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International homebuyers contributed $800 million to the Austin-area economy from April 2019 to March 2020! It comes at a time when the region has increasingly become an attractive destination for businesses, workforce talent, university students, and people from across the world looking for new opportunities and a high quality of life.

“The Central Texas region has become a magnet for homebuyers and real estate investors from around the globe,” Romeo Manzanilla, 2020 ABoR president, said. “With one in five Austinites being foreign born, the Austin Board of REALTORS® is excited to now deliver market statistics on this important and growing segment of our housing market.”
The Official ABOR October Market Stats are in!

The official stats from the Austin Board of Realtors for October confirmed the what I sent out in last weeks email. The pricing increases and lack of inventory in the market is historic. This is the strongest seller’s market in Austin’s recorded history!!

October continued to see major pricing increases. - Median Sold Price in the greater Austin metro area increased +13% to $365K and Avg Sold Price increased +18.9% to $462,494. - Median Sold $/SqFt increased +10% and Avg Sold $/SqFt increases +8%.

Days on Market continued to fall - The Median Days on Market saw a huge drop from 28 days to 9 days. While the Average dropped from 35 to 19. It’s worth noting that October typically sees a seasonal slowdown. These short DOM show that this is not happening... Yet anyway.

The volume increases & inventory decreases are incredible. Total Closed sales jumped +29% year over year and inventory dropped to 1.1 months of inventory. Consider anything under 5 months of inventory a seller’s market. 1.1 months of inventory clearly puts us in the strongest seller’s market in Austin’s history.
Maybe the November stats will show the slowdown that election years and the cyclical Holiday season usually bring. THAT'S A BIG MAYBE. As 2020 has been anything from typical nobody can say for sure but there's a chance the reduction of inventory "pace" may slow down from it's current velocity, as well as a slow down in these historic year over year price increases.
What I am seeing on the ground I's still very active if your buying or selling, but I am starting to see a bit of a slowdown over the last two weeks since the election, but I don't think that's going to last. I am also seeing a boost in 1031 property exchanges as sellers are capitalizing on rising sale prices before the end of the year, and putting that "TAX-DEFFERRED" Income right back into the market, and that 'typically' CASH buyer can be tough to compete with. That is unless you have a good offer strategy, an experienced broker, and can stomach a little more risk for the ownership and interest rate rewards.

Remember all real estate is hyper local. What's happening in one neighborhood, city, or zip code may not be the case in another. So if you want to know what's going on in your area, I am happy to provide that info for you. Just reach out.
3 GRAPHS THAT PROVE WE’RE NOT HEADED FOR A FORECLOSURE CRISIS

We all know the saying about what happens when you 'assume'. And if you don’t, well…well just Google it.

With the massive surge of unemployment that happened this year, it’s natural for many to assume that a massive surge of foreclosures will follow. However, history is not expected to repeat itself this time. Here are 3 simple graphs that prove why we’re not headed for another foreclosure crisis.
HOME EQUITY CASHED OUT
Today’s market, looks a lot different than in 2008 when borrows bit off more than they could chew. . Instead, Now homeowners have an abundance of equity, and lending standards are much stricter. This means that instead of foreclosing and walking away, many homeowners are in a good position to protect their investment.
The Forbearance Offering Results
Of those who requested forbearance, nearly 44% have either paid off their mortgage or opted out. It also shows that of all the homeowners in forbearance, only 80,000 are at risk of moving into foreclosures. That's nearly 2/3 of borrowers have resumed or continued their pre-pandemic monthly payments
Loan-to-Value %
is much lower
Today, we are looking at a much different story than in 2008. According to Black Knight, 91% of homeowners in forbearance have 11% equity in their homes. That much equity means rather than foreclose, those homeowners can not only sell their homes but walk away with gains from it.
The big question is: what happens when forbearance inevitably expires? Many lenders are offering to help homeowners create a plan for the deferred payments. There are multiple options that homeowners can pursue at this point, and with the right planning and communication with their lender, they may be able to avoid foreclosure, especially if they have equity in their homes.
Thank you for you for your time today!
Stay safe and let me know what in the world I can do for you!