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Buyer prepare, hot market

Central Texas and the city of Georgetown has been experiencing a near-historic boom in home sales in the past few years.

But along with the sharp increase in demand for homes since the end of the recession has come a tough marketplace for buyersparticularly those looking to buy for the first time.

Dr. James Gaines, a research economist at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, said buyers must be prepared in advance to shop in such a fast-moving housing market.

You arent going to have time in this market to think about it. You are going to have to act quickly. Houses are virtually selling the same day they are listed, Gaines said. You need to have done your homework.

In addition, Gaines said there has also been an increase this year in the paperwork and red tape for buyers trying to secure home loans.

Yet buyers are swooping in to buy homes at an increasing clip throughout the region. According to the Williamson County Association of Realtors, the total number of home sales in Georgetown has increased steadily for four consecutive years. Home sales in the first half of 2014 also increased compared to the first six months of 2013. Median home prices in the area have also risen in that time period.

The Georgetown real estate market is continuing to show a strong increase in both the number of homes sold and average sold prices, said Sheri Salley, a Georgetown-based realtor with Century 21 HSK & Associates.

Meanwhile the window of opportunity for buyers to choose the right home is getting smaller. In 2010, homes in Georgetown often sat on the market for more than three months prior to being sold. As of May 2014, that timeframe had shrunk to less than two months and as few as five days in some areas, according to data from the WCAR.

Salley said homes are being sold shortly after being listed on the Multiple Listing Service, which is a comprehensive listing of homes for sale that agents use, and sometimes even before they can be listed.

Buyers should be prepared to pay full price and to bid against other buyers for a home, she said. She said they should also be prepared for a more stressful homebuying environment.

One main obstacle we need to overcome is the lower inventory of homes on the market, she said. Homes that are priced right and in good condition tend to sell very quickly, often with multiple offers on the table.

Gaines said he expects price increases and strong demand to continue for the next year to year and a half.