Central East Austin Real Estate - Mueller and More

Foreclosure homes in Austin: How many, and what kind? Many investors are thinking that it’s a great time to buy real estate in Austin, and some are looking at foreclosures despite the government bailout bid to stop foreclosures. Here are some of the questions that I am often asked, and some data about Travis County foreclosure postings to consider.

I took my data from the postings listed in Travis County, and from foreclosure listing data in the RexReport. Not all of these postings made it to auction - some homeowners may have cured their default, others may have sold their home in pre-foreclosure.

Is it just homes that are foreclosed upon or commercial real estate too? The chart on the right shows the dollar volume breakdown of posted foreclosure listings in Travis County on October 7th 2008.

There were only three commercial property foreclosure postings - one of which was an apartment building. Their high dollar amount accounts for a high portion of the almost $100 million appraised value of the postings.

There were 393 single family house postings due for auction on October 7th 2008.

Is The Travis County Foreclosure Market Highly Seasonal? The chart on the left shows the percentage of annual foreclosure listings in Travis County averaged per month from 2001 to 2007.

There doesn’t appear to be any particularly significant deviation throughout the year - there is a steady rate of foreclosures.

Major economic events such as the bailout and plans to help homeowners in default may add fluctuations in the monthly averages, and it’s certainly something I’m going to be tracking in the coming months.

Are There More Foreclosed Properties in Travis County Right Now? Annual foreclosure posting volume by year is charted on the right for Travis County, with 2008 year to date data.

Foreclosure rates doubled between 2001 and 2003, and have hovered between 3500 and 4300 per year since then, after a peak in 2004.

Several of the postings will have their default cured and then re-appear back as a new posting later, and as I said earlier, not all of the postings end up being auctioned at the foreclosure auction. The posting rate gives an indication of how many property owners are in sufficient default to warrant a foreclosure.

Has The Austin Foreclosure Market Exploded in 2008? Headline making news for certain markets in the US has not apparent in the Austin area. The chart on the left shows monthly foreclosure postings in Travis County for 2008.

Given an average 332 Travis County foreclosure postings per month in the last five years, The current 2008 monthly average of 384 is 15% higher, but it certainly hasn’t doubled or exploded.

Garreth Wilcock is a real estate consultant at Keller Williams. He helps investors find Central and East Austin real estate. Call 512 694 8873 or contact him at his website if you want a free valuation of your Austin home. You can search the Austin MLS at his website.