If you like it, and want it , and can afford it, it has never been more affordably priced!
The "it" I am referring to is not a new diamond ring or a new car, it's a luxury custom home with a price tag at or exceeding $1,000,000 in Austin, Texas. There are a lot of them for sale, and not too many selling. As of today, 11/06/2008, there are 526 of them on the market in the metro area, and sales are down from last year almost 40% - 216 have sold so far this year, compared with 354 total last year.
If you factor in the custom homes in the next bracket down, the $750,000 - $999,999 price range, the picture gets even bleaker. There are 413 of these homes on the market, some of them just moving into this category after being reduced by the listing Realtors. Another indicator that times are not good for luxury home sellers - since January 1, 568 of these homes, including both price brackets, have been listed for sale, and subsequently withdrawn from the MLS because they had not sold. Granted, some of these may have been withdrawn and later put back on the market, but this is still a staggering number!
There are several reasons for this scenario. Most obvious is the "economic epidemic" that is gripping the nation and certainly impacting real estate prices. Although Austin hasn't experienced the "flu-like" home symptoms most metro areas have, we do seem to have "caught a bad cold", especially in the upper price tier. Savings accounts and stock portfolios are being hammered, and a lot of these buyers were paying cash for these homes as little as last summer - cash that has suddenly vanished.
Second, with $1,000,000+ home sales going from 125 in 2003 to 354 in 2007, it was only natural that custom home builders from across the planet flocked to Austin to cash in! There are over 150 (this number is being reduced almost daily) custom builders in the Austin area, compared to about 40 production builders ($100,000 - $600,000). With a large custom home taking from 8-14 months to build, a number of these homes were started before the market starting going south earlier this year, and are now gathering dust.
Third, from a resale perspective, a number of sellers are simply looking to downsize their house payment, and/or moving out of state. This is , of course, natural attrition in a normal market, but this isn't a normal market, and the "downsizers" are abundant this year, and the "upsizers" aren't to be found!
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These $1,000,000+ homes are found throughout some of the most sought after areas - from central Austin to the lakes. A breakdown of these areas follows:
Area 1B: 50 homes for sale- (zip code 78703) includes Tarrytown, Hyde Park, and Pemberton Heights
Areas 8E & 8W: 118 homes for sale- (zip codes 78746, 78733, 78738) includes Westlake, Seven Oaks, Davenport, Lake Pointe, and Rob Roy
Area LN & LS: (Lake Travis) - 127 homes for sale- (zip codes 78732, 78734, 78738, 78669, 78641) includes Lakeway, Hughes Park, Spanish Oaks, Bella Montagna, Belvedre, Bella Strada, Flintrock, and Falconhead
Area RN: 53 homes for sale- (zip codes 78730, 78732) includes Steiner Ranch, Greenshores, Riverplace, Long Canyon, and Westminster
Area W: 48 homes for sale - (zip code78735) includes Barton Creek and Gaines Ranch
So, back to my original theme - IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT, COME AND GET IT - CHEAP (or at least, cheaper)! I have seen some of these homes discounted as much as $300,000. For the best prices, locations, complete market analysis and more on these homes, contact Phil Hutson toll free @ (888) 410-5858.
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