Feed your brain: Statesman article commentary

Did you read the article in today’s business section of the Statesman? The typical pattern for real estate articles these days is deliver the bad news (local or national, but usually national) in the title, subtitle and first few paragraphs then midway through the article you get to the reconciling information that actually brings it into perspective for the Austin market. So if you just pan the headline and maybe the first paragraph or two, then you are only half informed and we know how dangerous that can be in our media-driven world. Thus the birth of the blog and other editorial outlets.

Today’s article highlights that March home sales in Austin are down 21% compared with March 2007 and that is the 9th straight month we have had declining figures in Austin.

But read on and remember the following:
- 2006 and 2007 were banner years in Austin and almost all real estate records were reset. If you compare current numbers to volume in 03-05, it’s not so bad.
- Volume of sales is down but median price is up 5% from 2007.
- Austin is full of micro markets and what might be reported in the paper for overal Austin, may not represent your neighborhood. If you live central or your house is under $300k, it’s most likely a much different picture.
- I have been in 5 multiple offer situations in the past 6 weeks.

Here’s the full article: http://www.statesman.com/search/content/business/stories/realestate/04/18/0418homesales.html

Have a great weekend.

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