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With the addition of new, high-end inventory at the W and Austonian, the market saw increased breadth with more sales in mid and high-price bands.

...With very few new condo units on the horizon, inventory is rapidly decreasing as more units are selling quickly at prices close to the asking price.

... If interest rates stay low and lending standards continue to return to more normal levels, 2012 should be a strong year for condo resale and condo values.

We've updated the AustinTowers | urbanspace Downtown Austin Condo Market Index for April and May, 2011and the results are very, very good.

With 42 MLS sales during the two month period (and as many as 40 non-MLS sales in May alone), our twelve month tracking index showed it's highest average sales price ever: $368,929.

After a super strong February, downtown Austin condo sales fell 28% in March from the prior year period. Last month, we asked whether strong February sales was a trend or an anomaly.

With the data in, it seems that the market has not strengthened from last year. For the first quarter, 33 units were sold -- one more than during the same period in 2010.

According to the Downtown Austin Blog, a prime lot between Rainey Street and the Mexican American Cultural Center -- just North of River Street -- is now under contract and could result in a new retail or residential development.

The Rainey Street District -- located between the convention center and the lake just west of I-35 -- is a historic neighborhood that has come alive with downtown residents, restaurants, and bars.

We've updated the AustinTowers | urbanspace Downtown Austin Condo Market Index for October, 2010.

For the second month in a row, sales volumes fell far below the year ago level. With the sale of two high value units, however, average sales price spiked 28% to $571K.

The neighborhoods with the most character are often historic and central. For this reason, it was probably inevitable that the Historic Rainey Street neighborhood in the heart of downtown would become a very cool district of restaurant and bars.

First came Lustre Pearl and Clive.

Then, the G' Raj Mahal Cafe. Now, three more houses are entering the process to become restaurants or bars.

Since the entire district is registered as a National Historic District, all such requests must pass through Austin's Landmark Commission.

In downtown Austin, there are two classes of new condo projects.

If you are thinking of buying a downtown condo unit that you will eventually sell, you need to think about liquidity.

Unfortunately, rapid growth in the number of downtown units has also meant fierce competition among sellers in some projects.

With so many sellers and ongoing competition from new units in projects like Spring, it can be difficult to sell.

This week, Travis County posted 2008 property tax assessments.

Across the City of Austin, the assessed value of the average single-family house increased by a significant 12.82%.

This is a big jump during a period during where actual property values seem to have increased only modestly.