January 2021 Austin Residential Real Estate Market Statistics

 

Visit ABoR.com/MarketStatistics for more information and a full press release from the Austin Board of Realtors.  The above statistics compare January 2020 to January 2021.

The residential market continues to be on a wild upward trajectory.  You can see the data above from January, but nothing about these trends has stopped in February.  Competition amongst buyers is brutal, with multiple offers and single family homes typically going for well over asking.  It's the same story as last month: people keep moving here, there isn't enough inventory (.5 months is wildly low), and interest rates are low.   I do think that COVID concerns kept people from listing in 2020.  Once COVID concerns abate, the next questions will be: (1) are people deciding against selling because they don't want to have to compete in this extreme seller's market, (2) how many people will decide to stay put (and thus not list their home) because they have refinanced at historically low interest rates, and (3) will the emigration from California tech hubs continue at the current pace?  Also, what will become the new standard for close-to-Austin?  Lockhart and Elgin, for example, are being casually discussed as suburban areas by my clients (and clients of other Realtors I know).  Lockhart may seem far out to a longtime Austinite, but I recall when going to Cedar Park was like driving to another town.  Finally, what are we going to do about building more housing?

Visit us at Floyd Real Estate, LLC, if you are thinking about buying or selling property (residential, commercial, or land) in the Central Texas area.   We would be happy to advise you on your real estate related needs.  

Floyd Real Estate is a Texas real estate brokerage, TREC Lic. #9003790

Texas Winter Storm Power Failure

 

Think from KERA public radio has a good episode about why Texas lost power and water services last week.   I listened to the podcast while I was walking Gus earlier.  He was definitely glad to be out walking and not huddling under blankets like last Wednesday night.  Listen to the story.  Apparently we were quite close to the grid being damaged to the point that blackouts could have lasted for weeks.  

I also checked out the Texas Tribune's in-depth coverage of the failure to protect the power grid from extreme weather.  

Trivia: The Creative Fund

 It will be happening on Thursday night at 7.  Buy your tickets for the Zoom code.

[update: it was a fun night.  We had five teams play and it was quite competitive.]

Winter Storm Follow-Up

 

My Street, About an Hour Before the Blackout

Last Monday I woke up to the realization that the "rolling" blackouts which started at 2a weren't so rolling and that my car was trapped in the driveway.  Today I woke up to sunshine and the news that my part of the neighborhood no longer has to boil water.  That's quite a turnaround.   

Austinites: I hope you have running water back at this point.  If you do not, the Statesman has an ongoing list of places to get water.  Also, check my Twitter as I have been retweeting water related updates (and follow those sources, as I'm not updating all of the time).  

Austin Realtors: ABOR has a winter storm recovery checklist you can reference.  

Trivia Fans: Floyd Real Estate trivia night is still scheduled for 3/4.  Stay tuned to this blog and I'll update on whether The Creative Fund's trivia night will go forth on Thursday or will be postponed.  

Thawed Out in Austin

 Last week was quite unpleasant.  We lost power in the neighborhood for 77.5 hours (so much for the "rolling" blackouts we were told to expect).  My house (a 1950's pier and beam; fortunately re-insulated in May) was down to 41 degrees inside on Thursday morning right before the electricity returned.  At least we had water the whole time (many people I know lost it at some point) as well as natural gas.  We had hot water and could cook on the gas range, but the central heat didn't work without electricity.  Add into this mix the fact that Austin is not equipped to clear icy roads, thus our cars (RWD sedans) were unable to go anywhere until our street was sufficiently melted on Friday.  

Fortunately, I own ski and cold weather camping gear.  I also have a lot of camp lighting.  All of these things made dealing with the blackout better; however, we're buying more equipment to handle the next blackout that occurs (I hope never, but of course I'm sure it will happen again).  I'll probably post about such things here.

Next time I need gas, I'll be filling our cars up at Sonny's market/Exxon at the corner of Lamar and Lamar Square.  They were about the only place open (in walking distance) on Thursday; the snacks I procured from them were a huge morale booster at the house.  Shake Shack and Southside Flying Pizza were up and running Friday, and Maudie's was back in operation yesterday.  They too provided a huge morale booster (especially Maudie's with those tamales smothered in chili con carne).  

It will be interesting (and probably infuriating) to read the post mortems on the power grid failures.  Everything I've read/heard points to the conclusion that the blackouts were - if not completely preventable - at least much worse than they would have been with adequate planning and preparation.  Sadly, none of this information has thus far been surprising.  Good times.  At least it's 75 degrees and sunny today.  

[Note: If you are looking for updates on where to find water, check out my Twitter at @wdfloyd.  I recommend following some of the links I have retweeted, as I'm only retweeting sporadically.  Also, breweries and restaurants have been giving out water, so check the linked article to see if water is available at one of the listed places near you.]

Trivia: Floyd Real Estate Trivia Returns March 4th

 

We'll be back (virtually) on March 4th.  I'll be hosting.  Fundraising plan needs to be finalized but it is probable we will ask for donations to the Central Texas Food Bank (as we did for much of 2020). 

Follow the Floyd Real Estate trivia page on Facebook if you are into following Facebook pages.  I'll also post the registration link on this blog.

Can Humans Live in Zero Gravity Like in The Expanse?

Whether or not you like The Expanse, there is interesting information in the above embedded video about NASA studies regarding living in zero gravity.  Also, apparently bacteria can thrive and grow stronger in zero-g.  Great.

Top Gun 2 EXTENDED SUPER BOWL Trailer (from 2020)

I am still eagerly awaiting the release of Top Gun: Maverick in theaters (yes, I realize this may still be a long wait).   The YouTube algorithm reminded me of this, when it served up the above embedded trailer during a search for unrelated videos.  It's an extended trailer from the Super Bowl last year.  The reason I've posted it is because at the end there is some cool/interesting content related to how the actors trained for their roles and how the aviation scenes were films.  I hadn't seen it before, thus I posted it in case you haven't either.  

Meteors

(Blurry) Photo of Meteor Crater in Arizona

 

I came across this interesting list last week:  Meteorite Impact Craters in the United States 

Many of these impact craters are now filled in, covered up, or otherwise unable to detect without having done some kind of geologic surveying.  A glaring exception is the Barringer Crater (aka, Meteor Crater) in northern Arizona (shown above, in a photo from a point and shoot camera I bought in 2006).  I went there on a whim back in 2008 when I was in the Flagstaff area.  The crater was much more fun to visit than I anticipated (though not on the level of the Grand Canyon, which I also visited on that trip).   

The crater I have "visited" more recently is the Sierra Madera Astrobleme.  I used the quotes there because said visit involved driving to Big Bend National Park on US Route 385 (which runs through the 8 mile diameter crater).   The cool parts are visible from the highway, but on a private ranch.   Thus, it's a cool road trip anomaly to encounter on the way to Big Bend (a place I'll write more about in a future post).  

Do you like the idea of owning rocks which have traveled through space?  Earlier this evening I read that starting on Tuesday Christie's will be auctioning off 72 meteorites.  Thus if have some spare cash lying around, you can potentially get your hands on a meteorite without having to wait for one to fall on your property.   And if you do buy one, consider letting a museum display your new meteorite (at least from time to time) so that the general public can enjoy getting to see it.     

       

Trivia Fun for 2021

 

Virtual trivia is coming back in 2021.  Here's what's on the calendar so far:

• Creative Fund Trivia Night
• Tentatively scheduled for 2/25.   

• Austin Young Lawyers Trivia Night
• Scheduled for 3/25.
• For AYLA members and sustaining members.  

A Floyd Real Estate Trivia Series event is in the works as well.   Stay tuned for more information.

December 2020 Austin Real Estate Statistics

 

Visit ABoR.com/MarketStatistics for more information and a full press release from the Austin Board of Realtors.  The above statistics compare December 2019 to December 2020.

Note that the median sales price is up 18% from last December.  You can expect this trend to continue until 2021.  Inventory is low, and lots of people are moving here.  

Visit us at Floyd Real Estate, LLC, if you are thinking about buying or selling property (residential, commercial, or land) in the Central Texas area.   We would be happy to advise you on your real estate related needs.  

Floyd Real Estate is a Texas real estate brokerage, TREC Lic. #9003790

Entertainment Recommendations

Desktop Rocinante

TV:

I'm still enjoying The Expanse season 5.  Who knows?  Maybe tonight's episode will be terrible and I'll have to change my mind, but so far the season has been great.   So, watch it if you are caught up with Season 4.  The Expanse is on Amazon Prime streaming.   

Movies:

Last year I rewatched Collateral, the 2004 Michael Mann movie which stars Tom Cruise as a hitman and Jamie Foxx as the cab driver forced to drive him around (not spoiling this: it's in the trailer and the movie is 16 years old).  I was recently reading about movie when I came across review of Collateral in Esquire, which I think reiterates why you should watch this movie.  

Watch Collateral, and if you enjoy it then watch/rewatch Micheal Mann's finest movie: Heat.    

Podcasts:

I listened to many episodes of the Night Owl Podcast in December.  It's a podcast about ghost stories/the paranormal in Austin.  Whether you are into the paranormal part or not, the local history stories should be quite interesting to anyone with curiosity about Austin's past.  

My favorite stories in the series have been about The Tavern (where I used to host my trivia nights) and The Clay Pit.   Once you are going out again, both of these places are worth a visit (The Tavern is a fun bar, and the food at Clay Pit is great).  Moreover, both of these restaurants are in cool old buildings which are worth checking out.  

Expanse Season 5

I did a little Christmas binging of the new season of The Expanse (one of my favorite shows currently in production, along with Better Call Saul).  I'm enjoying it a lot so far, and as usually I strongly recommend this show.  I would say more, but this review already did the work: Ars Technica on Expanse Season 5

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I highly recommend reading The Expanse book series in addition to watching the show.  I've read seven of the books, and I'll be starting book 8 soon.  

While I only recommend the books to people who enjoy sci-fi, the show is one which I think people who don't normally like sci-fi will also enjoy (not unlike the 2000's reboot of Battlestar Galactica).

Gus

The Gus of August

The last part of this year has been quite busy and exciting.  You may have noticed a distinct lack of posting.  This is in part related to having adopted Gus back in August, an exceptionally busy real estate practice (on the brokerage and law firm/fee attorney fronts), and the intensification of some of my creative projects.  

About the dog:  Gus is a fantastic Labrador Retriever/Great Pyrenees mix (aka, a Pyrador) we adopted from Heart of Texas Lab Rescue back in August.  Gus has been great and (I think) he enjoys living with us.   I know we love him.  If you are in the Austin area and thinking about a Lab (or Lab mix), visit the HOT Lab site to see many cool dogs looking for good homes.  

Stay tuned.  I plan to be posting more in 2021.  Also, I've been considering moving over to a Wordpress site.  Blogger is great, but from time to time I think I need more customization options.  We'll see, but obviously I'll post instructions on how to find any new blogging project.  

And, of course: Happy Festivus!

In My Car (For Scale)

 

November 2020 Austin Real Estate Statistics

Visit ABoR.com/MarketStatistics for more information and a full press release from the Austin Board of Realtors.  The above statistics compare November 2019 to November 2020.

Visit us at Floyd Real Estate, LLC, if you are thinking about buying or selling property (residential, commercial, or land) in the Central Texas area.   We would be happy to advise you on your real estate related needs.  

Floyd Real Estate is a Texas real estate brokerage, TREC Lic. #9003790

The Expanse – Season 5 Official Trailer

This seems like important information: Season 5 of The Expanse will be available on 12/15.  

Speaker Series | Rental Issues in a COVID 19 World

Trivia Night on August 8/26

I have another online Floyd Real Estate Trivia Night coming up on 8/26.   Form teams of 1-6.   There will be 5 spoken rounds comprised of my typical choices for categories.  The Zoom room opens at 6:30, with the game lasting from 7-9.

Register at Eventbrite.  As with previous online trivia nights: tickets are free but we ask that you quantify your fun and donate to the Central Texas Food Bank accordingly.

Can Wild Parrots Solve Puzzles?

Food: Grilling Steaks and Scallops

Grass-Fed Ribeyes and Scallops on the Grill

I'm sitting in my home office with a couple of prime T-bones (which I just picked up from Central Market) in the fridge.  Tonight I'm keeping it simple with just the steaks; however, last month I grilled up a 1/2 pound of scallops to go with my grass-fed ribeyes (also from Central Market) and the results were excellent.  

• For the steaks, I used a pretty basic Montreal seasoning with a little extra kosher salt and pepper.  If you haven't tried grass-fed yet, I highly recommend it.  It provides a different texture than grain-fed beef, but the flavor is rich and delicious.   While they rested, I melted some of the Lewis Road Creamery garlic and chive butter over them.  I highly recommend the seasoned butter as a finishing move for your beef.   

• For the scallops, I used a recipe from the grill manufacturer.    

• I served the steak and scallops with roasted asparagus.   

Separately and in the aggregate, all of the above were a hit.  

The Backstory: North vs. South Austin tug of war 1987 | KVUE

This seems like material for a good Austin trivia question.

Here's a 2001 Austin Chronicle article which provides more details:  https://www.austinchronicle.com/features/2001-04-13/south-austin-secede/

Online Events: Trivia Tonight

Are you looking for some socially distant excitement tonight? Great, because there is an event for you. I'm hosting Floyd Real Estate Trivia Series event from 6:30-9 tomorrow evening. Come solo or in a team from 2-6. It's free to play, though I ask that you quantify your fun and donate to the Central Texas Food Bank accordingly. Here's the link for tickets (which will result in Zoom log-in info):  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/floyd-real-estate-trivia-series-tickets-114360671848

Moons Size Comparison

With trivia coming up tomorrow night, this seems appropriate to share.  I have been known to ask moon related questions.

Podcast Recommendations

I have been listening to a couple of good podcasts lately.  I figured I'd share, in case you were looking to be informed and entertained regarding science and/or Austin history:

• Star Talk:  Neil DeGrasse Tyson and rotating co-hosts discuss scientific concepts in a humorous  way.  I've already learned a lot about volcanoes and black holes.  If you are coming to my next trivia night, it's possible I've pulled some questions from this podcast.  
• Austin Found: If you want to know more about Austin history and culture, then tune in to this one.  Long time Austin American-Statesman journalist Micheal Barnes and Austin radio personality J.B. Hegar are the hosts.   I think of myself as reasonably knowledgable about Austin history, but I've found out lots of interesting and hitherto unknown to me information from these podcasts.  

And here's a fun fact:  Neil deGrasse Tyson has an M.A. in astronomy from U.T.-Austin.  Hook 'em!  

Food: Butter. Wonderful, Delicious Butter

I don't usually get excited about buying butter, but I'll make an exception in this case.  The Lewis Road Creamery's garlic and chives butter is excellent (it's grass-fed and traditionally churned too, if you care about such things).  I ran across it last month while shopping for prime ribeyes on the Central Market website.   I thought it might be good tp melt some thick garlic and chive butter over the steaks while they were resting post-grilling.   My intuition was very correct and flavor expectations were exceeded.  Also, this stuff tastes great on bread, potatoes, and just about anything else which goes well with garlic butter.

I bought another unit of this butter in my most recent Central Market order.  It's in the the fridge waiting on a pair of grass-fed ribeyes slated to hit the grill soon.

[speaking of Central Market: grab some of their Hatch chile tortillas while they are in stock.  They taste great, especially wrapped around a sausage fresh off the grill.]

Floyd Real Estate on Social Media

A Few Photos From Our Listing on Cat Mountain in Austin

Are you in Austin?  Are you interested in buying investment property or moving here?  Are you a small business owner interested in commercial real estate in Austin?  If so, you should follow Floyd Real Estate, LLC, on these social media channels:

• Floyd Real Estate on Facebook
• Floyd Real Estate on Instagram  

And stay tuned, I have some information coming soon about the Floyd Real Estate Trivia Series... 

June 2020 Austin and Austin-Round Rock MSA Real Estate Statistics

Visit ABoR.com/MarketStatistics for more information and a full press release from the Austin Board of Realtors.  The above statistics compare June 2019 to June 2020.

Visit us at Floyd Real Estate, LLC, if you are thinking about buying or selling property (residential, commercial, or land) in the Central Texas area.   We would be happy to advise you on your real estate related needs.  

Floyd Real Estate is a Texas real estate brokerage, TREC Lic. #9003790

Seinfeld Law Blog

Do you (1) like the TV show Seinfeld a lot, and (2) enjoy reading about the law?  That's a yes and yes for me, and if it is for you as well then check out the Seinfeld Law blog.  

You can catch all 9 seasons of Seinfeld reruns on Hulu right now.   The show will move to Netflix in 2021.  

Heat: Be Careful

At least it's a dry heat and cool at night, unlike summer in Austin.

It's July in Texas, and while heat's an issue it's still nice to get outside for some socially distance fun and exercise.   Unfortunately, there is the danger of heat exhaustion and heat stroke.   Check out these articles to learn more:

• KVUE post, with chart.
• My May 21st post, also with chart.

Have fun, wear light clothes, and stay hydrated.   If you are feeling adventurous, you can do what I do and enjoy summertime night biking.  It's cooler than during the day, plus you don't have the sun beating down on you.  

COVID-19 Risk Chart

Find out more by visiting the Texas Medical Association's COVID-19 resource page.