Steiner Ranch Housing Report - August 2014

In this edition of How’s the Market in Steiner Ranch, I review the July stats and offer some reasons as to why both the sales and prices were down during the month.  Below the video, you can find the same information in chart and text formats.

To view summary and detailed sales information for all Steiner Ranch neighborhoods, check out the Neighborhood Home Sale Data section of my website. If you are looking to buy or sell a home in Steiner Ranch, contact me via email, online form, or at 512-650-7300. Click here for previous editions of How’s the Market in Steiner Ranch.

If you prefer to read instead of watch, here are the chart and transcript:

Transcript

Greetings!  I’m Craig Smyser.  Welcome to the August 2014 edition of “How’s the Market in Steiner Ranch.”  This month’s information is a bit later than usual, but we all need vacations now and again.

In July, 33 homes closed in Steiner Ranch which was  down 35.3% from July 2013.  There was one new construction sale, but since many new construction sales are not listed in the MLS, I can’t provide accurate data on the new sales.  When looking at resale homes only, there were 32 sales  which was down 34.7% from last July.  So those are some pretty big drops but let’s examine that after we look at pricing.  From this point forward, all the stats quoted are for resale homes only.  The average price of a resale home  decreased 12.4% to $442,863.  The median price decreased  by 5.8% to $425,000.  The average price per square foot  decreased by 1.7% to $142.18.  As I have mentioned before, one month numbers aren’t the most accurate.  I much prefer looking at a longer time frame so we can smooth out any one-time spikes or drops that can skew the stats.  So let’s compare the prices from the past six months to the corresponding six-month period in 2013.  The average price of a resale home  increased 3.7% to $496,444.  The median price increased  by 4.6% to $436,000.  The average price per square foot  increased by 8.8% to $150.46.  So why are both sales and prices down this month.  Overall, the inventory has been running lower for the past few months so with fewer homes for sale it isn’t surprising that few homes are closing.  But if supply is low, shouldn’t the prices rise?  Well, they certainly have been for over a year.  It could be that prices are getting too high for some buyers who are choosing to buy outside of Steiner (yes, this is happening).  It could also be a simple one-month blip.  I always say that I don’t like looking at just one month because the numbers can be skewed.  When I look at the homes that sold this month, it has a larger share of under $400,000 homes that sold than we usually see.  That is likely part of the issue.  Again, when looking at the last six-month numbers, prices are still rising – though at a slower rate than we’ve seen.  At this point, I am not sounding an alarm of any sort, but we will keep an eye out to see if the market is starting to change.  Keep in mind, of course, that even in a strong seller’s market, a house must be properly priced for its location, condition, and features, or it will not sell. As the market begins the annual fall slowdown, that caveat is very important.  But keep in mind that we sell homes all year long in Steiner Ranch so if you need or want to sell, contact me and we’ll get it done.

So, back to the stats…the number of available resale homes  in July was 92.  Across Steiner, the July sales ranged  from a low of $275,000 to a high of $775,000.   This breaks a five month streak in which the lowest sales price was at or above $300,000.  The average sales price to  list price ratio was 98.4%.  For homes that closed in July, the average  days on market was 38.

Overall, we currently have a  3.0 month supply of homes in Steiner Ranch, which is certainly a seller’s market.  This level is lower than last month.  Notably, homes in the $500,000 to $600,000 range have sold at a pace that even this group is a seller’s market again.  The only Steiner Ranch market that is more favorable to buyers is the over $1 million segment.

If you would like to see the sales price for any particular home in Steiner Ranch, my website allows you to do just. 

Finally, the 5th Annual  Kicking for Cash is Friday, September 5th at halftime of Vandegrift’s football game.  I’m the sole sponsor for this fantastic, fun event in which VHS students compete in a field goal kicking contest to win cash for their student organizations.  Come out for a great evening of football, the marching band performance, and Kicking for Cash.

As always, if you have any real estate related questions,  please don’t hesitate to contact me via email, online form, or at 512-650-7300.  Thanks for reading “How’s The Market In Steiner Ranch.”

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