$228 sq ft for NEW Condo's Downtown Austin!

Do you sellers currently in the MLS at $400 sq ft hear that?

-Mr. Bubble

Sabine Auction Results! | News | austintowers.net

February 28, 2010 21:22 Filed in: News

Today, more than 200 registered bidders showed up to compete for 31 units in the much anticipated Sabine auction. In the end, 29 of 31 units sold for an average 30.5% discount with a final price per square foot of $228. With strong demand, the developer added four units into the auction: three just days before the sale and the fourth unit during the auction.

More via the link above...


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Into the Abyss

Let's see... high unemployment. Check. Tax increases on the horizon to decrease business incentive. Check. Likelihood of rising interest rates. Check. Destruction of banking, healthcare and auto industries. Check. Interference with normal market forces by halting foreclosures. Check. What a shocking article?

- Mr. Bubble

Sales of existing homes hit lowest level since summer

Though numbers higher than a year ago, downward monthly trend disheartening to economists.

By Dina ElBoghdady THE WASHINGTON POST

The sales of previously owned homes sagged in January for the second month in a row, sliding to their lowest point since summer and renewing concerns about the housing market's potential for a rebound, according to industry statistics released Friday.

Sales of existing houses, townhouses, condominiums and cooperatives fell 7.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million in January from December, the National Association of Realtors reported.

More via the link above...

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My Hero

I just love this guy.

- Mr. Bubble

Frustrated Owner Bulldozes Home Ahead Of Foreclosure - Cincinnati News Story - WLWT Cincinnati

MOSCOW, Ohio -- Like many people, Terry Hoskins has had troubles with his bank. But his solution to foreclosure might be unique.Hoskins said he's been in a struggle with RiverHills Bank over his Clermont County home for nearly a decade, a struggle that was coming to an end as the bank began foreclosure proceedings on his $350,000 home.

Austin-area foreclosures rise

 Well, Here they come...

- Mr. Bubble

Austin-area foreclosures rise

Postings for March auction increase despite recent signs of improvement.

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Published: 8:45 p.m. Monday, Feb. 15, 2010
Austin-area residential foreclosures have jumped, dimming prospects for a drop after months of year-over-year increases.
Last month, the wave of foreclosures appeared to be subsiding, as postings for the February auction were up just 2 percent from a year earlier. It was the smallest increase in months.

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Double Dip Real Estate Plunge Says Zillow Econ

I know he doesn't mention Texas as a double dipper, but the same forces will be at work in Austin...especially at the high end. Failed HAMP, rising rates, unemployment, and more foreclosures. All US real estate markets are linked, much of the money that would buy expensive Austin homes comes from other areas of the US.

- Mr. Bubble

Mortgage rates poised to jump as Fed cuts funds

Wonder what this will do to home prices? Stay tuned...

-Mr. Bubble



Mortgage rates poised to jump as Fed cuts funds

The Federal Reserve is poised to turn off a major money spigot that has helped sustain the ailing real estate sector, as an extraordinary program under which the Fed has pumped $1.25 trillion into the mortgage market is slated to end March 31.
"Housing has been on government life support, and without it the crash would have been much more severe," said Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody's Economy.com in Pennsylvania. "This spring and summer as those policy efforts unwind, we most likely will see mortgage rates move higher and more house-price declines."

Click the headline to read the rest....


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Austin Rents Fall 5%

More downward pressure on prices from the weak job market.


-Mr. Bubble

TEXAS MULTIFAMILY OCCUPANCY, RENTS DOWN LAST MONTH

CARROLLTON (ALNsystems.com) – The number of apartments rented statewide dropped 2.4 percent between December 2008 and December 2009, according to the latest figures from ALN. Meanwhile, rents fell by an average of 2.5 percent.
Here's how select cities fared for the year ending December 2009:

Austin
Occupancy stayed roughly the same, while average monthly rent dropped 4.7 percent from $827 to $788.

Texas Unemployment Still Rising

Tell me again why home prices will start rising?

-Mr. Bubble


Texas Economic Review January 2010

The nation's labor market hit bottom in August 2009 but the Texas labor market has not yet hit bottom. The Texas economy lost 277,400 nonfarm jobs from December 2008 to December 2009, an annual job loss of 2.6 percent. Over the same period, the U.S. economy lost more than 4 million jobs or 3 percent of its total nonfarm jobs. The state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose from 5.6 percent in December 2008 to 8.3 percent in December 2009, while the U.S. rate rose from 7.4 percent to 10 percent during the same period.

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