CEDAR PARK REAL ESTATE MARKET REPORT

How The Super Bowl Will Affect The Spring Market

Cedar Park Real Estate Update February 2024

In this detailed breakdown, we delve into the numbers, dissecting trends and uncovering what's in store for buyers and sellers alike.

The Numbers Game: Cedar Park's Market Statistics


In January, Cedar Park had 98 active listings, with 63 homes under contract and 29 homes successfully sold. While this represents a 38.3% decrease compared to last year, it's essential to understand the nuances behind these numbers.

The average price per square foot remained relatively steady at $222, but we did observe a decrease in both the average and median sales prices, down by 9.3% and 6.7% respectively. However, it's worth noting that the average days on the market decreased by 12 days compared to last year, indicating a somewhat faster-paced market.

One notable sale in January was a home in Cyprus Canyon, fetching $782,600, showcasing the diversity of the Cedar Park real estate market.

The Super Bowl Effect: Shaping the Real Estate Landscape

The Super Bowl is an event that has become deeply entrenched in American culture and affects more than just football enthusiasts. In Austin, it marks the start of the spring real estate season and tends to generate a lot of interest from both buyers and sellers. As a result, competition becomes more intense in the days leading up to the game. This increased activity sets the stage for a lively and spirited real estate market, where both parties compete for their share of the pie.

Beyond the Numbers: Ground-Level Insights

We have gained some valuable insights from our experience in Austin's real estate market, which goes beyond just analyzing the numbers. Despite the ups and downs of the market, there is an underlying feeling of positivity. Properties that remained unsold last year are now being quickly purchased by interested buyers, which has reinvigorated the market. This renewed sense of energy bodes well for the future as we move further into the spring season.

Your Path to Success: Navigating the Austin Real Estate Landscape

If you're contemplating listing your home or simply curious about the current market dynamics, I am ready to guide you. So, if you're pondering your next move in the world of real estate, don't hesitate to reach out. Whether you're selling, buying, or simply seeking guidance, Kopa Real Estate is here to help you make informed decisions and achieve your real estate goals.

                                                          

Hundreds of people have attended our Home Selling Seminars. If you are planning to sell your home next week or in 2 years you should attend one of our two upcoming seminars in January.

  • Saturday, February 17th at 9 AM at the Cedar Park Recreation Center.
  • Thursday, February 22nd at 5 PM at Moonshine in Avery Ranch.

If you have any questions about how this information affects the value of your home, please reach out to me at 512-791-7473. This workshop will provide all the information you need for a successful sale in this market, and it is purely educational. Plus, attendees will enjoy complimentary. Reserve your tickets by signing up today at KopaSeminar.com.

Some exciting developments are taking place in the real estate market, and if you're not actively involved, you might miss out. When you're prepared to have a no-obligation discussion about the realistic selling price of your home and the process involved, feel free to reach out to us at 512-791-7473 or schedule a time at KopaConsultation.com.

                                                          

If you plan to sell your home, now is the best time to attend our Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, contact us, and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always, you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see the dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years, home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaSeminar.com.

KopaSeminar.com

                                                          

The information on this page may have changed since we first published it. We give great real estate advice, but this page (and the rest of our site) is for informational use only and is no substitute for actual real estate, legal and financial advice. If you’d like to establish a Broker-client relationship, reach out to us and we’ll tell you how we can make it official. Sending us an email or reading this page alone doesn’t mean we represent you.

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 Our Featured Listings


Cedar Park Real Estate Market Report

January 2024 | Happy New Year!

In January, we conducted a thorough analysis of the most recent statistics for single-family real estate in the Cedar Park, Texas area. We carefully examined various metrics, such as the number of homes sold, average sales price, days on the market, and inventory levels.

Furthermore, based on our analysis, we have identified the key statistics that we are closely monitoring to predict where the market is headed for the rest of 2024. These include factors such as the supply and demand dynamics, interest rates, and the overall economic conditions in the region. By keeping a close eye on these metrics, we can provide our clients with valuable insights and help them make informed decisions in the highly competitive Austin real estate market.

                                                          

 ???? Hundreds of people have attended our Home Selling Seminars. If you are planning to sell your home next week or in 2 years you should attend one of our 2 upcoming seminars in January.

  • ???? Saturday, January 20th at 9AM at the Cedar Park Recreation Center.
  • ???? Thursday, January 25th at 5PM at Moonshine in Avery Ranch.

If you have any questions about how this information affects the value of your home, please reach out to me at 512-791-7473. This workshop will provide all the information you need for a successful sale in this market, and it is purely educational. Plus, attendees will enjoy complimentary. Reserve your tickets by signing up today at KopaSeminar.com.

Some exciting developments are taking place in the real estate market, and if you're not actively involved, you might miss out. When you're prepared to have a no-obligation discussion about the realistic selling price of your home and the process involved, feel free to reach out to us at 512-791-7473 or schedule a time at KopaConsultation.com.

                                                          

If you plan to sell your home, now is the best time to attend our Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, contact us, and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always, you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see the dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years, home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaSeminar.com.

KopaSeminar.com

                                                          

The information on this page may have changed since we first published it. We give great real estate advice, but this page (and the rest of our site) is for informational use only and is no substitute for actual real estate, legal and financial advice. If you’d like to establish a Broker-client relationship, reach out to us and we’ll tell you how we can make it official. Sending us an email or reading this page alone doesn’t mean we represent you.


Have REal Estate Prices Bottomed OUt?

Cedar Park Real Estate Update May 2023

 

About this time last year we saw interest rates increase at a rate never seen before along with a dramatic increase in the number of homes on the market. As a result, buyer demand dropped off the cliff which caused prices to fall around here almost as much as anywhere in the country. Of course, our prices had gone up so much we had farther to fall.

Many buyers, especially those influenced by social media predictions, held off buying thinking they could wait for prices to crash like in 2008.

Instead of seeing a 2008 crash, this spring has seen a resurgence in buyer demand. It appears buyers have gotten used to interest rates in the 6% range and have realize we aren’t going back to 3% rates any time soon and likely not forever.

In addition, we have not seen a spike in new listings like we did in the weeks after Easter last year.

4 of the last 6 homes we listed had more than 1 offer. That doesn’t mean the market has returned to the 2021 craziness. I don’t expect we will see that again. Even when we have multiple offers the homes are not selling for $200,000 over asking price.

But it does mean, at least for now, real estate prices have bottomed out. We won’t really know until later in the year if this is just a normal spring seasonal increase in buyer demand or the new “normal market” because it is still entirely possible for worse economic data to come out later in the year. For example, Austin has been one of the largest cities hit by tech layoffs. Until last week I didn’t have anyone contact me to sell their home due to losing their job and having to relocate. In the last week I have had 2 families contact me in that situation. That could be a coincidence or something we look back on in 6 months as a sign of more to come.

Market Value Down – Tax Value Up?

If you’ve looked at your 2023 property tax assessment you may notice something strange that has been confusing many people.

Real life property values are down compared to last year, but for many people the assessed value of your home has actually gone up. How is that possible?

For many homeowners with a Homestead Exemption the maximum your assessed value could go up in a year is 10%. What that means is after the run up in prices over the last few years many homes are assessed at significantly under the true market value of the home.

This is just a hypothetical situation…Someone may have a home that was worth $800,000 last year with an assessed value of $600,000. In 2023 the market value might be $700,000 with an assessed value of $660,000 after the 10% increase. In that situation the market value dropped $100,000 and the assessed value INCREASED $60,000. Even worse, a homeowner in this scenario can expect the assessed value to go up again in 2024.

There may be some good news for property taxes. In the Texas Legislature there are 2 competing proposals to tax relief for homestead properties. One increases the homestead exemption amount and the other reduces the cap from 10% to 5%. We will have to wait and see if either gets adopted for this year.

 Who Is Buying And Selling Right Now?

At our last Home Selling Seminar someone asked me this question. She didn’t think anyone would want to move with higher interest rates.

My answer was “people who want to live a better life sooner than later.” Our clients move for all kinds of reasons. Many realize we aren’t going back to a 2021 market as if we can hit the light switch and at the same time realize we only get so many more turns around the sun.

If you have been waiting for the market to stabilize now is the time. Contact me at 512-791-7473 to strategize about your situation.

If you're planning a move, let's talk. Schedule a conversation at KopaConsultation.com or send me a text at 512-791-7473.

                                                          

If you're planning to sell in 2022, now is the best time to attend our Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, get in touch with us and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaSeminar.com.

KopaSeminar.com

                                                          

The information on this page may have changed since we first published it. We give great real estate advice, but this page (and the rest of our site) is for informational use only and is no substitute for actual real estate, legal and financial advice. If you’d like to establish a Broker-client relationship, reach out to us and we’ll tell you how we can make it official. Sending us an email or reading this page alone doesn’t mean we represent you.


Why The Next Few Weeks Will Be Pivotal For The Market

Cedar Park Real Estate Update April 2023

 

If you're planning a move, let's talk. Schedule a conversation at KopaConsultation.com or send me a text at 512-791-7473.

                                                          

If you're planning to sell in 2022, now is the best time to attend our Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, get in touch with us and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaSeminar.com.

KopaSeminar.com

                                                          

The information on this page may have changed since we first published it. We give great real estate advice, but this page (and the rest of our site) is for informational use only and is no substitute for actual real estate, legal and financial advice. If you’d like to establish a Broker-client relationship, reach out to us and we’ll tell you how we can make it official. Sending us an email or reading this page alone doesn’t mean we represent you.

                                                           

Welcome to 2023

Cedar Park Real Estate Update February 2023

 

If you're planning a move, let's talk. Schedule a conversation at KopaConsultation.com or send me a text at 512-791-7473.

                                                          

If you're planning to sell in 2022, now is the best time to attend our Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, get in touch with us and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaSeminar.com.

KopaSeminar.com

                                                          

The information on this page may have changed since we first published it. We give great real estate advice, but this page (and the rest of our site) is for informational use only and is no substitute for actual real estate, legal and financial advice. If you’d like to establish a Broker-client relationship, reach out to us and we’ll tell you how we can make it official. Sending us an email or reading this page alone doesn’t mean we represent you.


Happy Holidays! Let's Take A Look At The Market!

Cedar Park Real Estate Update December 2022

 

Let's review the most recent real estate statistics for the Cedar Park real estate market.

As of December 1st, there were 85 homes under contract and 187 homes active for sale in November 2022. There were 51 homes sold, which is down 61.9% from last year. The average dollars per square foot was down 7.8%.

The average sales price was down 6.7%, and the median sales price for Cedar Park real estate was down 9.9%. Now, if you're like me, and like to view the glass as half full, according to the Texas Real Estate Center, the Austin real estate market, average sales prices appreciated 63% in the last five years, and the median sales price has appreciated 61% in the last five years.

I feel obligated to always tell people this: my biggest regret in my life is that I never was able to get my dad to move down to the Austin area until he had a stroke and it was really too late. And so, yeah, this is my favorite picture of all time that popped up today. The one thing that people always tell me is that time flies and the first four years are the most important.

But I had no idea what that really meant until I lived it for myself. Then between Thanksgiving and shortly after Christmas is the time of the year. I get a lot of calls, especially from seniors wanting to move closer to their kids. They visited family and grandma decided she does want to be a FaceTime grandma anymore.

You know, normal market. Often grandpa will say, “well, we can only sell the home and make $235,000 or we can't afford to move unless we make $250,000.” So Grandma misses out on being in-person Grandma for years three and four over $15,000. And I can already tell this season will be worse in real estate. We've gone through two years of fantasyland and now we're back to reality.

About half the people who are calling me can't accept that we aren't in Fantasyland anymore and their lives won't be as good as it could be. They've anchored themselves to a real estate market we will never see again. And despite doing what I can to give them the best information available so they can make a good decision, they're going to be stuck.

And in the end, my guess is those people who can't get over Fantasyland will wind up doing what they should do today except a few years from now. And they'll have missed out on all the important milestones and probably not made enough money to change their fortune. And knowing what I've already learned in one and a half years, that's a huge mistake.

So we will be back in two weeks with predictions for the 2023 real estate market. There is a lot of misinformation about what's happening out there, and I would hate for you to make life plans based on that bad information. If you're planning a move, let's talk. Schedule a conversation at KopaConsultation.com or send me a text at 512-791-7473.

                                                          

If you're planning to sell in 2022, now is the best time to attend our Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, get in touch with us and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaSeminar.com.

KopaSeminar.com

                                                          

The information on this page may have changed since we first published it. We give great real estate advice, but this page (and the rest of our site) is for informational use only and is no substitute for actual real estate, legal and financial advice. If you’d like to establish a Broker-client relationship, reach out to us and we’ll tell you how we can make it official. Sending us an email or reading this page alone doesn’t mean we represent you.


Let's Take A Look At The Market!

Cedar Park Real Estate Update November 2022

 

Let's review the most recent real estate statistics for the Cedar Park real estate market, talk about what happened to mortgage rates last week, who is moving to the 78717 area and be careful about who you listen to as the market has become too negative in my opinion.

As of November 1st, there were 58 homes under contract and 236 active homes for sale in Cedar Park. This is great news for buyers who have more options than earlier in the year.

57 homes sold in October in Cedar Park compared to 116 last year. Average $/SF was up 4.1%, average sales price increased 12.1% and median sales price increased 12.6% compared to October 2022. With buyers having almost 4 homes to choose from for every home under contract we should expect to see those year-over-year increases decrease or perhaps turn negative soon.

Last week we saw mortgage interest rates go down about half a percent. Data came out that showed a slight reduction in the Consumer Price Index. The hope is that means inflation has started to come down and the Federal Reserve may not need to increase rates as high as expected and keep them high as long as expected. When inflation is high that causes interest rates to go up. The financial market reacted to this report as being good news and that is why rates went down. This is only one report so it’s too soon to celebrate but it is a good sign.

Something to keep in mind is eventually mortgage rates likely will go down but don’t expect we will ever see 3% mortgage rates again. Historically that was an anomaly and if you are waiting to buy or sell and move forward with your life until rates go back down to 3% you’re going to be waiting for a long time, maybe forever.

I also wanted to talk about the incomes of the people moving here and affordability. I’ve seen many people point to the median household income in Austin being $75,752 according to the US Census Bureau from their 2020 study. The people moving to the area have higher incomes and higher housing budgets. We just rented 4 homes to people relocating to the area. Each household has an income between $180,000-$350,000. Each household has an income higher than the previous tenants and each family could easily afford to purchase the house they are renting.

There is a lot of negativity in the real estate market. Perhaps the whole economy. Be careful when you take in information about what’s going on you are listening to someone who is actually an expert and doing what you want to do every day. There are many people right now, some of them Realtors, trying to make a name for themselves by telling everyone the sky is falling. I’m not saying you should ignore what is happening in the economy but I am suggesting you should get advice from someone who may be able to give you accurate information.

Whether it is real estate or anything if someone is giving you advice it is a good idea to ask yourself “How would they know?” When it comes to my business, I have noticed there are many Realtors who are giving out advice, but they really don’t sell real estate at a high level. Because I am the Broker of our company, I can pull up data from the Austin Board of Realtors and see how many homes an agent is selling.

As a consumer you don’t have the ability to do that, although you can always call me and I can tell you, so here is the best thing you can do before taking advice from another agent. Go to the Zillow website and at the top click on “Agent Finder.” Then enter the information for that agent in the boxes. From there it will pull up how many homes that agent has sold. You might be surprised at what you find. The last statistic I saw said almost 2/3 of Realtors have only sold 1 home or less so far this year.

If that’s what you see how are you possibly going to get great advice from someone who isn’t actively working in the real estate business full-time? When it comes to your largest single financial asset you deserve better than that.

The reputation of your agent is also important especially if you are buying a home. More and more when we are listing a home our clients are asking us about our experience with the buyer’s agent. Our clients are very hesitant to take their home off the market when the buyer’s agent has no experience because the odds of a transaction going off the rails increase dramatically.

I also feel sorry for many buyers when they are working with an agent that lacks experience. I see buyers in that situation passing on great homes because nobody is giving them advice about what it costs to make updates or repairs to a home. I’ve noticed agents without experience tend to catastrophize everything including those costs and in the long run that isn’t good for a buyer who decides not to buy a home based on that information.

Kopa Real Estate specializes in helping people like you buy, sell and invest in real estate throughout the Austin and suburban areas. Whenever you are ready for some good advice about the real estate market or need professional representation contact me directly at 512-791-7473 or schedule a time for a conversation at KopaConsultation.com.

                                                          

If you're planning to sell in 2022, now is the best time to attend our Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, get in touch with us and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaSeminar.com.

KopaSeminar.com

                                                          

The information on this page may have changed since we first published it. We give great real estate advice, but this page (and the rest of our site) is for informational use only and is no substitute for actual real estate, legal and financial advice. If you’d like to establish a Broker-client relationship, reach out to us and we’ll tell you how we can make it official. Sending us an email or reading this page alone doesn’t mean we represent you.


Let's Take A Look At The Market!

Cedar Park Real Estate Update October 2022

Before I get into the Cedar Park statistics, please understand when we look back at the recent sold information this is like driving while looking in the rear-view mirror and to help you make good decisions you want to be paying attention to what are called the leading indicators which will point us in the direction the market is heading.

The number of homes sold in was down 32.5% to 81 home sales. The average dollars per square foot was up 5.8%. Average sales price was up 12.8% and the median sales price was up 11.1%.

TIt’s hard to judge the overall market from these year over year statistics. Last week I had 2 people call me who bought a home a year ago and now want to sell the home. I didn’t represent either on the purchase so I don’t know exactly what happened, but both paid well over asking price. A year later one owner can sell their home for $65,000 more than what they paid and the other might sell for $25,000 less than they paid.

Now let’s look at some of the leading indicators. Currently there are 254 homes for sale with 72 homes under contract. 53 homes did not sell at all and were taken off the market in September. That’s not a good sign when there are almost as many homes that didn’t sell as homes sold. I expect many of these homes will come back on the market next spring. With the Federal Reserve Chairman coming out in September saying there will be a housing market correction only time will tell whether those sellers made a good decision.

The closed price compared to the original list price shows that on average homes sold for 91.78% of the original list price. This is a dramatic difference compared to last September when homes sold on average for 103.8% of list price. On average homes sold in 34 days compared to selling in only 11 days last September.

It’s important to talk about what it means when Chairman Powell says there needs to be a correction. First off, his comments don’t mean the market is crashing. With the stock market a correction would be a drop of 10-20%. With the real estate market there isn’t a set definition of what a correction means. In my mind the important thing about his comments is paying attention to the expected direction of the market. When the Fed Chairman says there will be a correction how do you think that is going to impact the value of your home over the next 6 months? There’s a saying you don’t want to “fight the Fed” and we can’t take his comments lightly.

Here's where this becomes important for you if you are buying or selling real estate. Most real estate agents aren’t paying attention to the leading indicators or understand what they mean. Even worse, some agents are going to give you too rosy a picture of where the market is going because they are afraid if they tell you the truth you won’t hire them to sell your home.

For me, my goal is to consult with anyone about what’s really happening and your particular situation. Whether you are buying or selling you need that accurate information.

Whenever you are ready to talk about the market and put together a good strategy call or text 512-791-7473 or schedule a time at  KopaConsultation.com.

                                                          

If you're planning to sell in 2022, now is the best time to attend our Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, get in touch with us and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaSeminar.com.

KopaSeminar.com

                                                          

The information on this page may have changed since we first published it. We give great real estate advice, but this page (and the rest of our site) is for informational use only and is no substitute for actual real estate, legal and financial advice. If you’d like to establish a Broker-client relationship, reach out to us and we’ll tell you how we can make it official. Sending us an email or reading this page alone doesn’t mean we represent you.

                                                           

That Escalated Quickly!

Cedar Park Real Estate Update August 2022

 

Let’s review the Cedar Park real estate housing market statistics for July, 2022. The number of homes sold was down 40% 94 compared to 156 homes sold in July, 2021. Homes sold on average for $265 per square foot, up 31% over last year but down compared to $289 per square foot in June. The average sales price increased 7% to $602,188 but that was down from $671,332 in June and the median sales price increased 1% to $526,500 compared to June, 2021 but down from $581,350 in June.

The home that sold at the lowest price was a condo in Buttercup Creek for $284,000. The home that sold for the highest price at $1,485,000 was in Cypress Canyon. There were 6 homes that sold for over $1 Million in Cedar Park in July.

The smallest home sold was the Buttercup Creek condo at 1,022 square feet and the largest home sold was in The Ranch At Brushy Creek at 4,420 square feet. The home that sold for the lowest dollars per square foot was in Buttercup Creek at $193 per square foot and the home that sold for the highest dollars per square foot was in Twin Creeks at $391 per square foot. That home sold for $400,000 under original asking price.

Something I wanted to mention for this month is you don’t want to multiply the average dollars per square feet times the size of your home to come up with your list price. This is only an average and there are so many factors that go into the value of a home it’s not a good idea to use that figure.

As of July 5, there were 255 Active homes for sale in Cedar Park, up from 209 Active listings a month ago, and 95 homes under contract. That is a large increase in active listings compared to only 40 Active listings in Cedar Park on April 4th. To put that in perspective there were only 150 Active listings on the market in Cedar Park on August 7th, 2019, the last time we had a “normal” market.

Homes that closed in July went under contract in 17 days. Homes that are under contract went under contract in 26 days and homes that are Active have been on the market for 37 days on average. The amount of time it takes for a home to go under contract shows the market has been slowing down.

As the market slows down what does that mean for you as a home seller?

On average it means you will have more competition. Earlier in the year buyers had few homes to choose from so they couldn’t be choosy. That allowed many sellers with a home that traditionally would have sold at a discount to sell for a great price.

Today there are a lot more homes for sale. That means buyers have more to choose from and we see them being choosier. Sellers will have to be realistic about price and you’re also more likely to need to negotiate.

                                                           

Whenever someone asks me “How’s the market” I first ask them if they want the Disney version or the Jerry Springer version. After that I ask them what they have heard about the real estate market in the last 30-60 days. Things have changed so quickly it’s important for me to know how up to date they are about what’s going on.

If you haven’t been keeping up the housing market looks suddenly different than it did a few months ago. Today there are fewer motivated buyers, less showings, fewer offers and more homes on the market.

How did this happen? Essentially many of the things we previously warned could cause a slowdown have not only happened but happened at the same time.

Before I get into it it’s important for you to know we are still working, we are still selling homes and we can help you navigate through this new market. But you will need a different plan. Contact us at 512-791-7473 or schedule a consultation to discuss your situation at KopaConsultation.com.

Let's get into what happened.

Interest Rates Shot Up So Fast

At the beginning of the year everyone anticipated interest rates rising. On average experts were predicting rates would be at 3.7% at the end of the year. As it turns out that was way too low as we saw interest rates shoot up from slightly over 5% to over 6% in one week back in June. Although mortgage rates have fallen sharply over the last 6 weeks, rates are still much higher than earlier this year. The reality is higher interest rates along with higher prices and higher property taxes have made homes less affordable.

The housing market really started to slow in April and hit the brakes in June when rates jumped to above 6%. Perhaps the real estate market could have withstood higher interest rates but how fast it happened was a shock to the entire market.

Why did interest rates go up? Long story short, interest rates typically rise when there is inflation. As I write this interest rates have returned back to the mid 5% range which is going in the right direction. We likely won’t see lower interest rates until we see inflation settle down.

Regardless of whether you are planning to buy or sell you should know it’s not likely we will ever see mortgage rates as low as they were in 2021. Mortgage rates close to 3% was an aberration. The sharp spike in interest rates this June was an overreaction, but you should know mortgage rates are closer to normal now than they were over the last 2 years.

Fear Of Recession And Group Think

Anyone who called me earlier in the year to ask if it was a good time to their house, I told them “Only if you want to sell your home for more than it’s worth.”

What I meant by that was part of the appreciation in home prices was due to buyers having FOMO (fear of missing out) and making emotional decisions and aggressive offers.

In our area we also have a large number of buyers who suffer from “Group Think” meaning they don’t make decisions on their own. When buyers aren’t able to make a decision without consulting with every family member and all their friends and co-workers it was easy to see how a negative feedback loop could occur.

Right now, a large number of buyers are holding off buying because their friends are telling them the market is going to crash. The 2008 housing crash was recent and burned into many people as a very real fear.

I’ve been to a couple real estate conventions in the last month. At both the people who are putting on the events that are from large brokerages are telling everyone prices aren’t going to come down. Based on the supply and demand statistics of the inventory of homes for sale and the number of homes going under contract that’s too optimistic and not giving you good advice. What’s really happening is prices already have nudged down a little and we may see prices go down a little more. That doesn’t mean things will be similar to 2008 and you should be making decisions based on accurate information meaning you should see things as they are and not allow “Group Think” to influence you to see things as worse than they are.

Tech Stock Crashes

One of the reasons real estate prices went up so fast was because we have so many tech workers moving to the area. Many receive a large amount of compensation from their company in stock. There has been tremendous volatility in the stock market this year. No doubt some buyers have been afraid of selling stock at the bottom of the market. That impacts real estate prices because buyers pull back from paying over asking price and in some cases not having the money for a down payment at all.

We have seen improvement in the stock market in the last month. Stock prices are still down for the year but have been on their way back up. We have to be careful not assuming they won’t go down again, but hopefully some stability, particularly with the tech stocks, will bring buyers back into the market.

Everyone On Vacation

Have you been on a plane lately? What a nightmare!

Earlier in the year I was telling our clients I didn’t know how things would turn out in the summer. Something I was concerned about was all the home buyers going on vacation. Many in our area travel overseas for an extended period of time and this is the first year in 2 years traveling was opened up for many countries.

It seemed like as soon as school let out for summer everyone went on vacation. Hopefully you went somewhere fun. I know I have enjoyed seeing all my friends post photos on Facebook and Instagram of their vacations this year.

Now that school is about to start, we may see more buyer activity. For our own listings we are already seeing an increase in showings. Only time will tell if buyers returning from summer vacations creates enough demand to move the needle or not.

What Does This Mean For Home Sellers?

The market slowing down means you need a different strategy. Everything from choosing the best of our 3 pricing strategies to making sure your home is positioned correctly in the market. You’re also more likely to negotiate. You will want an experienced real estate broker to help guide you in this new market, get you the best price and have the deal making skills to keep the sale together through a successful closing.

What Does This Mean For Home Buyers?

It will be tempting to try timing the market. Whether we are talking about the stock market or the real estate market it is almost impossible to time the market. The only thing I can tell you is by the time your aunt who hasn’t bought a home in 30 years tells you it’s time to buy it will be too late.

UFor both buyers and sellers my advice is if it makes sense for you to buy and that solves your problem you should buy and if it makes sense for you to sell and that solves your problem you should sell. The only way we can help you figure out if it makes sense and solves your problem is to contact us at 512-791-7473 or schedule a time to talk at KopaConcultation.com.

                                                          

If you're planning to sell in 2022, now is the best time to attend our Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, get in touch with us and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaSeminar.com.

KopaSeminar.com

                                                          

The information on this page may have changed since we first published it. We give great real estate advice, but this page (and the rest of our site) is for informational use only and is no substitute for actual real estate, legal and financial advice. If you’d like to establish a Broker-client relationship, reach out to us and we’ll tell you how we can make it official. Sending us an email or reading this page alone doesn’t mean we represent you.

Mistakes Home Sellers Are Making Right Now

Cedar Park Real Estate Update July 2022


 

Let’s review the Cedar Park real estate housing market statistics for June, 2022. The number of homes sold was down 41% compared to 2021. Homes sold on average for $289 per square foot, up 19% over last year. The average sales price increased 12% to $671,332 but that was down from $687,755 in May and the median sales price increased 7% to $581,350 compared to June, 2021 but down from $637,500 in May.

The home that sold at the lowest price was in Buttercup Creek for $375,000. The home that sold for the highest price at $2,100,000 was in Twin Creeks. There were 9 homes that sold for over $1 Million in 78717 in June. Last year there were also 9 homes that sold for over $1 Million.

The smallest home sold was Buttercup Creek at 1,081 square feet and the largest home sold was in Twin Creeks at 5,238 square feet. The home that sold for the lowest dollars per square foot was in Buttercup Creek at $178 per square foot and the home that sold for the highest dollars per square foot was in Shenandoah at $437 per square foot.

As of July 5, there were 209 Active homes for sale in Cedar Park, up from 160 Active listings in June, and 120 homes under contract. That is a large increase in active listings compared to only 40 Active listings in Cedar Park on April 4th. To put that in perspective there were only 142 Active listings on the market in Cedar Park on July 7th, 2019, the last time we had a “normal” market.

Homes that closed in June went under contract in 9 days. Homes that are under contract went under contract in 21 days and homes that are Active have been on the market for 28 days on average. The amount of time it takes for a home to go under contract shows the market has been slowing down.

                                                           

There was a week back in mid-May where 6 home sellers called me and said some version of “It doesn’t matter who I hire to sell my house because there’s nothing to buy.” Because I could see the leading indicators, I explained things were about to get much harder. As it turns out 5 of the 6 houses haven’t sold and the other one was taken off the market. For the foreseeable future we are in a professional real estate market and who you hire does matter. Here are a few mistakes I am already seeing home sellers make when hiring a real estate broker.

Hiring A Part Time Agent

Would you ride a roller coaster that only runs 2 times a year? Of course not, you’re too smart for that. But when it comes to your largest financial asset many people hire an agent who only works part time. The average agent only sells 2 homes per year. That means the market conditions are drastically different from the last time they sold a home. For example, back in February you could underprice a home $100,000 and the market would correct the mistake. Today the velocity of showings isn’t enough to hide that mistake and you will sell for a lower price.

Frequently I get messages like this text from part time agents asking me to help them with their listings. If you are expecting me to miss out on reading a book to my daughter before she goes to sleep because I was helping the part time agent you hired that isn’t going to happen.

No Negotiating Experience

Most agents who have been in business the last 2 years have never had to negotiate. If I ask them about a counter, they are going to think I mean countertop not counter offer. Where I see this harming sellers right now is if you hire an agent with poor communication skills and someone who will only text and not talk on the phone you risk your sale going sideways. Inexperienced agents when faced with needing to negotiate also seem to be letting their ego get in the way of selling the house. Selling a home can be emotional and it is my job not to be emotional so I can help you get a great result. Regardless of the industry when someone lacks negotiating experience, they tend to get emotional and in real estate if your agent gets emotional that will cost you money.

Hired The Agent Who Bought The Listing

In any market one of the mistake sellers make is hiring the agent who “buys the listing.” Market research tells us you will like the agent that tells you your home will sell for the most money (even if it isn’t true). Agents know sellers are more likely to hire them if they give them a high price. This is called “buying the listing” and in today’s market if you list your home at an unrealistic price you will wind up selling for less in the end.

Hired The Agent Who Won't Tell You The Truth

In some respect this goes back to hiring a part time agent. What often happens with an inexperienced agent is they will bury their head in the sand and won’t communicate with you. They are afraid you are going to be angry with them so they avoid you to your own detriment.

Over the years I’ve found my clients appreciate more communication, even if it isn’t the news they want to hear. One of the great uses of Zoom in my business is I can share my screen when I give my clients updates about their home. This allows me to share market data and explain what we are seeing in a way that is easier to understand.

After getting off a Zoom call with one of our clients they sent me this message.

“Thank you so much Eric for taking the time to meet us via Zoom and update us on macro-economic conditions, local real estate trends and preparing us for potential long haul. We have not seen other realtors provide such insightful information and periodic updates as are doing, it is very helpful so once again thank you!”

Up until a few weeks ago it wasn’t necessary to update sellers because everything was selling in a few days. That isn’t true for every house anymore. Whenever you are ready to talk about your home and you want someone who will be with you even if it isn’t easy call/text me directly at 512-791-7473.

                                                          

If you're planning to sell in 2022, now is the best time to attend our Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, get in touch with us and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaWorkshop.com.

KopaWorkshop.com

                                                          

The information on this page may have changed since we first published it. We give great real estate advice, but this page (and the rest of our site) is for informational use only and is no substitute for actual real estate, legal and financial advice. If you’d like to establish a Broker-client relationship, reach out to us and we’ll tell you how we can make it official. Sending us an email or reading this page alone doesn’t mean we represent you.


Perspective And Real Estate

Cedar Park Real Estate Update June 2022


 

Let’s review the Cedar Park real estate housing market statistics for May, 2022. The number of homes sold was down 16% compared to 2021. Homes sold on average for $291 per square foot, up 23% over last year. The average sales price increased 25% to $687,755 and the median sales price increased 25% to $637,500.

The home that sold at the lowest price was in Cedar Park Square for $380,000. Last year the lowest priced home sold in April was only $275,000. The home that sold for the highest price at $1,800,000 was in Twin Creeks. There were 12 homes that sold for over $1 Million in Cedar Park in May. Last year only 2 sold for over $1 Million and the highest price was $1,200,000.

The smallest home sold was in Buttercup Creek at 910 square feet and the largest home sold was in Ranch at Deer Creek at 4,739 square feet. The home that sold for the lowest dollars per square foot was in Carriage Hills at only $182 per square foot and the home that sold for the highest dollars per square foot was on 4 acres off New Hope for $455 per square foot.

As of June 4, there were 160 Active homes for sale in Cedar Park and 117 homes under contract. That is a large increase in active listings compared to only 45 Active listings in Cedar Park on April 4th. To put that in perspective there were only 136 Active listings on the market in Cedar Park on June 7th, 2019, the last time we had a “normal” market.

                                                           

It’s hard to believe our baby is almost a year old. We also moved into our new house only a month before she was born. I was what they call a “motivated buyer.”

Most people I would have the perfect house, but that’s not true. Despite our house not being perfect (even I don’t get to buy a 100% perfect house) we love it and we are so glad we bought the home when we had the opportunity.

Whenever I tell someone I am buying or selling a house they tell me I’m lucky because I have an advantage due to owning a real estate company. Although that is true, my real advantage is I keep things in perspective. When it comes to perspective there’s nothing I am doing that you can’t do, too. As the market has started to change, I am noticing a dramatic lack of perspective from both buyers and sellers.

For sellers some tried to time the market and now say they are going to wait until they can get 10 offers on their home again. What sellers have to realize is what we have been through in the last 2 years will likely never happen again. That can be tough to hear if your friends and neighbors had a different experience selling a long, long time ago…like in April.

If you say you aren’t going to move until the market is so hot you will get 10 offers the question isn’t when can you put your home on the market. The question is what’s going to happen if you’re still in the same house in 20 years. Not making your life better if you can’t get 10 offers is a huge lack of perspective.

I’m seeing two mistakes buyers are making due to a lack of perspective. According to a recent Forbes survey 42% of buyers won’t apply for a mortgage if interest rates are over 4%. Those of us who have been around the block and have some perspective realize that means they may never buy a house. Interest rates have been artificially low for so long due to multiple crises it’s hard for someone who has only been paying attention to interest rates over the last couple years to understand that. In reality if we ever see interest rates as low as they were in 2021 it’s because the economy has crashed and the buyers probably don’t have a job anymore.

The second mistake I see buyers making is prioritizing pebbles over rocks. We’ve all probably seen a demonstration of someone filling a jar with rocks and pebbles. In the demonstration the big rocks have to go in the jar first. Otherwise, you fill up the jar with pebbles and the big rocks won’t fit. It’s a good lesson in focusing on the big things in your life first.

Because we are the hardest working real estate company in America, we see so many buyers at our Open Houses. I see their lack of perspective showing up every weekend. Buyers are more concerned about things like under-cabinet lighting, alarm systems and even things like water heaters and air conditioners they miss opportunities. To someone with no long-term perspective a water heater seems like life or death at the time but for those of us who have been around the block and have a long term outlook on life we realize none of that really matters in the long run.

This text message is from a client who sent it to me last week. I helped them buy a great home 15 years ago. The house wasn’t perfect when they bought it but over the years, they have made repairs, updates and upgrades. It’s a great house in an amazing area and they love it. Looking back on their decision 15 years ago they are grateful they had perspective and didn’t pass on the opportunity when the home was available for sale.

Even though it’s hard for a real estate broker to make a living if your clients own the home for 15 years, I’m happy for them. They are a great example of someone being happy with their home by keeping things in perspective. If you are able to keep things in perspective, too, you can be successful buying or selling real estate just like they are and I have been.

                                                          

If you're planning to sell in 2022, now is the best time to attend our Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, get in touch with us and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaWorkshop.com.

KopaWorkshop.com

                                                          

The information on this page may have changed since we first published it. We give great real estate advice, but this page (and the rest of our site) is for informational use only and is no substitute for actual real estate, legal and financial advice. If you’d like to establish a Broker-client relationship, reach out to us and we’ll tell you how we can make it official. Sending us an email or reading this page alone doesn’t mean we represent you.

                                                           

Is The Market Cooling Off?

Cedar Park Real Estate Update May 2022


 

A few months ago, I talked about how when people asked me if it’s a good time to sell I would respond with “Only if you want to sell your home for a lot more than it’s worth!” The visual we used was an ice cream sundae with whipped cream and the whipped cream represented the extra amount you could get due to so few homes being on the market.

You know you can count on me to tell you what’s really going on in the market today. We are still in an incredible seller’s market but we are starting to see signs that the market is shifting and going from Super-Hot to only Hot. Home sellers are typically 3-6 months behind the market. If you are planning to sell a home it’s important you pay attention to what’s really going on and not just focus on recent sales prices of homes that went under contract when interest rates were still 3%.

Here are some of my thoughts about what a shifting market will mean…

Different Sellers Will Have Different Experiences

I expect the homes that are in high demand will remain that way. Other sellers with the types of homes I previously wrote about who typically sold at a discount and could have sold at the top of the market when the inventory of homes was lower may now see lower prices.

For example, there is a home I sold back in March that was originally listed for $790,000 and sold for $830,000. This home is on the 9th worst lot in the zip c ode. I keep track because I have already sold the #2,4,7 and 8th worst lots. At the time it sold for a great price because there was nothing else to buy in the neighborhood. Today there are 3 nicer homes on much better lots for sale for only $800,000. If we put the home we sold on the market today I expect it would sell for less than $800,000. When people ask me if we are in a bubble I always ask what that means. This is an interesting situation because for that specific seller if they had held off listing the market would have felt very much like a bubble had popped.

Pay Attention To The Active Listings And Days On Market

What we are seeing is the active number of listings has increased compared to earlier in the year. This is a chart of the active listings in Cedar Park. You can see the 7-Day average as of May 6th was 67. It’s not surprising to see the 7-Day increase at this time of the year, there is a rhythm to the market, however as I write this on May 9th there are now 79 active listings. That’s a big difference compared to February 18th when there were only 16 active listings.

Earlier in the year homes could be priced at whatever sellers wanted and a home would sell. Sellers could take the attitude that there was nothing else to buy. That has changed and sellers will have to take a different approach in this market. As a seller you have to understand that psychologically because you may have a different experience than a friend who put their home on the market in February.

Interest Rates And Fewer Buyers

Earlier in the year there was a mad rush for buyers to get under contract before interest rates went up. Some experts were predicting that would cause fewer buyers later in the year. That appears to be what is happening and we are now experiencing a double whammy of fewer buyers than earlier in the year combined with mortgage rates in the mid 5% range which is much higher than experts were predicting rates would increase.

The reality is there are fewer buyers who can qualify for your home compared to 2 months ago. I have been very careful not to tell anyone to hold off putting your home on the market because this was a possibility. What I had been telling everyone is if you want 10 offers for your home you need to be on the market when there will be 10 buyers for your home. That may not be the case.

All this may not be news you want to hear. There may even be sellers that won’t hire me because I want to give you the information you need to be successful and not just tell you what you want to hear. Regardless of market conditions I believe we give you the best chance of success. Whenever you are ready to talk about your plans call/text 512-791-7473or if it is more convenient you can schedule a time with our online calendar at KopaSeller.com.

                                                          

If you're planning to sell in 2022, now is the best time to attend our Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, get in touch with us and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaWorkshop.com.

KopaWorkshop.com

                                                          

The information on this page may have changed since we first published it. We give great real estate advice, but this page (and the rest of our site) is for informational use only and is no substitute for actual real estate, legal and financial advice. If you’d like to establish a Broker-client relationship, reach out to us and we’ll tell you how we can make it official. Sending us an email or reading this page alone doesn’t mean we represent you.

                                                           

How to lose $100,000 When selling your Austin Home

Cedar Park Real Estate Update April 2022


How would you feel if you lost $100,000 when selling your home? In this article we will talk about that and the most recent real estate housing market data for Cedar Park, Texas.

I’m Eric Peterson owner of Kopa Real Estate. Let’s review the real estate housing market statistics for March, 2022 for the City of Austin, Texas and the 5 County Austin Metro Area.

Let’s review the Cedar Park real estate housing market statistics for March, 2022. The number of homes sold was down 20.3% compared to last year. That statistic is misleading because it’s due to fewer homes being available for sale and not due to a lack of buyers. Homes sold on average for $278 per square foot, up 25% over last year. The average sales price increased 22% to $665,300 and the median price was up 15% to $612,500.

The lowest priced home sold was in Gann Ranch for $351,000 and the highest priced home sold was in the Overlook at the Ranch at Brushy Creek for $1,635,000. Overall, there were 8 homes sold over $1 Million. Last year the highest priced home sold was at $1,030,000.

The smallest home sold was at 1,114 square feet in Riviera Springs and the largest home sold was in the Ranch at Deer Creek at 4,722 square feet.

The home that sold for the lowest dollars per square foot was in Coventry Crossing at $187 per square foot and the home that sold for the highest dollars per square foot was in Riviera Springs at $368 per square foot.

As of April 1st, there were 52 homes active on the market and 145 homes under contract. On average homes sold for 9% over list price with 4 days on the market which was down from selling for 19% over list price last year.

 

Now let’s talk about this chart of 4 recent condo sales in the same development and how one seller lost out on up to $100,000 by selling off market. We were recommended to a couple in their neighborhood Facebook group to help sell their condo. Together we put a plan in place to get them the highest possible price. We were able to attract 10 offers for their condo and it sold for a record price of $540,000. Two other similar condos were listed by other agents and sold for only $500,000 and $480,000.

Then there was a 4th condo sale that was just reported at the end of March. This condo was never really advertised publicly for sale. It was only entered in the MLS once it went under contract. Something else that was interesting is the listing agent was also listed as the buyer’s agent when the sales data was reported.

 

When you’re selling your home you shouldn’t settle for just a base hit, you should be trying for the grand slam. In this type of market you really have to be careful about selling your home off market because you will probably leave a significant amount of money on the table. Before you sell off market contact us to see how our marketing plan is getting grand slam prices for our clients and what we can do for you. Whenever you are ready call or text me directly at 512-791-7473 or if it is more convenient you can schedule a consultation at KopaSeller.com.

                                                          

If you're planning to sell in 2022, now is the best time to attend our Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, get in touch with us and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaWorkshop.com.

KopaWorkshop.com

                                                          

The information on this page may have changed since we first published it. We give great real estate advice, but this page (and the rest of our site) is for informational use only and is no substitute for actual real estate, legal and financial advice. If you’d like to establish a Broker-client relationship, reach out to us and we’ll tell you how we can make it official. Sending us an email or reading this page alone doesn’t mean we represent you.

                                                           

 

How to lose $100,000 When selling your Cedar Park Home

Cedar Park Real Estate Update April 2022


 

How would you feel if you lost $100,000 when selling your home? In this video we will talk about that and the most recent real estate housing market data for Cedar Park Texas.

Let’s review the Cedar Park real estate housing market statistics for March, 2022. The number of homes sold was down 20.3% compared to last year. That statistic is misleading because it’s due to fewer homes being available for sale and not due to a lack of buyers. Homes sold on average for $278 per square foot, up 25% over last year. The average sales price increased 22% to $665,300 and the median price was up 15% to $612,500.

The lowest priced home sold was in Gann Ranch for $351,000 and the highest priced home sold was in the Overlook at the Ranch at Brushy Creek for $1,635,000. Overall, there were 8 homes sold over $1 Million. Last year the highest priced home sold was at $1,030,000.

The smallest home sold was at 1,114 square feet in Riviera Springs and the largest home sold was in the Ranch at Deer Creek at 4,722 square feet.

The home that sold for the lowest dollars per square foot was in Coventry Crossing at $187 per square foot and the home that sold for the highest dollars per square foot was in Riviera Springs at $368 per square foot.

As of April 1st, there were 52 homes active on the market and 145 homes under contract. On average homes sold for 9% over list price with 4 days on the market which was down from selling for 19% over list price last year.

Now let’s talk about this chart of 4 recent condo sales in the same development and how one seller lost out on up to $100,000 by selling off market. We were recommended to a couple in their neighborhood Facebook group to help sell their condo. Together we put a plan in place to get them the highest possible price. We were able to attract 10 offers for their condo and it sold for a record price of $540,000. Two other similar condos were listed by other agents and sold for only $500,000 and $480,000.

Then there was a 4th condo sale that was just reported at the end of March. This condo was never really advertised publicly for sale. It was only entered in the MLS once it went under contract. Something else that was interesting is the listing agent was also listed as the buyer’s agent when the sales data was reported.

 

When you’re selling your home you shouldn’t settle for just a base hit, you should be trying for the grand slam. In this type of market you really have to be careful about selling your home off market because you will probably leave a significant amount of money on the table. Before you sell off market contact us to see how our marketing plan is getting grand slam prices for our clients and what we can do for you. Whenever you are ready call or text me directly at 512-791-7473 or if it is more convenient you can schedule a consultation at KopaSeller.com.

                                                          

If you're planning to sell in 2022, now is the best time to attend our Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, get in touch with us and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaWorkshop.com.

KopaWorkshop.com

                                                          

The information on this page may have changed since we first published it. We give great real estate advice, but this page (and the rest of our site) is for informational use only and is no substitute for actual real estate, legal and financial advice. If you’d like to establish a Broker-client relationship, reach out to us and we’ll tell you how we can make it official. Sending us an email or reading this page alone doesn’t mean we represent you.

                                                          

 

Are Home Prices Continuing To Rise?

Cedar Park Real Estate Update March 2022


 

Let’s review the Cedar Park real estate statistics for February, 2022. Despite what you hear about the inventory of homes being so low there were actually 4.3% more homes sold compared to last year. Homes sold on average for $258 per square foot, up 20% over last year. The average sales price was up 26% to $593,590 and the median sales price was up 29% to $580,500.

The lowest priced home sold was in Cedar Park Square for $349,000 and there was a tie for the highest priced home sold at $1,100,000 in Ranch at Brushy Creek and Bella Vista. The highest sale price last February was only $960,000.

The smallest home sold was at 1,123 square feet in Buttercup Creek and the largest home sold was in the Ranch at Cypress Creek at 4,143 square feet.

The home that sold for the lowest dollars per square foot was in the Woods at Brushy Creek at $223 per square foot and the home that sold for the highest dollars per square foot was in the Pearson Place Enclave at $339 dollars per square foot.

As of March 2, 2022 there were only 13 homes active for sale and 129 homes under contract. On average homes sold for 6% over asking price which was down from selling for 16% over asking price last February.

On the bottom end of the market there were only 6 homes that sold for under $400,000 compared to last February when there were 21 homes that sold for under $400,000. 

                                                          

Many analysts projected home price appreciation would slow dramatically in the fall of 2021 and then continue to soften throughout 2022. So far, that hasn’t happened. The major price indices are all revealing ongoing double-digit price appreciation. Here’s a look at their reports on year-over-year price appreciation for December:

To show that they’re not seeing signs of softening, here’s a graph that gives the progression of all three indices for each month of 2021.

As the graph above reveals, last year, home price appreciation accelerated dramatically from January to July according to all three indices. Then, it began to decelerate in August when prices appreciated at a slower pace, but it didn’t decline. Many thought that would be the beginning of a rapid slowdown in the level of home price appreciation, but as the data shows, that wasn’t the case. Instead, prices began to level off for a few months before two of the three indices saw appreciation re-accelerate again in December.

To clarify, deceleration is not the same depreciation. Acceleration means prices rise at a greater year-over-year pace than the previous month. Deceleration means home values continue to rise but at a slower pace of year-over-year appreciation. Depreciation means prices drop below current values. No one is forecasting that to happen.

In fact, the FHFA revealed that price appreciation accelerated in December in six of the nine regions it tracks. Case Shiller showed that appreciation accelerated in 15 of the 20 metros they report on. As Selma Hepp, Deputy Chief Economist at CoreLogic, explains:

"After some signs of slowing home price growth...monthly price growth re-accelerated again, indicating home buyers have not yet thrown in the towel."

What Does This Mean For You?

Whether you’re a first-time purchaser or someone looking to sell your current house and buy a home that better fits your needs, waiting to decide what to do will cost you in two ways:

  1. Mortgage rates are forecast to rise this year.
  2. Home prices should continue to appreciate at double-digit levels for some time.

If you wait, rising mortgage rates and high home price appreciation will have a dramatic impact on your monthly mortgage payment.

Bottom Line

Maybe the best thing to do is listen to the advice of Len Kiefer, Deputy Chief Economist at Freddie Mac:

“If you’re thinking about waiting until next year and that maybe rates are higher, but you’ll get a deal on prices – well that’s risky. It may be more advantageous to purchase this year relative to waiting until 2023 at this time.”

                                                          

Nobody Can Afford A House Anymore

Too Many People Are Buying Them

There’s no doubt it’s a tough market for homebuyers. But it’s not impossible. After all, there are people buying houses every day. The buyers who have a good strategy are successful. We just helped 2 more couples sell their homes, negotiate a leaseback so they could stay in their home and get offers accepted on their next home. That means I know it can be done and we can do it for you, too!

On the other hand, I see many buyers at our open houses every weekend that are frustrated by the market. In many cases their frustration is self-inflicted, either by having the wrong mindset or working with a real estate agent that isn’t giving them a chance to win. Time and time again we are able to get the buyers we are working with under contract while other buyers struggle. If you are in the beginning process of buying a home here are a few things you should look for in a Realtor to help you win in today’s real estate market.

  • A Realtor who can give you “big picture” advice. You may have heard local buyers have a lower budget than relocation buyers. That is true but that doesn’t tell you the whole story. In my experience the local buyers are trying to buy a home like it’s 2019. When there is a home for sale in their desired neighborhood, they will tell me about a friend who bought a home in 2019 for significantly less money. They have a memory of what could have been. I always have to explain that I can’t find the keys to my magic real estate time machine to take us back to 2019.

The market doesn’t have a memory and neither do relocation buyers. Unlike local buyers, the relocation buyers are comparing a home to what they could have bought in California or New York. The relocation buyers are thinking about what the home will be worth in 2029 not what it was worth 3 years ago.

I have clients who just purchased a new home. It took over a year to build. I remember somewhere towards the end of 2020 we were sitting on their driveway talking about their long-term plans. If we were only thinking about the short term they never would have decided to move forward with the new home. Instead, we sat on their driveway talking about what I thought was going to happen over the next 10 years. Building a home right now with all the supply chain issues is not for the faint of heart. There were many times they could have thrown in the towel and given up. I encouraged them to stick with it because I was thinking about the big picture. It’s a good thing they did because if they passed on that opportunity they couldn’t build a home in that same neighborhood for another 2 years.

In the end they said they appreciated my emotional support and sometimes I think that is a good way to think about what I do for our clients.

  • A Realtor who understands the trajectory of the market. What you probably don’t understand is the average Realtor only sells 2-3 homes per year. They aren’t out in the market every day and they aren’t studying current real estate pricing

The market is up about 8% since the beginning of the year. Many homes are under contract significantly over asking price. If you are working with a Realtor who is only showing you sales data from the past 3 months you are going to lose offer after offer.

Where this also comes into play is when you are considering homes that aren’t perfect and I hate to tell you this but that is 100% of the homes for sale. No home is perfect, not even my own home.

At an open house last weekend I saw a Realtor doing a Facetime tour with a buyer. The Realtor was pointing out things like an area of touch up paint that will cost $75 and that there are no under cabinet lights. The next time a home like that comes on the market it will cost an extra $10,000. You can buy a whole lot of touch up paint and lights for a lot less than $10,000. You need a Realtor who can keep you focused on the trajectory of the market and how that compares to minor defects in a property.

  • A Realtor who understands the contract and what will be appealing to sellers. I’ve presented over 2,000 offers to sellers. That gives me a good idea of what gets sellers excited about an offer and what turns them off. The other benefit of listing homes is I see what Realtors are doing right now with offers and not what worked 2 years ago.

Over 50% of the offers we receive have no chance of being accepted. Sometimes this is simply offer paperwork that isn’t complete and sometimes the terms are not competitive compared to what other buyers are offering in the market today.

The majority of Realtors when sending an offer don’t bother to reach out to the listing agent to find out what is important to the sellers. This is lazy and this is a huge mistake because you miss out on the opportunity to tailor your offer towards what is important to the seller rather than only including terms the Realtor always includes in an offer. Each seller is different so there is no one size fits all offer that will be accepted every time.

  • A Realtor who can explain the contract to you so you can make decisions based on your own risk tolerance. I will often hear other Realtors say they need to protect “their buyers.” This is a mistake. Last weekend a Realtor told me he needed to protect his client by including a contingency in the offer. That contingency was a deal breaker for the sellers. After the sellers accepted another offer the buyer himself contacted me to find out why his offer wasn’t accepted. It turned out if he knew that contingency was going to get his offer rejected, he said he wouldn’t have needed that contingency. Woulda, coulda, shoulda! It’s too bad they aren’t going to get another chance with that home.

You are going to have a higher or lower risk tolerance than I do. This may sound strange but it’s not my job to protect you. It’s my job to explain everything to you and let you decide how aggressive you want to be. From my experience buyers who thoroughly understand the contract decide to make more aggressive offers that have a better chance of being accepted.

                                                          

If you’re thinking of selling your house this year, now is the optimal time to list it. Let’s connect to discuss how you can put your house on the market today. When you are ready please contact us by phone/text at 512-791-7473 or if you like you can choose from our availability at KopaSeller.com.

                                                          

If you're planning to sell in 2022, now is the best time to attend our Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, get in touch with us and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaWorkshop.com.

KopaWorkshop.com

                                                          

The information on this page may have changed since we first published it. We give great real estate advice, but this page (and the rest of our site) is for informational use only and is no substitute for actual real estate, legal and financial advice. If you’d like to establish a Broker-client relationship, reach out to us and we’ll tell you how we can make it official. Sending us an email or reading this page alone doesn’t mean we represent you.

                                                           

 

65 Offers | Cedar Park Real Estate Update February 2022


 

65 offers for 1 home! In this Cedar Park housing market update we are going to talk about how to get 65 offers on your home, the most recent real estate statistics for Cedar Park, Texas, rising interest rates and what all this means for you as a buyer or seller of real estate in Cedar Park.

First, let’s review the statistics for the January, 2022 real estate market.

56 homes were sold in Cedar Park in January, 2022 which was down 9.7% from January, 2021.

The average $/SF was up 39% to $253.34. The average price increased 34.7% to $570,381. The median price was up to $543,000, a 34.4% increase showing the market shifted up $138,948.

The lowest priced home sold was a condo in Cypress Creek Townhomes for $370,000 and the lowest priced single-family home sold was for $379,000 in Cedar Park Towncenter.

The highest priced home sold was a new construction home in The Overlook at Ranch at Brushy Creek for $1,260,000. That was the only hone sold over $1 Million in January.

The smallest home sold was in Park Place at 1,269 SF and the largest home sold was in Twin Creeks at 4,020 SF.

The home that sold at the lowest price per SF was in Buttercup Creek at $173.04 and the home that sold at the highest price per SF was in Park Place.

On average homes sold for 3% over asking price with only 7 days on the market before going under contract. As of 2/1/22 there were 17 active homes for sale and 133 homes under contract.

The highest priced sale in January, 2021 was $717,000. This year there were 7 sales over that price.

In 2021 there were 46 sales under $500,000. This year there were only 24 sales under $500,000.

                                                          

It’s hard to imagine the housing market accelerating because it was already red hot but that’s what’s happening. Would you believe there were 65 offers on a home in the area in January? This home was listed for $750,000 and it’s hard to imagine there are 65 buyers for a home priced at $750,000 in the area.

It’s interesting to look at the breakdown in offers for a home with this much activity.

Out of 65 Offers

  • 5 offers: $750K-799K
  • 22 offers: $800-850K
  • 23 offers: $851K-899K
  • 10 offers: $900K-950K
  • 5 offers: 951K and up

Let’s talk about how you get 65 offers for your home. The most important thing is you list a home that should have been listed for $925,000 for $750,000. That’s right, this home was significantly underpriced. Maybe that was a mistake or maybe it was a great strategy because in the end they got a good result although it sure wasted a lot of time for a lot of buyers and agents.

Next you want to have something special about the home. This home is a large single-story home with 4 bedrooms on an over quarter acre lot facing a preferred direction for many of the buyers in our area along with a 3-car garage and zoned for great schools.

This is the type of home that would qualify for what I call aspirational pricing. This is where there are so many attractive features of a home it will sell for higher than each individual feature added together would indicate. There is somewhat of a multiplier factor that happens because it’s hard for a buyer to find another home with all the same features. It might be easy to find a home with 2 of the features, but not all of these.

Next, many real estate brokers will tell you they always get offers accepted. Every…Single…Time! Of course, unless they are 1 for 1 they aren’t telling you the truth. The truth is I’ve had hundreds of offers not accepted. We had clients that made an offer for this home. Although the offer for our clients was very competitive, sadly it was not accepted for this home. In this market you have to have the memory of a baseball pitcher who just gave up a home run and get back in the game. We had to dust ourselves off, learn from what happened and we got our clients under contract the next week on an even better home for them.

Now let’s look at interest rates. Expectations for this year were rates would increase to 3.7% by the end of the year. This morning I received an interest rate update that rates are already at 4%.

Ivy Zelman, a respected housing industry analyst who was ahead of the curve for the 2008 housing crash says the acceleration in the market is due to buyers that were on the fence having FOMO about interest rates going up more than they have. Ms. Zelman says this fence sitting flurry of activity usually lasts 3 months and then we could see a significant slowdown in the market. She also believes we are overbuilding and once the supply chain issues are resolved there will be a backlog of new homes coming on the market.

In a recent interview Ms. Zelman said this backlog will be like “Winter Is Coming.” We will have to wait and see. Of course, interest rates increasing will affect payments, but that doesn’t mean prices will come down. It may just slow the rate of increase or cause a little inventory to build.

None of that would be a disaster but for home sellers who are sitting on the fence it might mean you will be selling later in the year with more competition and buyers who are less motivated.

To gauge buyer demand, the leading indicator we want to watch is the weekly purchase loan application. Not the overall activity that also takes into account refinance activity, only purchase loans. If we see a significant drop in mortgage applications that may be the canary in the coal mine that tells us the real estate market will be softer later this year. Our recommendation for anyone planning to sell in the next 3-4 months is you should contact us today so we have you on our radar in case we recommend to our sellers to get on the market earlier than initially planned.

We will have to wait and see. Of course, interest rates increasing will affect payments, but that doesn’t mean prices will come down. It may just slow the rate of increase or cause a little inventory to build.

None of that would be a disaster but for home sellers who are sitting on the fence it might mean you will be selling later in the year with more competition and buyers who are less motivated.

To gauge buyer, demand the leading indicator we want to watch is the weekly purchase loan application. Not the overall activity that also takes into account refinance activity, only purchase loans. If we see a significant drop in mortgage applications that may be the canary in the coal mine that tells us the real estate market will be softer later this year. Our recommendation for anyone planning to sell in the next 3-4 months is you should contact us today, so we have you on our radar in case we recommend to our sellers to get on the market earlier than initially planned.

Bottom Line

If you’re thinking of selling your house this year, now is the optimal time to list it. Let’s connect to discuss how you can put your house on the market today. When you are ready please contact us by phone/text at 512-791-7473 or if you like you can choose from our availability at KopaSeller.com.

 

                                                          

If you're planning to sell in 2022, now is the best time to attend our Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, get in touch with us and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaWorkshop.com.

KopaWorkshop.com

                                                          

The information on this page may have changed since we first published it. We give great real estate advice, but this page (and the rest of our site) is for informational use only and is no substitute for actual real estate, legal and financial advice. If you’d like to establish a Broker-client relationship, reach out to us and we’ll tell you how we can make it official. Sending us an email or reading this page alone doesn’t mean we represent you.

                                                           

- January 2022 -

 

 

For all of 2021 the lowest priced homes sold were a condo in Buttercup Townhomes and a single-family home in Cedar Park Ranchettes that both sold for $225,000. The highest priced home sold was in Twin Creeks for $1,500,000.

The smallest home that sold was 939 square feet in Anderson Mill West. The largest home sold was 5,668 square feet in the Ranch at Cypress Creek.

The home that sold for the lowest dollars per square foot sold in Carriage Hills for $99.62 per square foot. The home that sold for the highest dollars per square foot was a small 2-bedroom home on almost an acre in Shenandoah at $524.08.

On average homes went under contract in 10 days and sold for 9% over asking price.

It’s interesting to look at the statistics to see the growth at the top of the market. Previously we encouraged homeowners who wanted to move up to do so sooner than later because prices were increasing at a faster pace at the top of the market.

In 2020 the cutoff to make it into the top 10% of sales was $550,000. In 2021 the cutoff to make it into the top 10% of sales was $835,000. That’s an increase of $285,000 compared to the median increase of the overall market being $156,250.

In 2020 there were only 3 homes that sold for over $1 Million in Cedar Park. In 2021 there were 51 sales recorded over $1 Million.

In 2020 there were only 40 homes that sold for over $700,000. In 2021 there were 275 homes that sold for $700,000 or above in Cedar Park.

On the bottom end of the market in 2020 there were 862 homes that sold for $400,000 or less. In 2021 there were only 179 homes that sold for $400,000 or less.

Call/text 512-791-7473 if you'd like to talk about how these statistics impact your home.

                                                          

Top 5 Real Estate Predictions for 2022

Just for fun here are my top 5 real estate predictions for the Austin area. As always, if I had a crystal ball, I would be writing this while drinking a Mai Tai with my toes dipped in the sand of my own private Caribbean Island.

The Market Will Start Hot Followed By More Listing Activity

Back in October we were talking about if you want to see where the market is going watch the number of active listings. Through early winter the number of active listings has not increased.

I predict the first quarter of the year to look very similar to last year with the low availability of homes and high buyer demand especially from buyers wanting to get a home under contract before interest rates go up.

Most experts are saying they expect we will be seeing more listing activity as we move into the year and that activity will be front loaded earlier in the year. The question sellers have to ask is do you want to sell when you are the only game in town or wait until you have lots of competition? As we get into the year follow the most important market indicators we talked about in previous editions, particularly the number of active listings and the days on market.

Property Tax Assessments Will Push Sellers Into The Market

If you think your property tax assessment and property taxes were high last year you haven’t seen nothing yet. Remember, your home’s tax value for 2021 was based primarily on sales from 2020.

When the 2022 tax values come out I expect they will push many sellers who were on the fence into selling. We are already selling 2 homes for sellers who are moving due to property taxes and the values haven’t even come out yet.

The 2022 values will be especially painful to investors who don’t have the advantage of a homestead exemption cap limiting how much their taxable value can increase per year. In addition, Bloomberg recently estimated home maintenance costs increasing 9.3%. That figure seems low around here if you have been shopping for a water heater or to get anyone to paint your house.

Those added costs will make it harder for many to justify keeping a property as a rental. One of the huge differences people forget when we compare ourselves to California real estate is our property taxes are so much higher.

In addition, anyone who has converted a primary residence into a rental property really has to crunch the numbers after all this appreciation and decide if you want to keep the property long term or sell when you can still qualify for the “2 in 5 exclusion.”

MOrtgage Rates Will Increase

Experts are predicting interest rates will increase to around 3.7% by the end of the year. As I write this we have already seen rates jump .25% in the last 2 weeks.

Interest rates are very important to both buyers and sellers because buyers can pay more for your home and keep their payment low and they have more urgency to buy. For every 1% increase in interest rates buyers lose about 10% of buying power. Buyers tend to buy based on their payment. Without a doubt some of the rapid real estate appreciation we have seen is a direct result of the lower payments from historically low interest rates.

If rates rise gradually, we may see buyers take a brief pause, but then realize they still need to buy and might even get more motivated before rates go up even higher. Even if interest rates increase, we will still be at unbelievable rates from a historical standpoint. Keeping it in perspective, my first job in the real estate business was working for a mortgage company in San Antonio in 1995 when rates were 8%. Slightly higher rates are not going to cause a crash but it may reduce some of the buyer urgency and it’s that urgency that has been fueling buyers throwing an extra $25,000-$50,000 onto the price of a home. If you are selling you may not get that premium with higher rates.

The real danger is if rates go up too far too fast that will cause real problems with the entire economy that will trickle down to our real estate market.

My guess is we will see interest rates hit 4% before the end of the year. Looking forward I watched a presentation from Ted Jones who is the economist from Stewart Title and he said rates may reach 5% in 2024. If you are considering building that should motivate you to do that sooner than later since many builders are a year or more out from start to finish at this point.

The best advice I can give you if you’re considering buying, especially if you are buying your first home, is don’t allow yourself to get paralyzed by interest rates going up. It’s almost impossible to time any market and if you’re plan is to hold out until rates go back down you may be waiting forever.

25,000 Austin Board Of Realtors Members

The Austin Business Journal reported there are 19,000 members of the Austin Board of Realtors. Every week I get contacted by someone moving here who wants to work for our company. It seems like moving to the Austin area to get into the real estate business is the 2022 version of moving to Hollywood to become a movie star. I predict by the end of 2022 there will be close to 25,000 Realtors in Austin.

Here’s how that affects you as a consumer. The national statistic I saw in November was 60% of Realtors hadn’t sold a house all year. Combine that with also knowing the people who teach real estate don’t actually sell real estate and you have a recipe for disaster.

As a buyer or seller, you are at risk of taking advice from someone with no experience who was taught the real estate business by someone with no real-world experience. Now more than ever you want to come up with your criteria for how you will select the person to assist you with your real estate plans.

There’s a saying fake it until you make it. In 2022 you’ll need to protect yourself from hiring someone who is faking their experience. Austin area real estate prices have gone up so much these are huge amounts of money we are talking about. I remember that every time someone hires me that we are handling a large amount of their net worth when helping with a real estate transaction. There’s too much for you to lose by letting someone practice for the first time with your real estate transaction. In 2022 you’re going to want to be more careful about hiring an agent than just picking someone off Zillow or based on who responds in one of the Facebook groups about relocating to Austin.

Property Tax Assessments Will Push Sellers Into The Market

When I’m talking with friends, I often compare some aspects of real estate to dating. Much like I have to remind some single friends if they want to meet someone, they might actually have to do something to make it happen. Someone isn’t going to just magically appear at your door.

The same goes for real estate. If you goal for 2022 is to buy or sell real estate it’s going to take a plan and you’re going to have to take action.

The great news is you can do it. Everyone we helped in 2021 wound up in a better place by the end of the year. Especially our clients who decided to sell and buy a home. All of them sold for an incredible price and wound up finding another great home.

If your plans for 2022 include buying or selling real estate in the Austin area call or text us at 512-791-7473 and we can assist you to help make it happen this year.

                                                          

As we start the new year, we will be returning to our in-person Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, get in touch with us and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaWorkshop.com.

KopaWorkshop.com

                                                          

The information on this page may have changed since we first published it. We give great real estate advice, but this page (and the rest of our site) is for informational use only and is no substitute for actual real estate, legal and financial advice. If you’d like to establish a Broker-client relationship, reach out to us and we’ll tell you how we can make it official. Sending us an email or reading this page alone doesn’t mean we represent you.                                                           

- December 2021 -

 


Let’s get to the statistics for Cedar Park, Texas. In November there were125 homes sold in Cedar Park which was up 37.4% from 2020. The average dollars per square foot increased 46.5% to $249.12. The average price increased 46.6% to $584,639 and the median price increased to $525,000 which was an increase of 43.8%.

The lowest priced home sold was a small 2 story home in Coventry Crossing at $325,000 and the highest priced home sold was a 5-bedroom home with a pool that sold for $1,350,000 in Cypress Canyon.

The smallest home sold was at 1,002 square feet in Cedar Park Square and the largest home sold was at 4,524 square feet in Cypress Canyon. The home that sold for the lowest dollars per square foot was at $169.64 in Carriage Hills and the home that sold for the highest dollars per square foot was at $359.48 and is a small 1 story home on a cul-de-sac in Buttercup Creek.

The number of active homes on the market was only 54 and there are 157 homes under contract showing we are still in a strong seller’s market. For the homes that sold in November the average number of days for a home in Cedar Park to go under contract was 16. The average for homes currently for sale has jumped to 53 but that is due to more homes being overpriced than an indication of the supply and demand of the market.

In November of 2020 the median price in Cedar Park was $398,889. Only 18 homes sold for under that figure this year. This year there were 9 homes in Cedar Park that sold in November. Last year the highest priced home sold was for $910,000. In November of 2021 there were 30 homes that sold for over $675,000 compared to last year where there was only 1 home sold over $675,000.

Let’s talk about predictions for 2022. Keep in mind nobody predicted what’s happened in the last 2 years. Probably the only thing we can be sure of is something else is going to happen out of the blue that’s going to completely change everything.

The best advice I can give you for the next 3 months is to buckle up and hold on tight. I’m not saying we are going to see a market like last year, that was likely a once in a lifetime event, but I do expect the Austin area real estate market to pop again in mid-January. We have not seen an increase in listings over the fall and early winter. Previously I’ve talked about watching the number of active listings because that will show us where the market is going. We haven’t seen the increase in listings required to slow down the market. In addition, my phone is ringing off the hook again with relocation buyers moving to the area.

January is usually a great time to buy a home because many Realtors and home sellers’ price their home back in October or November and don’t re-evaluate the market in January. We helped a couple buyers get great deals at the beginning of last year because of that. If you are selling in January don’t let that happen to you.

As we get later in the year, I do expect we will see more and more sellers putting their homes on the market. Many of our potential seller clients are much more motivated this year. I pay attention to whether someone would like to sell compared to needs to sell and we are getting contacted by more people this year who need to sell. Overall and especially long term I am bullish on the real estate market but an increase in listings along with higher interest rates will cause a deceleration in appreciating prices.

With inflation being at a 30 year high it’s almost assured we will see higher interest rates later this year. In my opinion higher rates may affect our area more than others. Not only may the higher rates give some buyers pause but there’s an argument higher rates will cause a drop in the stock market value of technology companies. Part of the reason our market has exploded is we have so many tech employees moving to our area and many of them have the financial ability to pay way over asking price for a home due to the stock they have received. What happens if interest rates move up too fast and the Nasdaq crashes? That would definitely have an impact in Austin real estate prices. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen.

For sellers if you’ve already been holding off selling for 2 years it may be time to put a plan together. Some experts are saying it may take 3 years before things are back to normal. Our clients who decided to sell last year all wound up finding another great home and they’re in a better place. One of the fun things for me at this time of the year is to see pictures of their new homes.

It’s always tricky trying to time any market. That’s especially difficult when you’re trying to sell a home and buy another home. I must have talked with 10 families lately who are planning to move to Colorado. Many have to remember they aren’t selling a home in a vacuum and they have to consider what the market is like where they are moving to. I appreciate their situation; everyone wants to sell at exactly the right time for the most money. This chart shows the dramatic drop in active listings for the overall Colorado market. What that likely means for next year is any extra money you make by delaying your sale here you’ll probably pay even more in Colorado. If you are relocating out of the area, check out what the real estate market is like in your next destination and consider the overall picture of how that’s going to look financially for you.

For buyers it’s going to be more of the same. The best thing you can do is work with an agent who is active in the market and can give you great advice based on what’s happening on a daily basis. There are over 18,000 members of the Austin Board of Realtors. I saw a statistic that 60% of Realtors haven’t sold a single home this year. In my opinion most buyers in our area do a bad job when selecting the agent to help them with the largest purchase of their lives.

We have so many buyers in our area that work in technology and 99% of technology is working towards removing the human aspect of life. Due to that bias most buyers around here don't see the value in human interaction. They like to visit open houses and call the listing agent to see homes (this is why we do so many open houses) and then when they find a home they like they reach out to several Realtors and try to negotiate the best cash back rebate. It's short sighted. What they don't realize is half the offers we receive are dead on arrival because the other agent is unprofessional, the offer is written so poorly or the terms are in the words of a recent seller client "goofy."

On some of the personal finance boards they make this seem like a good idea. What they think is happening isn't what's really happening. In a conversation about this I'm usually the only person who has personally reviewed over 2,000 offers with sellers. I'd like to think that gives me a good idea of what's really happening.

We just closed a sale where the buyer was working with one of the larger rebate brokerages. The buyer received ~$4,500 rebate from that company. We had multiple offers on the home and the seller had instructed me to tell any agent we had multiple offers and the terms of the highest offer to see if anyone wanted to beat that offer. This buyer came to the open house so I didn't know who his agent was to see if they were making an offer. Their agent never contacted me to ask about the other offer and instead only sent me an offer for $40,000 higher than offer #2. If they had understood any of the human aspects of real estate, they wouldn't have received a rebate but would have saved a ton of money.

You also want to make sure you are getting advice from someone who can help you make decisions based on your own risk tolerance. If you work with an agent that isn’t active in the Austin real estate market, they may be too conservative for you. You may wind up losing offer after offer because the advice you have been given isn’t up to date with what’s really going on.

Finally, this is a great book I just finished reading that can help you make better decisions. I make thousands of decisions every day. It’s human nature when making a decision to think about it as black and white. In reality most decisions are 60/40 and in most situations, there is so much unknown information and luck impacting the result it makes it challenging to decide and take action. This book will help you be more comfortable making decisions and analyzing the results from those decisions.

Thanks for watching and I appreciate your support. Please contact us if we can assist you.

 



As we get into December we will be returning to our in-person Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, get in touch with us and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaWorkshop.com.

 

KopaWorkshop.com

 

                                                           

 

November 2021

 


Let’s review the statistics for the Cedar Park real estate housing market covering October, 2021. There were 108 sales in October, down 22.8% from October, 2020. The average dollars per square foot was up 44.5% to $241.02. The average price was up 38.1% to $543,835 and the median price was up 33.3% to $497,500.

The average price for homes on the market is $582,882 and the average price for homes under contract is $640,738. Some of that increase is due to the new homes in the Ranch at Brushy Creek being entered into the MLS.

The highest priced home sold was in Shenandoah at $1,295,000 and the lowest priced home sold was also in Shenandoah at $320,000. That’s pretty unusual to have the highest and the lowest priced home sold be in the same neighborhood. I can’t think of another time I’ve seen that.

The home that sold at the highest dollars per square foot was the same home in Shenandoah at $524.08. That is a spectacular home on almost 1 acre and that’s a record for Cedar Park. The home that sold at the lowest dollars per square foot was in the Trails of Carriage Hills that sold for $25,000 over list price.

The largest home sold was in Ranch at Brushy Creek at 4,535 square feet and the smallest home sold was at 1,115 in Anderson Mill West.

The inventory of active homes for sale was 75 with 197 homes under contract and in October homes sold on average for 2% over list price in 17 days. Although the market is continuing to moderate these statistics show we are still in a strong seller’s market.

Now let’s take a look at my crystal ball and talk about what I think will happen over the next 3 months. I don’t expect we will ever see a frenzy like we did earlier this year. I do expect we will see an increase in the number of homes coming on the market in January. I’ve personally never had more people contact me about selling in January than I ever have. Some sellers are finally selling after holding off their relocation for 18 months and some are closing on their new home in December and January.

At the same time based on my experience the number of showings we are having for our listings and the number of open house visitors there will be strong demand in January. It’s not the same as last year but I expect many of the buyers who tell me they aren’t in a hurry in November will wake up January 1st and realize they need to do something and they will become motivated.

I don’t expect we will see the market jump another 30% but I do expect appreciation will be higher than normal at the beginning of the year.

From there what’s unclear is how much inflation, interest rates and the overall economy will affect our real estate market. Locally what’s going to be interesting is as things open up more, and as builders take off their sales caps to provide more inventory will more sellers decide it’s finally time to make a move? I do expect that will happen.

What I will be waiting to see is what higher property tax assessments will do to inventory. Many people were upset about their taxes this year. The bad news is assessments for 2021 were largely based on 2020 sales and we will see much larger increases in assessed values in 2022. Will that be the last straw for property owners and especially investors who have been on the fence about selling?

In the end the story of the real estate market will be all about the inventory of homes. That’s why I keep track of the market on a daily basis to track changes. If you have plans for 2022, we should talk now. That way I can keep you up to date about the market and how it will impact your situation.

As we get into December we will be returning to our in-person Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, get in touch with us and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaWorkshop.com.

 

KopaWorkshop.com

 

                                                           

 

October 2021

 


Hi Cedar Park homeowners. Today we are going to review the Cedar Park real estate housing market statistics, talk about what you should be paying attention to if you want to know where the market is heading and what you should be doing now if you are planning to sell in the next 6 months.

Let’s get to the statistics.

There were 113 homes sold in Cedar Park in September, down 13.7% from 131 sales in September, 2020 and 129 sales in September, 2019.

The average sales price of $521,578 was up 25.6% from September, 2021 but down from July’s average price which was $572,277. In part this was because more larger homes were sold in the summer. Only 1 home sold for over $1 Million in September compared to 8 in July. Only 7 homes over 3,500 square feet sold in September compared to 18 in July.

Because fewer large homes sell in Cedar Park at this time of the year when you are looking at the real estate statistics it’s important to understand your home may sell in October for a higher price than it would have sold for in September even if the average prices are lower.

Perhaps a more accurate statistic to look at is the average dollars per square foot was $242.72, up 47.5% compared to September, 2020.

The median price increased to $475,000, a 23.4% increase from September, 2020 and a $150,000 increase compared to September, 2019.

With only 92 Active homes on the market and 173 homes under contract as of October 1 we are still in a strong seller’s market. The average number of days it took for a home to go under contract in Cedar Park was 11 days. This was up 2 days from August but still down considerably from 30 days in September, 2020.

Please remember if you have a deadline when your home has to be sold be sure to contact us well in advance of that date and don’t simply count 11 days plus the 30 days that it normally takes from contract to close and contact us 41 days before your deadline.

On average homes in Cedar Park sold for 4% over the list price in September. This is down from June when homes sold on average for 12% over list price. It’s not surprising we have been seeing the over asking price percentage decrease as list prices have increased to more accurately reflect the current market. Sellers should know we are still in one of the best markets ever with historic sales prices, fast timelines and motivated buyers.

For buyers it means you have more opportunities than earlier in 2021 but you can’t confuse that with the market crashing or a significant drop in prices. I had a home go under contract yesterday. Once buyers found out it was under contract, I had several agents contact me about the house but they are too late. Often buyers wait around until they know someone else put a home under contract before they feel it’s safe to make a decision and that is a mistake.

On the bottom end of the market there were only 28 homes in Cedar Park that sold for $400,000 or under in September. In 2020 there were 78 homes that sold for $400,000 or below and in 2019 there were 96 homes selling for that price range.

In Cedar Park the highest priced home sold was at $1,125,000 in Ranch at Brushy Creek. That was the only home sold over $1 Million in September. The lowest priced home sold was a condo in Buttercup Townhomes and the single-family home that sold for the lowest price was in Cedar Park Square at $295,000.

The smallest home sold was the same home in Cedar Park Square at only 1,098 square feet. The largest home sold was in Twin Creeks at 4,135 square feet.

The home that sold for $143 per square feet was a home that needed a lot of updating in Carriage Hills. The home that sold for $354 per square feet was a nicely done flip home in Buttercup Creek.

Last week a home seller in the Ranch at Brushy Creek told me she doesn’t believe anything she hears and only 10% of what she reads until she can research it herself. That’s a good policy. Before you make any plans based on the monthly statistics let’s talk about how they impact your situation.

Where Is The Market Going?

Watch The Active Listings

Most real estate statistics are lagging indicators of the market. That means the September home sales really provide information about what was happening back in July and August when those homes went under contract. Unfortunately, by the time you see the statistics in our publication the market may have already changed.

Experts are divided about what we are going to see over the next year. Some say we are entering into a high tax, high inflation and high interest rate market which may cause the bubble to burst. Others expect we will continue the trend of a low inventory of homes for sale causing prices to go up.

If you want to keep up with where the market is going watch the number of “Active” listings. These are homes that have been put up for sale and not yet under contract. More active listing means buyers have more to choose from and may not make offers with a price as high as they would have if there were fewer choices.

It is important to watch the trends and how they compare to previous years. Take a look at this chart of Active listings over the last 3 years. If you take a look at last summer, you see where the number of Active listings took a nosedive and continued until this summer. It’s no wonder the market spiked when buyers only had 25% of the typical number of homes to choose from earlier this year. The current trend shows the Active listings increasing but still well below 2019 levels.

I will be watching the number of active listings. In addition, I’ll be paying attention to the emails and phone calls I receive from builders. Although some new homes are listed in the MLS to a large extent this is an inventory of homes for sale not calculated via MLS statistics. Call me if you want to know what’s going on in our area on a day-to-day basis.

If You Will Be Selling What Can You Do Now?

There are 2 things you should do to be ready in case we do see a spike in Active listings. This way you will be ready while the other sellers will be a month behind you.

Attend one of our Online Home Selling Workshops this month. Sign up at KopaWorkshop.com.

KopaWorkshop.com

 

If you know you will be selling your home in the next 6 months and we will be helping with your move, contact us today to put together a plan. That would include taking “Green Pictures” of your home and doing any make-ready at a time of year when it’s easier to schedule a handyman, etc. and prices are lower.

What Does “Months of Inventory” Mean To Buyers And Sellers

Along with the number of Active homes for sale watching how fast homes are going under contract is the second most important statistic to be watching to see where the market is going for the rest of this year and early 2022.

If you read reports on the real estate market, you'll run into the phrase "months of inventory." What does that mean?

This figure is determined by looking at the number of homes for sale and the average number of homes that have sold per month over the past year. If there are 1,000 homes for sale and only 100 homes have sold per month, there's 10 month's inventory. You're in what is commonly called a "Buyer's market." Homes remain on the market longer and generally experience price reductions. Sellers are also more likely to offer concessions in this kind of market.

If 1,000 homes sell per month, there is only 1 months' inventory, and you're experiencing a seller's market. Homes generally get multiple offers within days of being listed, and remain on the market for a very short time. Buyers are likely to be bidding against each other to "win" the home. Due to the law of supply and demand, prices begin rising and sellers are not forced to offer concessions.

In a balanced market – where supply is approximately equal to demand, you'll find approximately 6 months' worth of inventory. Prices may rise, but slowly. Correctly priced homes sell, but not as quickly. Buyers may be able to get small concessions.

Right now, Cedar Park has only 2 week’s worth of inventory.

Reach out to me directly and I'd be glad to talk with you about what that means to you and how you should plan your strategy for success.

I appreciate you reading and I appreciate your support. Make it a great day in Cedar Park.

                                                           

 

September 2021

 

By the time you read this I will probably be 0-2 against my wife in fantasy football. As I was picking my team, I realized there are some similarities between real estate and picking players for fantasy football. Depending on which statistics I use I could make a football player appear incredible or terrible. The same can be said for real estate statistics and the market. The other similarity is what happened last year is over. Winning the Super Bowl last season doesn’t mean anything for this season. The same can be said about real estate statistics. If you’re planning to sell your home it’s not what happened 3 months ago that’s important but where you think the market is going when it’s time to sell.

If you need help with your fantasy football team don’t call me. If you are putting your plan together to make a move, don’t rely on the statistics, call me for a no pressure consultation.

On average homes in Cedar Park sold for 6% over asking price in August, 2021. This was down from 8% over list price in July and 12% over list price in June, showing the market is trending towards a more normal market. Anecdotally this is what we have been feeling in the market, fewer buyers asking me if they need to pay 20% over asking price to get their offer accepted. That doesn’t mean if your home is special you won’t still receive 20 offers, but it does mean the average home won’t sell for 20% over asking price in today’s market.

This is an important statistic if you are selling. I am seeing homes being listed with other agents too low, anticipating getting offers $100k over asking price. What’s happening is they are getting offers but not what they expected and then the sold price is lower than what it could have been. In many cases what’s happening is buyers aren’t quite as motivated as they were back in May. You can expect less offers and less action which means lower expectations for how much over asking price a buyer will pay. In some instances, it may be better to list higher and be patient than price too low and hope buyers will bid the price up dramatically.

The average sold price of $559,031 was up 47.8% from August, 2020 but actually lower than July’s average price of $572,277. Whether that is a trend or an anomaly remains to be seen.

With active homes for sale being only 90 and 182 homes under contract and an average days on market of 9 days we are still in a strong seller’s market. However, the average days on market for homes that are not under contract has inched up to 33 days. As I write this in Cedar Park 13 homes were taken off the market completely without selling in the last 30 days and 12 other homes are in “Hold” status. I wasn’t the listing agent for any of these homes so I don’t know the whole story, but that usually indicates the sellers and agents missed the mark on market preparation and are now scrambling to make changes to the home. You only get 1 chance to make a first impression so that is a killer for your home’s value.

To show the appreciation on the bottom end of the market, in August, 2019 there were 68 homes that sold for $300,000 or less. In August, 2021 the #68 home sold was for $500,000. That’s a huge price paid for any first time homebuyers who held off buying for 2 years.

On the top end of the market there were another 8 homes that sold for over $1 Million. The high price last August was $849,000 compared to this year there were 15 homes that sold for over $849,000.

The lowest priced home was in poor condition and sold at $265,000 in Buttercup Creek and the highest priced home sold at $1,250,000 in Abrantes and that was $275,000 over asking price.

The smallest home at 999 square feet in Cedar Park Square and the largest home at 4,858 square feet was in Ranch at Deer Creek.

The home that sold at the lowest dollar per square foot was at $141.50 in Buttercup Creek and the home that sold at the highest dollar per square foot was at $364.62 was a small home on a pretty lot in Anderson Mill West.

                                                           

 

August 2021

 

In this market update I’ll review the latest real estate statistics for the Cedar Park housing market, what everyone is asking me about if the market crashing, will we see more foreclosures and advice for buyers and seller.

First let’s get into the market statistics for Cedar Park in July, 2021.

150 homes were sold in Cedar Park which was down 6.3% from 160 last year and 157 in 2019. The average sales price was up almost 50% to $572,277. The average dollars per square foot for sold homes was $235.47 up 42.7% from last year. The median price was $526,050, up 53.6% from last year.

There were 9 more homes sold over $1 Million in Cedar Park in July. That makes 17 of the 41 homes that have ever sold and recorded in the MLS for $1 Million + have been sold in the last 2 months.

The average and median prices were actually down from June due to more homes being sold at $400,000 or below. In June only 6 homes sold for $400,000 or below in Cedar Park but in July we had 27 homes at $4000,000 or under. 7 of these homes were smaller condos. Many of these were homes being sold by investors cashing in on the market. Buyers still need to act fast to snatch up one of these homes as 12 of those sales were sold as cash transactions. As a reminder if you are a landlord and want to sell your home, we do have many investors we work with who are ready to buy a home in any condition.

In 2020 the highest priced sale in June was for $840,000. In July, 2021 there were 17 home sales above $840,000.

In this market update I’ll review the latest real estate statistics for the Cedar Park housing market, what everyone is asking me about if the market crashing, will we see more foreclosures and advice for buyers and seller.

On average homes sold in July for 8% over list price which was down from 12% in June. As inventory increases, we may see that number moderate more. There are currently 80 homes for sale in Cedar Park that are not under contract. That’s a big increase from the days earlier in the year when I would run a search and there were only 5 homes for sale. For homes that closed in July the average number of days before going under contract was 8. Homes that are currently for sale have an average number of days on the market of 26 which is up from 14 days when I did the July market update.

For July the lowest priced home sold in Cedar Park was a home in Shenandoah for $290,000. The highest priced home sold was in Bella Vista which sold for $1,355,000.

The smallest home sold was the same home in Shenandoah at 1,076 SF and the largest home sold was in Ranch at Brushy Creek at 4,856 SF.

The home sold for the lowest $/SF was in Heritage Park although it still sold for $60,000 over asking price. The home that sold for the highest $/SF was a home in Caballo Ranch that sold for $235,000 over asking price.

                                                           

Is The Market Crashing?

When someone tells me the market is going to crash, I like to ask what that means to them. If my home is worth $800,000 today and the market crashes what will my home be worth and at what date? Nobody has ever been able to give me an answer to those questions.

Let me save you the suspense of having to read to the end…No, the market is not crashing. However, we are seeing the market “calming” in some areas and price ranges. Whether you are buying or selling it’s important to know what that means for you.

Why is this happening? We do know why prices have risen so dramatically this year. It’s because there have been so few homes for sale, that’s no secret. When a home is called “Active” it means it is not under contract, you can actually buy that house. Two years ago, at this time of the year there were over 7,000 homes you could buy in the Austin MLS. By January of 2021 there were barely over 1,000 homes for sale. As I write this in early August there are 3,752 Active homes for sale. That is still a low number of homes for sale but significantly more than we had in January so there’s no doubt that will affect the perception buyers have in the market. That extra price buyers were willing to pay (that I described as the whipped cream on an ice cream sundae) was the result of buyers fearing they could never find another home to buy. Time will tell how buyers will react when they have a few extra choices.

As the number of Active listings in increasing the average number of days it takes for a home to sell is also increasing. By no means is this a disaster. At a presentation for the local builders group an economist compared our market as going from a “Super, Super, Super, Super, Super Seller’s Market” to a “Super, Super, Super, Super Seller’s Market.”

Some buyers are thinking the tide has turned and the market is dropping. We put 2 homes on the market this weekend and we have multiple offers on both so in my opinion the market is still excellent for sellers, but there are some changes you should be aware of. Many buyers are going to confuse the market going from 40-50% appreciation to perhaps a more normal appreciation market and not understand that still means prices are going up. There may be less competition for each home but price appreciation momentum slowing doesn’t mean the market is crashing.

Why are we seeing an increase in Active listings? In part we normally see an increase in listings during the summer, but I believe what’s happening is more than our typical seasonality. Over the past few weeks, the rate of growth has begun to slow and fewer buyers are seeking mortgages to purchase homes.

Rental rates have gone up dramatically, indicating many buyers have put their home search on pause or decided to rent first before buying when they relocated. Anecdotally we have noticed a decrease in the number of agents doing Facetime tours on our listings and a decrease in the number of buyers expecting they will need to pay 20% over asking price on every listing. Don’t interpret that to mean people aren’t still relocating here. At this time, we have 4 listings under contract to buyers who are relocating and our open houses last weekend were full of people moving here from all over the country, not just California.

In part we are also seeing some homes not selling because the sellers overestimated the market and were overconfident about buyers paying top dollar for anything. This is a quote from a local Realtor in one of the real estate Facebook groups describing what she is seeing in the market… ”Agents not prepping listings, just putting crap on the market at top dollar. My buyers aren’t going for that!”

"Agents not prepping listings, just putting crap on the market at top dollar. My buyers aren’t going for that!”

– Anonymous Austin Realtor

Fueled by stories of sellers getting 97 offers and buyers buying with no inspections it’s understandable why this can happen. Many homes can still be sold “As-Is” with no make-ready necessary but it’s important to think about the buyer profile for your home before putting your home on the market. It’s also important you have a listing agent who is actively working in the market and can give you advice based on what’s happening in the market on a daily basis, not what happened 4 months ago. The buyer pool is strong enough to keep the housing market strong but when there are more homes to choose from you can expect buyers to be a little pickier.

What's The Good News?

The #1 question I’m asked is “I want to sell my home but then what do I do, there aren’t any homes to buy?” The good news is now we may have the answer. All of our sellers who decided to “burn their boats” and put their home on the market this year have landed in a better place. I expect the same would happen for you. Give us a call if you have been holding off until there was more to buy.

In addition to the inventory of homes increasing the builders are also selling homes again! Because we help so many people downsize, I am especially excited about a new 1,000 home Active Adult community that is about to start selling for new home delivery in early 2022. This will be a popular product so you will want to get on the VIP buyer list right away.

Do We Expect More Foreclosures?

With the eviction moratorium and mortgage forbearances ending soon the knee jerk reaction is to say we will see a flood of foreclosures. I’m not making light of the fact that some people will definitely be in trouble and we will see a rise in foreclosures, but you tell me where the mass foreclosures are going to come from?

This is a chart of 20 random sales taken from Cedar Park in May. I like to look at the down payments buyers are making. If I see lower down payments that would put buyers in a greater chance of being foreclosed on if we see a small drop in the market. We would need to see foreclosures for the market to truly crash. The larger down payments here indicate you’d have to see a large drop in prices to see foreclosures with the homes that were purchased even a couple months ago, not to mention all the other homes whose equity has dramatically increased in the last year. In addition, the big difference between today and 2008 the lack of risky loans in the market today.

We know some people will be in a bad situation in the next few months. If that is you or one of your friends contact us before it’s too late for a no-pressure consultation.

Advice For Sellers And Buyers

We have just been hired by 2 sellers whose homes didn’t sell. Both told me a similar story that they thought the market was so good they could hire their friend who works part time and lives in Dripping Springs as their agent. Now that their home wasn’t selling, they realized that isn’t going to cut it in the current market. Small changes in the market can make a huge difference. When you are choosing a listing agent make sure you ask yourself if they have the skills to navigate your home sale. Will they know what to do if your home doesn’t sell the first weekend?

For buyers now is not the time to give up! This may be the best opportunity to buy a home with less competition but that doesn’t mean it still isn’t a competitive environment for the great homes. I expect over the next 10 years your risk isn’t paying $5k too much for a home. Your greatest risk is doing nothing and then be forced to buy a home later 30 miles from where you really want to live.

Where Are Our Clients Moving To?

With so many people moving here it’s easy to forget where people are moving when they sell. Here is where some of our seller clients have moved to recently. Montana, Houston, Seattle x 2, San Diego x 2, Belton, Travisso, Nashville and Leander. Two are renting short term so they have flexibility while they figure out what to do with the rest of their lives. That’s a good position to be in right now. My favorite location are clients who are moving to Cancun as soon as they retire, I wish I could go with them!

Of course, I could be wrong about all of this. As always, be careful where you are getting your information. Make sure you are consulting with a qualified advisor. We don’t want you to make a bad decision because you had bad information. If there are any real estate related questions, we can answer for you contact us today at 512-791-7473.

                                                           

 

July 2021

 

The shocking headline is there were 8 homes sold in Cedar Park for over $1 Million! 3 of the highest priced sales ever in Cedar Park were recorded in June. 4 homes sold over $1 Million in Bella Vista where the previous all-time record price was $923,040. 35 homes sold for over $700,000 compared to only 6 sales at $700,000 or above in June, 2020.

On the bottom end of the market there were only 6 homes sold for under $400,000. In June, 2020 there were 95 homes sold under $400,000.

The average home sold for 12% over list price, slightly down 13% in May. Last year on average homes in Cedar Park sold for 100% of list price.

One of the most important real estate statistics is the average days on the market because it shows how fast homes go from being listed to being under contract. Homes that sold in June were on the market for an average of 6 days. However, homes active on the market have an average days on market of 14 days and homes under contract are at 10 days. Either 10 or 14 days are incredibly fast times but it may be a sign as prices have gone up the market is slightly slowing down. It also can be there are many homes on the market where sellers were overconfident that those homes aren’t selling. That can pull up the average days on market statistic without truly being an indication of the overall market. Time will tell.

There were 146 homes sold in June, 2021 which is the same number of homes sold in 2020. Average sales price was up 52.4% to $596,861. Average $/SF up 50.9% to $243,80 and the median sales price is up to $545,000.

For June the lowest priced home sold in Cedar Park was for $285,000 in Anderson Mill West. The highest priced home sold was for $1,500,000 and was a home with beautiful views in The Reserve at Twin Creeks.

The smallest home sold was the same house in Anderson Mill West at only 939 SF and the largest home sold was at 5,348 SF sold for $1,160,000 in Bella Vista.

The home sold for the lowest $/SF was in Ranch at Cypress Creek at $157.88 and the home that sold for the highest $/SF was a nicely updated flip home in Cypress Mill for $331.87.

                                                           

Now let’s talk about some real inside information about what’s happening in the Cedar Park real estate market you won’t see from anyone else.

When you hear there are multiple offers for a home you probably think they are all tightly bunched together right around the final sales price. This is a chart of about 1/3 of the homes I have sold in the last 2 months. The difference between the first and second offers will surprise you. I’ve been talking about the real estate market being driven in part on fundamentals with a heavy dose of emotion both from buyers and Realtors. This chart shows the emotional aspect of the market with buyers not realizing they are competing largely against themselves when offering on a home.

You’re going to start hearing talk about the market cooling. Some will interpret that to mean a crash. I would compare it more to going from a Ferrari to a Maserati, not going from a Ferrari to a Pinto. Remember, slowing appreciating doesn’t mean real estate is going to get cheaper.

Personally, I am bullish on the real estate market in our area. However, this chart demonstrates why some sellers will have trouble. We are already seeing more price reductions and homes not selling at all and be taken off the market. You will see sellers finding out a home sells with multiple offers for $880,000. They assume there are 11 other buyers at the same price, not realizing the next buyer was really at $800,000. The seller is going to say “That home sold for $880,000, the market is so good plus my house has a birdbath so I will list for $900,000.” What we are seeing is that seller is shocked they didn’t get an offer at that price.

This is a big risk for sellers who hire a listing agent that isn’t reviewing the volume of real world offers as our office does. It’s important for you as a seller that you have accurate information about what’s happening in your specific area because real estate is local. The average agent only sells 2-3 homes per year. Many haven’t sold a home all year. Their information is coming from Facebook groups, friends or stories in the media. That information is not going to be up to date with what is happening in the market today. We are already seeing homes listed by other agents not sell and because our office has specialized in helping people get their home sold after having a frustrating experience with another agent, we are beginning to get more calls from sellers who don’t understand what’s happening with their listing.

All year I’ve been very careful about not telling potential sellers to hold off listing because the buyer sentiment can change quickly. In the news it’s reported we need 5.5 million homes built to have a balanced market between buyers and sellers. Others say a jump in interest rates won’t have an impact on the market because even if half the buyers pause their search there will still be 6 buyers making an offer. Maybe on the macro level all that is true, but remember you are only selling one home. This chart shows the danger in that thinking because it won’t take 5.5 million homes to make the price of your home go from $880,000 to $800,000…all it may take is one more home in your neighborhood for buyers to choose from. All it takes is one $880,000 buyer to get spooked by higher rates for you to be left with only an $800,000 offer.

It’s also hard for me to tell you what your home will be worth next year. Sellers holding off for “one more year” of appreciation may be disappointed. The overall market may appreciate next year but for the $880,000 sale what would be your basis to calculate the appreciation off? $8800,000, $800,000 or somewhere in between? I probably couldn’t sell that house again for $880,000 so it’s hard for even me to know what to tell someone about how that will impact the value of your home next year.

Overall, I am bullish on the real estate market in our area. I personally just put my money where my mouth is and bought a home for my family. I'm also under contract on a property I will be flipping. Nothing I am saying here means buyers should hold off, I believe that will be a mistake. However, sellers should expect buyers will be less emotional later in the year and into 2022.

Overall, I am bullish on the real estate market in our area. I personally just put my money where my mouth is and bought a home for my family. I'm also under contract on a property I will be flipping. Nothing I am saying here means buyers should hold off, I believe that will be a mistake. However, sellers should expect buyers will be less emotional later in the year and into 2022.

                                                           

 

June 2021

 

I had to go back and double check the math because it’s hard to believe the statistics comparing May, 2020 to May, 2021 for real estate in Cedar Park.

The number of homes sold was up 40.9% but was still down from the 153 sales in 2019. Average price was up 53.2% and median price was up 58.9% with the average $/SF was up 44.6%.

The lowest priced home sold was $275,000 in Buttercup Creek. That was the only home sold under $315,000. The highest priced home sold was $1,200,000 in Ranch at Brushy Creek. The smallest home sold was the same home in Buttercup Creek and the largest home sold was at 5,301 in Silverado West that sold for $825,000 which is $175,000 higher than any home has ever sold for in that neighborhood. The home sold at the lowest $/SF was in Carriage Hills and the home with the highest $/SF was in Shenandoah. The difference between the highest and lowest $/SF was over $240/SF.

Here are a few more interesting facts from May…The highest priced sale in May, 2020 was $710,000 compared to 27 homes selling for $710,000 or above in May, 2021 and 2 homes sold for over $1million in 2021. Only 13 homes sold for $500,000 or over in 2010 while 70 homes sold for over $500,000 in 2021. The average home sold for 13% OVER list price and the average days on market dropped from 19 in May, 2020 to 7 in 2021.

 

 

 

April 2021

 

The year over year statistics for the Cedar Park housing market are going to get very interesting. April 2020 is when we first started to see the inventory crunch we are still in and what has caused prices to rise dramatically. The real estate market essentially shut down last March and April leading to much lower than average number of homes being put on the market. Our clients who were planning to sell last March decided to hold off until later in the year and in some cases are just now planning for us to get their homes on the market in May.

Because so many homeowners decided to hold off the number of home sales is a little misleading. Home sales did increase from 88 in 2020 to 134 which is an increase of 52.3%. But, that’s still below the 166 homes that were sold in 2019.

In Cedar Park the largest home sold in April was a new home in Cypress Canyon and the smallest home sold was a 2 bedroom home in Buttercup Creek that sold for $65,000 over asking price. The home that sold at the highest $/SF was a small single story home on a large lot in Park Place showing buyers are still willing to pay a premium for oversized lots and the home that sold for the lowest $/SF sold in Carriage Hills. It’s important to note that the difference between the highest and lowest $/SF was over $200/SF which reinforces the idea that pricing real estate off average $/SF will cause you to price too high or too low. The highest price home sold was in The Ranch At Brushy Creek and the lowest priced home sold was in Blue Oaks Estates. The lowest priced home sold was the condo in The Commons. In 2020 the lowest priced home sold was $276,000 so we have jumped up $86,000 on the low end of the market in only 1 year. In April the lowest priced single-family home sold for $415,000.

On average for the overall Cedar Park real estate market homes sold for 16% over list price in April

 

 

 

March 2021

 

Wow! What a difference a year makes in the Cedar Park real estate market. Last March I was afraid to answer my phone because it was probably someone calling to cancel a contract saying something like “these are unprecedented times.” For the buyers who stuck with it that conviction sure paid off. In March the average home in Cedar Park sold for 20% higher than the original list price!

If you haven’t been following real estate prices you are going to be shocked when you see your tax appraised value. If your first thought is if someone is crazy enough to pay that much for your home you’d sell it…give us a call. Chances are that value is $125,000 + too low compared to what your home would sell for today. The reason for that is the tax values are based on comparable sales from last year. If you think your tax value is high this year, just wait until 2022 when your tax value will be based on what’s happening in the market right now.

For March the lowest priced home sold in Cedar Park was a condo off Little Elm, the smallest home sold was in Cedar Park Square and the home that sold at the lowest $/SF was in Carriage Hills. The highest priced home was sold was in Ranch at Deer Creek and it sold for $280,000 over list price, that was also the largest home that sold and the home that sold at the highest $/SF was in Park Place, selling for $145,000 over original list price.

 

 

 

February 2021


We’ve been talking about the market indicators, especially the active listings compared to the homes under contract, for about 6 months. The real estate statistics for Cedar Park in February are now showing what we have been feeling in the market for the last several months. Fewer homes being sold combined with an increase in the number of motivated buyers has led to unbelievable appreciation.

It is still possible to buy a home in Cedar Park for under $300,000. The lowest priced home sold in February was $245,000 in Gann Ranch. The smallest home sold was in Buttercup Creek and the home that sold at the lowest $/SF was a home with a pool in Gann Ranch.

The home that sold for the highest price in February in Cedar Park was a home on 2.5 acres in Whipporwill. The largest home sold in Forest Oaks and the home that sold with the highest $/SF was a small 1 story home on a large lot in Shenandoah.

Most people I talk with think their home is worth $50,000-$100,000 less than what we could sell it for today. Sellers have to be careful they are hiring a real estate agent that is active in the market. Many agents only sell 2-3 homes per year and if you are taking advice from someone who isn’t following the appreciation on a daily basis and they haven’t been active in the market since December you may accept an offer that is too low.

Careful not to give anyone the impression that the good times will last forever. All I have to do is think back to a real estate conference I attended at the end of last February. Nobody was talking anything affecting real estate and 3 weeks later we were shut down. The current trends and the market indicators point towards higher prices. We also know that trends tend to continue until something unexpected happens.

 

 

 

As always, we're always ready to work for you and your family. Whenever you are ready to talk about your home call/text Eric Peterson with Kopa Real Estate at 512-791-7473 or email eric@koparealestate.com.

                                                          

If you're planning to sell in 2022, now is the best time to attend our Free Home Selling Workshops. If you want to attend a workshop, get in touch with us and we will notify you when they are scheduled. As always you can check KopaWorkshop.com to see dates and times of our in-person and online Free Home Selling Workshops. For years home sellers have told me they benefited from attending our events. Sign up at KopaWorkshop.com.

KopaWorkshop.com

                                                          

The information on this page may have changed since we first published it. We give great real estate advice, but this page (and the rest of our site) is for informational use only and is no substitute for actual real estate, legal and financial advice. If you’d like to establish a Broker-client relationship, reach out to us and we’ll tell you how we can make it official. Sending us an email or reading this page alone doesn’t mean we represent you.

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