Presented by Greater Austin Home Builders Association and Austin Board of Realtors
This morning’s Austin Housing Forecast at the JW Marriott was well-attended and upbeat. I captured some key takeaways below
- Mortgage rates remain at historical lows – forecast this year to be in 4 to 5% range
- Local area job growth remains strong but pace is slowing from recent highs.
- “Job growth is THE source of all real estate value”
- Low global interest rates are driven in part by a savings glut, primarily from aging populations
- Forecast of 3% GDP growth in 2017 unless Trump Administration starts a trade war with protectionist tariffs
- Uber-like business models, on-demand consumer attitudes, and the sharing economy are changing the way we do business
- Mobile device technology and home monitoring are becoming ubiquitous in new construction
- Non-traditional attitudes regarding ethnicity, gender and lifestyles are destroying standard demographic categories
- Office leasing is a leading economic indicator and 2016 was strong
- Austin unemployment rate is at 3% (down from 7.5% in 2009)
- Austin MSA annual population growth projected from 2016 to 2020 is +3%
- Rising consumer confidence will continue to drive real estate market
- Average sales price for housing is up 5.9% over last 12 months
- Average rental price for apartments is up 5.2% over last 12 months
If you would like more details on the Austin Housing Forecast, or would like to discuss how the forecast might affect your Austin area real estate holdings and/or purchase plans, please contact us today!
By submitting information, I am providing my express written consent to be contacted by representatives of this website through a live agent, artificial or prerecorded voice, and automated SMS text at my residential or cellular number, dialed manually or by autodialer, by email, and mail.
