The August 2022 Market As I See It : Keep the NOISE Away!

The August 2022 Real Estate Market

What A wild RIDE! 2020 and 2021 and the first half of 2022 certainly took us on a wild ride. Exhausting and UNHEALTHY! Let's take a brief look back: Sellers were getting 20 offers in 3 days. Offers were well over asking price. Buyers were paying 50-100K over appraised values while waiving appraisal clauses. The market appreciated 37% over two years! Inventory was at a record low of a two weeks supply and builders said take a number and get in queue. NOT HEALTHY BY ANY STANDARD! Oh, and interest rates will never again be 2.5%.

Not to mention supply chain problems and price of LUMBER up 45% at one point!

my perspective on the market

So let me put this in perspective - in my opinion (having been in the Austin real estate market since 1980!), I've seen interest rates at 21%, mortgages at 15.5%, with many years hovering closer to 10% or 7% and watched folks refinance multiple times as rates fell swiftly. Today's rates of 5% are still below the average of several decades. Don't listen to the NOISE in the news! (Sensational headlines sell eyeballs on the articles). Yes, some buyers are getting priced out of the market, but a seller could offer to pay money to buy down an interest rate so a buyer could again afford to qualify for a home loan.

BUYERS, do you realize the INVENTORY is now RISING and we are up to almost a 3 month supply of homes on the market? WHAT an OPPORTUNITY to come back in - with less competition from other buyers and scoop up a home, chosen from wider inventory, and you would not have to give away all your leverage to be the "winner."

The Austin real estate market

Let's talk AUSTIN specifically! What an amazing city! AMAZON, APPLE, SAMSUNG, GOOGLE, etc. to name only a few! The Austin Chamber of Commerce has hundreds of other smaller but significant companies moving here for the intellectual capitol at the University of Texas, and nearby Texas A&M. No state income tax, prices for office space (and even house prices) below the West Coast and East Coast. JOBS - JOBS - JOBS keep being created and new hires are relocating here.

It is still a SELLERS market if a seller is realistic on price and has patience for longer days on market, and willing to engage in some negotiation.

Want to continue this conversation in depth with numbers? Call me and lets talk about what YOU have on your mind and how I can help you?