Annual Real Estate Data 2006-2017

Barnett & Hill brings you 12 years of real estate data on single-family homes sold in the Abilene market.  A few highlights from 2017:

• 1,844 homes were sold in Abilene proper (+73 from 2016, 4.0% gain) .  Not necessarily matching Abilene’s boundaries were sales by school district.  1,137 homes (+56 from 2016 for a 5.1% gain) were sold in AISD, 743 homes (+37 from 2016 for a 5.1% gain) were sold in WISD and 95 homes (+28 from 2016 for a 34.6% gain) were sold in JNCISD.
• With 1,844 homes sold in 2017, the city of Abilene saw the largest number of sales when compared to its performance over the last 12 years.  2016 was the next-best year in terms of single-family homes sold.
• List price is the original advertised price.  Close price is the price for which the house ultimately sold.  The difference between these is part of the seller’s concessions to get the deal booked. Seller contributions are for things like home warranties or repairs – these are added to total concessions. Homes in JNCISD made the greatest concessions (-$6,609) and sold for an average price of $210,903. Homes in Abilene ISD conceded the least (-$5,939), but homes in this district were the most inexpensive with a close price of $134,535.  Homes in Wylie ISD were more expensive than homes in JNCISD and conceded $6,609 on average.
• Between the 5 Abilene ZIP codes, 79606 and 79602 sell for the most/sqft ($106.38 and $105.97, respectively). Homes in 79603 sell for the least at $61.21.  Of the three school districts Jim Ned CISD was the only school district to see a fall in nominal price per square foot (-$7.76/sqft) between 2016 to 2017, but this decline can be explained by the sale of older product not typical of the new development sold in JNCISD in 2016.
• Of the three school districts considered, WISD homes sell for the most per sqft ($115.96).  Jim Ned ISD homes sold for $104.81 and AISD homes sold for $76.50 in 2017.
• One can’t take price/sqft by school district in isolation – WISD and JNCISD homes sell for more per square foot because, on average, they are newer.  The average WISD sale was 13 years old and the average JNCISD sale was 22 years old compared to the average AISD sale aged at 52 years.
• The average WISD home sold in 2017 was 101 sqft larger than the average JNCISD home. The average JNCISD home is 213 sqft larger than the average AISD home.  Again, the age of the inventory across the 3 school districts help explain this – homes have grown larger across time.
• Homes in AISD sold 10 days faster than homes in WISD. With the exception of 2015, this trend  has held true for the last 11 years.  Homes in JNCISD sold in 75 days – 13 days slower than sales in WISD.
• Builder-sold homes were roughly 300 sqft smaller in AISD (-308 smaller relative to JNCISD and -288 smaller relative to WISD) when compared to Wylie ISD and Jim Ned CISD.  For the second year in a row, builder-sold homes in WISD were smaller (-152 sqft between 2016 to 2017).  Abilene ISD builder-sold homes measured 1,663 square feet – 1 square foot gain over last year.
• 77 lender/repossession sales took place in 2017 in the city of Abilene. WISD and JNCISD repossessions sold for roughly $48/sqft less than their market average.  AISD repossessions sold for roughly $32/sqft less than their market average.

To get a sense of how prices have moved across time, price/sqft was adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index (CPI).  This makes the gains in price/sqft less dramatic across the last 12 years and reveals the impact of the downturn that began in 2008 without the distortion of inflation.

Reviewing historical days on the market (DOM), we can see that the time homes spend on the market continues to improve.  2011 marked the worst year for days on market; Abilene homes spent an average of 92 days on the market prior to sale in 2011.  2017 homes spent an average of 57 days on the market with a pace that approximates 2007, pre-recessionary sales.

Following the economic events in 2007, we begin our data with builder sales in 2008.  Wylie ISD growth in new builds is flat between 2016 and 2017.  Jim Ned CISD new builds almost double over the same period.  Abilene ISD new builds decline over the same period.

Repossessions were down between 2016 to 2017.  While Abilene doesn’t depend directly on oil prices, the growth in repossession from 2014 to 2016 were likely fed by declining oil prices.