have any questions about Forest Creek, or if you would like to schedule an appointment to see these properties or any others in the Austin area MLS, please give me a call anytime at 512-796-7653 or email jason@austintexashomes.com. 

If you are looking to relocate to the Austin/Round Rock vicinity, you might be interested in checking out my online relocation package here:

Austin Texas Relocation Package

Our Austin real estate website is at http://www.austintexashomes.com/.  I look forward to hearing from you soon!

Sonoma is a terrific neighborhood located in east Round Rock, just off Gattis School Road.  With two theme pools, two lakes, and a playground area, Sonoma is also located adjacent to the Round Rock hike-and-bike trail system.  It was awarded the prestigious MAX Award for "Best Overall Community" a few years ago.

Currently, there are 39 homes available on the MLS in Sonoma, with an average asking price of $254,061.  The average square footage for these homes is 2,840, for an average price per square foot of $90.46. 

Presently, there are 3 homes under contract in the subdivision, with an average listing price of $174.041 and an average square footage of 2,076, yielding an average price per square foot of $83.83.  This is about four dollars less than the first quarter of 2008. 

Over the past year (January through December 2008), there were 45 sales closed within Sonoma.  The average listing price was $236,819 and the average sales price was $225,583.  This means that homes sold for approximately 95.3% of the list price.  The average number of days on the market was 115, which is substantially higher than the average for the Austin MLS.  The square footage of the homes sold averaged 2,609, and the price per square foot for the sales was $87.40. 

Overall, home prices appear to have dropped slightly in the area since the beginning of 2008.  Demand appears to be up overall, so this could change as we move into the spring months of 2009.  

 

In other area news:

Located at the intersection of the aforementioned toll roads (45 and 130), Stone Hill Town Center is partially open now (Home Depot, Verizon, and Mattress Firm), and it promises over 1,000,000 square feet of shopping and entertainment when complete.  Super Target and Best Buy are slated to open next month.  Chili's, several retail clothing stores, a large Cinemark theater, and a fitness center are among the other anticipated tenants.

Here is a link to the developer's map, showing the stores and restaurants committed to open there:

http://www.newquestproperties.com/property_retail/property/Stone%20Hill%20Town%20Center/SitePlan/pfu5-07.pdf

If you are a consumer living in another neighborhood in or near Austin and you are interested in seeing the trends in your particular neighborhood, please don't hesitate to contact me, and I can create a custom report for you.  All of my contact information is below.

If you are considering selling your home in Sonoma (or anywhere in the general Austin area), please feel free to give me a call.  I would love the opportunity to help you get it sold quickly.  You can visit my primary Austin Texas real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com.  You can also reach me anytime on my cell phone at 512-796-7653 or via email at jason@austintexashomes.com. 

Thanks for checking out this brief analysis!