Best September ever for Austin real estate

Steady demand for homes pushes prices higher

Austin, Texas, home sales set another record in September as single-family transactions rose 2.7 percent over their year-ago level, the Austin Board of Realtors reported.

According to the latest Multiple Listing Service report, 2,341 single-family homes were sold last month, up from 2,280 sales in September 2005. Last month was the ninth consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains, according to statistics.

The median price of single-family properties gained 3 percent from a year ago to a September record of $167,000, up from $162,000 in September 2005.

The 8,203 active single-family listings in the MLS represent a 5 percent increase from September 2005, and were up from 8,137 in August. At an average of 58 days, the amount of time these listings sat on the market decreased by 15 percent, which is the shortest amount of time single-family listings have waited to sell since September 2001, when the average was 46 days.

"If you want proof that Austin is a real estate hot zone, all you have to do is look out your window," said ABoR Chairman John Rosshirt. "The construction cranes that have become fixtures around the skyline underscore the city's desirability. In North Austin, for example, the area around the Arboretum is the target of serious commercial development, and the home sales data complements that fact."

The 1N section of Austin, which encompasses ABoR's northwest Austin neighborhood, posted particularly noteworthy numbers in September. The area's single-family home sales increased 47 percent to 69 and earned a median price of $240,000, an 18 percent increase from last year. Averaging 38 days on the market, these properties sat for 40 percent less time than they did in September 2005.

The Austin Board of Realtors is a nonprofit, voluntary organization representing more than 8,500 licensed Realtors in Central Texas.

From: http://www.topproducer.com/news/58392.html

Forecast: Real estate boom to continue in 2007

With rents and occupancy rising across different product types and economic indicators pointing toward further population and job growth in Austin, local commercial real estate professionals say the industry's high times are likely to continue into next year.

The Institute of Real Estate Management sponsored its annual forecasting forum today at the Hyatt Regency on Town Lake. A panel of experts from different sectors offered their assessment of the market and their predictions for 2007.

Office

The Austin office market has absorbed about 1.7 million square feet of space in the first three quarters of 2006, according to data from CoStar Realty Information Inc. By comparison, the market absorbed only 1.1 million square feet in all of 2005.

"As the local economy has picked up, so too has the office market," says Diana Holford, principal with the Staubach Co. Leading the way is the Southwest submarket, which has fallen below 8 percent vacancy. It's followed by the Northwest submarket, where several companies have announced new development projects to meet rising demand.

But Holford says companies today are more conservative in the amount of space that they lease than they were during the last boom.

"They're almost Draconian in their approach," she says. "They still have the scars from taking more space than they needed."

Holford says tenants are also less concerned about extra amenities associated with their space, often referred to as bells and whistles.

"They're really trying to make the most out of what they've got," she says.
Andy Smith, managing director over the Austin office of Equity Office Properties, says his company is busy making deals with expanding firms and even a few that are relocating. Smith says that with growth among companies from advertising to finance, this office market recovery is much broader based than the last. Equity Office is Austin's largest office landlord.

Multifamily

The local apartment market has absorbed more than 1,800 units so far this year, according to Austin Investor Interests. Occupancy rose less than one percentage point in the last 12 months to 93.8 percent, while rents are up to 90 cents a square foot from 85 cents at this time in 2005.

From: Austin Business Journal - 2:55 PM CDT Thursday
by A.J. Mistretta
Staff writer

RIVER PLACE PROJECT RISING

RIVER PLACE PROJECT RISING

AUSTIN (Hill Country News) – Aspen Properties Inc. plans to break ground in February on a speculative development that includes 132,000 square feet of office space, a 36,000-square-foot medical office building and 11,600 square feet of retail space. A 100-room hotel is included in the plans.

The project will go up at RM 2222 and River Place Blvd. on 23 acres next to River Place Corporate Park, bringing the center’s total to 70 acres. Construction is expected to take 12 months.

The existing retail park includes 588,000 square feet of office space, and seven buildings. Aspen Properties Inc. purchased the park in May 2005 from Financial Industries Corp. for $103 million. Tenants include Motorola Inc. and Polycom Inc.

From: http://recenter.tamu.edu

Downtown post office site : developer picked

Highrise will replace 10-year old postal facility

After 10 years, the downtown post office could be getting a new address.

The U.S. Postal Service has chosen Atlanta-based Novare Group Inc. and its local partner, Andrews Urban LLC, to redevelop the site, on Guadalupe Street between Fifth and Sixth streets.

While plans still are being developed, Novare plans a "high-density, mixed-use development that Austin and the Postal Service will be proud of," said Billy Holley, the firm's lead developer for Austin.

The project will include a new post office, either as part of the new project or within a block.

The Postal Service put the site up for bid in August and got six proposals. The other companies weren't identified. Novare was the best qualified, spokesman Sam Bolen said.

"Now we'll begin negotiations to develop the downtown station property, which will include a new facility equal to or better than we have today and best meets the needs of our customers in that area," he said.

Novare already is making a mark in the residential development surge downtown.

At West Third and Nueces streets, it's building 360, a 44-story, 432-unit condominium tower that will open in 2008. It's also a partner in a $5 million expansion and renovation of the nearby Austin Music Hall that starts next year.

City leaders and developers long have said the post office site was underused, especially in light of the effort to dramatically increase the number of people living downtown and generate more tax revenue by making maximum use of prime sites.

Unlike some downtown sites, the post office block is exempt from Capitol view restrictions, meaning there's no limit on how high a building there can go. But the post office, built in 1996, is just two stories and occupies only about a quarter of the site.

Mayor Will Wynn has been lobbying postal officials for several years to "have the mistake of the current downtown post office corrected."

In an August e-mail to the Austin American-Statesman, he cited the "poor design and a horrific pedestrian environment" and called the underuse of the land "sinful."

Bolen said Andrews Urban "basically was selected to provide the space that we need and to purchase the property at a price we can accept," although there's no offer on the table yet. City officials and the public will have input on the new postal facility, said Greg Eden, a consultant who bought postal officials and Novare/Andrews Urban together.

The developers could build a new post office nearby or include it as part of the mixed-use development on the current site.

Under federal regulations, there must be at least one public hearing to show the project to the public and let people comment. The hearing will involve only the post office, not the private development.

The first hearing could come within two months, Eden said.

"It's important that people know this is a public-private effort," he said, adding that he hopes the new facility "will be more attractive than the current facility."

By Shonda Novak
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, October 05, 2006

From: American-Statesman - click here -