CNN 10 Cities which are good RE investment choices (Austin, Round Rock: sale, real estate market)

[karen_Zab]

Just interested in hearing everyone's thoughts on this article, folks with a lot more knowledge of the Austin real estate market then I do. Is it just another fluff article?

How to play the real estate bounce-back - Austin (8) - Business 2.0

Thanks,
Karen Z

[llkltk]

Yes, a fluff article. Austin's median home price is not 186K. Give me a break, that is Pflugerville or Buda. A new home in Austin proper will cost you 300K and that's semi-custom. Older homes in the city run upwards of 400K. The house prices here are outrageous. But, if you want to live in some cornfield then you can pay 186K. There isn't much land left in Austin proper to build on. CNN sucks, what a bunch of idiots. Do your research CNN!

[FromCalitoSteinerRanch]

Originally Posted by llkltk

Yes, a fluff article. Austin's median home price is not 186K. Give me a break, that is Pflugerville or Buda. A new home in Austin proper will cost you 300K and that's semi-custom. Older homes in the city run upwards of 400K. The house prices here are outrageous. But, if you want to live in some cornfield then you can pay 186K. There isn't much land left in Austin proper to build on. CNN sucks, what a bunch of idiots. Do your research CNN!

Come now, don't "sugar coat it" give us your real opinion and don't hold back...

[Trainwreck20]

Lets see...my house I sold one year ago is in Austin proper and sold for below the median price (1977 construction, 1500 sq ft near Duval/183). I suspect there are a lot of houses in Austin that would sell below 186k, but perhaps they are not the ones you would live in? Also, it does not say 'new' home, just sale price. I don't think their data is bogus, necessarily, I just don't think it reflects what most people on this board are looking for.

[txhusker]

CNN is probably getting the information from the Austin Board of Realtors which includes more counties outside of Travis like Hays and Williamson, which will have an impact on the median price of homes in our area. However, there are still alot of nice neighborhoods in south Austin that are going for the low $200s and I don't consider those neighborhoods to be that far out or run down.
For August 2007, the median home price was around $192k and our prices are about 6% higher than they were last year, so if companies keep moving here and bring employees with them, I don't see that price going down to meet the CNN projected price for 1st qtr 2008. But my crystal ball is on the fritz, so who knows?
I think this article is a generalization that yes, you could still buy a house AROUND Austin, not necessarily downtown or central, for around $200k, which is more than you can say for alot of cities in California and Florida. Since I built my home and consider it an investment, I'm would much rather have the positive press.

[jread]

I don't think most people understand the concept of city vs. metro area or city limits vs. central city (which annoys the hell out of me). Take a look at the corporate limits of the City of Austin and you'll see that it includes a great deal of suburban/undeveloped land. These areas have MUCH cheaper housing (150k - 200k) than the central city which is 400k and up. I think that these lower-priced areas really skew the numbers. I don't know how anyone with any bit of sanity can think that Austin has low-priced, affordable housing. The suburbs do (Cedar Park, Round Rock, etc.) but the areas that are within a reasonable commute of downtown have priced out the average family by a long shot. I personally think that housing is way too expensive in Austin and is not very affordable for most people (the vast majority of us do not work at Dell or have a million dollars in equity from our home in California).

It is becoming a struggle to live here. The jobs pay less than the other major cities in TX and the cost of living is A LOT higher when you consider everything. People from California or the Northeast think it's a cheap place to live, but they are probably used to much higher salaries than we are.

I don't know what the future holds for Austin. I'm not sure if a home is a good investment here anymore. I'm thinking of selling out while the market is hot and moving into a condo closer to the urban core. I have a feeling that a breaking point is going to be reached where all these McNeighborhoods become absolutely worthless. It's terrifying to think of the economic impact this would have.

[twange]

Originally Posted by jread

I don't know what the future holds for Austin. I'm not sure if a home is a good investment here anymore. I'm thinking of selling out while the market is hot and moving into a condo closer to the urban core. I have a feeling that a breaking point is going to be reached where all these McNeighborhoods become absolutely worthless. It's terrifying to think of the economic impact this would have.

I think you may be right on this. We've been looking around at houses and the only stuff under 150K are either pretty far away from the core(for me, that means not being able to walk to anything but a parking lot-based strip mall), or is in a downright crummy hood. Being from Cleveland, I suppose I haven't really seen a really horrible neighborhood yet, but some of the little pockets in East Riverside a pretty bad

We saw some really nice, moderate places in the Sunset Valley area in the 180Ks -200Ks, but that's still a bit of a reach for us right now and forget about walking to the city.

[fil]

Originally Posted by jread

I don't think most people understand the concept of city vs. metro area or city limits vs. central city (which annoys the hell out of me). Take a look at the corporate limits of the City of Austin and you'll see that it includes a great deal of suburban/undeveloped land. These areas have MUCH cheaper housing (150k - 200k) than the central city which is 400k and up. I think that these lower-priced areas really skew the numbers. I don't know how anyone with any bit of sanity can think that Austin has low-priced, affordable housing. The suburbs do (Cedar Park, Round Rock, etc.) but the areas that are within a reasonable commute of downtown have priced out the average family by a long shot. I personally think that housing is way too expensive in Austin and is not very affordable for most people (the vast majority of us do not work at Dell or have a million dollars in equity from our home in California).

It is becoming a struggle to live here. The jobs pay less than the other major cities in TX and the cost of living is A LOT higher when you consider everything. People from California or the Northeast think it's a cheap place to live, but they are probably used to much higher salaries than we are.

I don't know what the future holds for Austin. I'm not sure if a home is a good investment here anymore. I'm thinking of selling out while the market is hot and moving into a condo closer to the urban core. I have a feeling that a breaking point is going to be reached where all these McNeighborhoods become absolutely worthless. It's terrifying to think of the economic impact this would have.

You take in what you just said and a huge layoff pending at Dell...and you have the movie Fun with Dick and Jane up there in Round Rock and out west in Lakeway and Bee Caves.

Finding something near the core that's typically insulated from market fluctutation (such as what was seen in 2000-2003) and that's affordable is probably a good idea.

This is why we bought in our zip and so close to the "shifted-center" of town.

I can see Austin's RE market slumping like the rest of the country in the not-to-distant future, but it won't last long. Austin has a lot to offer and a lot of Texans, Californians, Northen, and NE folks are still flocking here for work and retirement. I don't see a lot of folks retiring to Atlanta, but Austin gets this crowd as well.