Best October Ever!!!

AUSTIN (Austin American-Statesman, inman.com) – Central Texas’ housing market posted an October record for both single-family home sales and prices, as homes sold at the fastest pace ever for the month.

Although homes sold in October were on the market an average of 66 days compared with 58 days for homes sold in September, the Austin Board of Realtors’ latest Multiple Listing Service report said the number is still a record low for October.

In the South Austin area that includes neighborhoods such as Cherry Creek and Tanglewood Forest, active listings took about 18 days to sell.Last month was the tenth consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains, with nearly 2,075 single-family homes sold, up 8 percent from the approximately 1,920 sales last year. October’s median price set a monthly record at $175,000, an increase of 9 percent from approximately $160,500 posted a year ago.

The number of new listings jumped 12 percent during the period to almost 3,075. The nearly 7,950 active listings at the end of October, although down from September, were up 4 percent from a year ago.

Pending sales were up 19 percent to more than 2,400.There are fewer homes selling for under $120,000 so far this year, down 6 percent or more compared with the same period a year earlier. Home sales in the $200,000 to $249,000 price range, however, are up 18 percent.

Renaissance Austin hotel sold to Maryland company

(Austin) - DiamondRock Hospitality Company announced that it has entered into a definitive binding agreement to acquire the 521-room Renaissance Waverly Atlanta Hotel and the 492-room Renaissance Austin Hotel. The hotels will be acquired for a combined purchase price of $237.5 million.

The Renaissance Austin Hotel is in Austin's Arboretum submarket along Research Boulevard.

The hotels will be enhanced by $12 million in renovations during 2006. The renovations include revenue-enhancing projects such as adding 14 new keys at the Austin hotel. [Austin American-Statesman]

Rent up, occupancy down in major metros

(Austin) - The apartment markets in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio each saw decreases in occupancy and increases in average rent for the year ending September 2006, according to Carrollton-based ALN Apartment Data, a market research firm.

Austin had the smallest change in occupancy, dropping from 94 percent in September 2005 to 93.7 percent a year later (.3 percent drop). Houston had the biggest change, going from 96 percent to 90.1 percent (6.1 percent drop).

Austin had the largest increase in rental rates for the year, going from $725 to $773 (6.6 percent increase). Fort Worth had the smallest, going from $640 to $658 (2.8 percent).[ALN Apartment Data]

UT gets OK to buy property

(Austin) - UT-Austin is running out of space on campus. So officials sought and obtained approval from the Board of Regents to spend $22 million to acquire a building and an adjacent parking garage on Guadalupe Street for office space and possible future use as a data center.

The building at 1616 Guadalupe St., three blocks south of campus, was previously occupied by Southwestern Bell. The property has 178,400 square feet of usable space and parking for about 540 vehicles. [Austin American-Statesman]

Downtown Austin Living Options

Call me at (512) 439-7571 for a list of active properties downtown. You can also search for properties at www.teamprice.com

Downtown Luxury Condo's for UT Fans

A developer plans to build a luxury condominium complex near the University of Texas campus, aiming for Longhorn fans who want a home-field advantage during game weekends.

The Texas Gameday Center, at Dean Keeton and Red River streets, will include 51 units in a converted apartment building, with another 136 units in a new building nearby. The developer, Atlanta-based Gameday Centers Southeastern LLC, is in negotiations for the site of the new building.

The first part of Texas Gameday Center, which is expected to open by next season's kickoff, involves converting the Windsong Apartments into upscale condominiums. The units will be professionally decorated and furnished with Longhorn themes.

Work is expected to start next spring on the new building, which could be ready in fall 2008.

The new building will have studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom suites ranging from 350 square feet to 2,000 square feet. Amenities will include on-site management, private parking and a clubroom for tailgating before games.

Prices will range from $160,000 to $1 million. Owners will be able to rent out their units when they're not using them.

Gameday Centers plans an official sales kickoff at the Nov. 4 UT game against Oklahoma State.

For more information to include, floorplans, specific pricing information, and a reservation form call me at (512) 439-7571.

Key mortgage rate falls to 11-month low

This week, the Labor Department released the Producer Price Index for October. The measure of wholesale prices showed that a theoretical basket of wholesale goods that cost $100 in September dropped to $98.40 in October -- a 1.6 percent decrease. If you exclude food and fuel items, a theoretical basket of goods cost $100 in September and $99.10 in October -- a 0.9 percent drop in the so-called core rate.

For the 12 months ending in October, core wholesale prices went up 0.6 percent -- like going from $100 to $100.60 in one year. That's low inflation. Mortgage rates, as well as bond yields and some other interest rates, fell in response.

The benchmark 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell 8 basis points to 6.24 percent, according to the Bankrate.com national survey of large lenders. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point. The mortgages in this week's survey had an average total of 0.32 discount and origination points. One year ago, the mortgage index was 6.42 percent; four weeks ago, it was also 6.42 percent.

The 15-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell 4 basis points to 5.98 percent. The 5/1 adjustable-rate mortgage fell 3 basis points to 6.13 percent.

From: bankrate.com - click here - for complete article.

Lake Travis Level

Texas Montly - interesting set of events!!!

Ok... so the other day I was at H-E-B and saw the new Texas Montly cover page - a great cover page... excellent picture. So today we get the news that Gates will be the Secretary of Defense...



"Bush said Robert M. Gates, 63, a national security veteran, family friend and currently president of Texas A&M University, would be nominated to replace Rumsfeld."

Very interesting!!!

.48 acres near Lake Austin for only $185,000

Address: 1401 Quinlan Park Rd Austin, TX 78732
URL: http://steinerhomesforsale.com/listing/45584040

• Lot Size:120 x 175
• MLS#: 7038391
• Acres: .48
• Directions: Dir 2222, L on 620, L on Quinlan Park Road (Steiner Ranch), Continue on Quinlan - Lot on the left.
• Remarks: Approximately 1,000ft from Lake Austin!!! Must See!!!

Survey is available upon request. Call me at 512-963-4092 if you need more information or if you would like to schedule an appointment to view this amazing lot...