Time to catch up a little on recent articles.

First is on Allandale.  The article writes on how Allandale is becoming increasingly popular for "young families and professionals".  A good percentage of my clients over the past few years have bought in that general area and I have actually noticed that as well.  When areas closer in to town, such as Hyde Park, became cost prohibitive for many younger buyers, neighborhoods such as Allandale provided the right combination of affordability and the older home charm/funkiness that many of those buyers sought (and still seek).  There are actually several sections of Allandale including Allandale Estates, Allandale North, Allandale Oaks, Allandale Park, Allandale Terrace and Allandale West.  There are over 2,200 homes in these combined areas.  Between October 2005 and October 2006 there were 122 homes sold.  The average size of those homes was 1,680 square feet with an average sales price of $256,797, or $157.20/per square foot.  The average list price was $261,570 and on average it took 29 days to get the home under contract.

Sales in the New Home market remain strong.  Nationally sales of new homes are down 14.4% whereas Austin is up over 18%.  Nationally there is a 6.6 month supply of unsold new homes.  In Austin that number is less than 2 months.  Interestingly enough I still get plenty of broadcast emails from certain builders offering incentives for some of their inventory.  Typically I share any commission incentives above 3% with my clients if they decide to purchase one of the new home builder's home.  It seems appropriate to me.  The article does urge caution as the new home sales might be slightly inflated by investors, which I have seen myself.  I've read a couple of articles quoting out-of-state 'investors' saying that they couldn't believe how low some of the prices were for some of the new homes, mostly bedroom communities outside of Austin.  It would seem common sense but maybe it should be said - just because something would be a 'deal' where you live, doesn't mean it's a deal where it sits.