The Austin real estate market, along with a number of other cities in the state of Texas, was hit quite hard by the economic recession. Austin, along with every other large city in the United States, is composed of residential and commercial sectors of real estate, which are affected in different ways by adverse economic situations. It appears that the Austin real estate market has experienced a divergence between the status of the commercial real estate market and residential real estate market, with the former trending upwards and the latter moving downwards. It also appears somewhat confusing because of the interactive effects of the different parts of the market, such as the artificial inflation of sales statistics by foreclosures.
According to a July 21, 2009 article in the American-Statesman, home sales in the Austin real estate market reached their highest levels in an entire year. The piece, written by Claudia Grisales, “Austin-area sales of existing homes hit the highest level in a year last month, according to figures Monday from the Austin Board of Realtors. Last month, 2,135 single-family homes were sold in the area, down 4 percent from a year earlier. That was the smallest decline since a 2 percent drop in July 2007, when the market began to soften amid an emerging national mortgage crisis.” A July 20, 2009 article in the Austin Business Journal added that “The year over year sales volume gap is shrinking each month, according to a report from the Austin Board of Realtors.”
Another article in the Austin Business Journal found that “Austin area residential foreclosure postings for the upcoming August auction are at their lowest level in five months.” Simply put, the residential portion of Austin real estate is in slowly improving shape, thanks to a number of local efforts, federal bills, and the natural ebb and flow of the market. On the other hand, a July 14th article stated that “Foreclosure postings filed on commercial real estate for January through July foreclosure auctions in the Austin metro area jumped 139 percent over the same time period last year, according to data from Addison-based Foreclosure Listing Service Inc.”