Central Austin Realty Bits

Just west of the Colorado River, with quick access to Downtown Austin and encircled by Loop 360 Capital of Texas Hwy, are the communities of Rollingwood and Westlake Hills.  Each incorporated as its own city in the 1950's.  Older modest homes mix with newer often grand construction on larger than average lots. Davenport Ranch anchors the north end of the area with homes built mostly in the 1980's and '90's, while more modest Bee Cave Woods and Westwood--built in the '60's, '70 & '80's are the more southern neighborhoods.

Because it's hilly and wooded, many homes offer views, and because Lake Austin wraps around it, the area has some premier waterfront properties and wonderful new construction homes.  Add in an exemplary Eanes ISD school system, and proximity to major employers and shopping, and you have one of Austin's most popular spots to call home. 

First quarter 2011 saw 41 home sales at a median price of $714,000.  Homes sold for 94% of list price on average and in about 100 days.  There were 19 sales over $800,000 and 6 sales between $300,000-350,000. A wide variety of price ranges are found in the Westlake area depending on the neighborhood and whether homes are on acreage or have views or waterfront.  Almost 1/3 of homes sold in less than 30 days, over half sold in less than 60 days.  There are 129 active listings in these great neighborhoods in the 78746 zip code.

Contact me to buy or sell Westlake or Rollingwood Homes.

SEARCH for Westlake homes over $650,000 here.

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Jeff Harris, Broker, ABR

512-917-8142 direct line

Many Austin home buyers are paying cash these days.  Recent articles in the LA Times and Miami Herald are reporting that buyers in those markets are paying cash about 30% of the time--much higher than one would traditionally find--and the luxury home buyer is paying cash even more often. Perhaps it is that loans are harder to get, but it may be that there are still lots of folks flush with cash who want to park it somewhere and are finding great bargains in real estate.

I decided to see if the cash trend is prevalent in Austin.  Looking at Austin, plus all of Travis and urban Williamson County, I discovered that 25% of all home and condo sales were for cash in 2010.  Looking at homes that sold over $750,000, 37% of sales were cash.  46% of $1 million + home buyers paid cash in greater Austin.  Those trends don't mirror my personal experience but they are the stats direct from MLS in 2010.  Looking at closed sales so far ths year in 2011, the trend is intact and shows an even greater percentage of Austin cash sales.

There are thousands of cash buyers in Austin, Texas.  At least 1 in 4 buyers don't have to bother with the hassle of today's lending environment, and half of the Austin luxury home buyers are bypassing the bank too--that should keep the market humming along regardless of appraisers and conservative lending guidelines.

Search all Austin homes for sale here:   http://www.myaustinhousehunt.com/