Some light reading in case the rain comes through again today:

• Another Frank LLoyd Wright-designed landmark opens in Buffalo, NY. More details here: Frank Lloyd Wright boathouse in Buffalo opens to the public via Archinect Blog
• I’m sure many of us have dealt with finding a place to live during an extensive remodel. Here’s what Governor Perry will do while the Texas Governor’s Mansion is remodeled: Perrys to lease Barton Creek area house on Statesman.com. Also, be sure to read columnist John Kelso’s take on the subject: $10,000 a month for Perrys’ rent?
• In other state government news, the Chronicle reports on new Green Ratings for State Senators.
• SocketSite always has great photos of Bay area real estate. This recent post with Before & After Photos of a modern remodel seems to have polarized their readers (check out the comments).
• In green building news – Recent Advances in White LED technology could provide more LED-based lighting options, via Engadget
• Further, checkout this new software package that claims to automate much of the evaluation of the ‘green-ness’ of a home design. Here’s the website: Green Building Studio and a description on TreeHugger: Green Building Studio Software Calculates Energy Impacts of Design
• Ever seen those late-night infomercials promising we could all be real estate millionaires in a few easy steps. This real estate education program has an angle I haven’t seen before: Inman News: Hood Estate: ‘The Game is to be Sold, not Told’
• Finally, think you’ve had a rough moving experience? Top this: Boing Boing: Person ditches house on the Hollywood freeway.

Have a great Sunday afternoon.

If you’re looking for something to do in Austin on Sunday checkout the 2007 Downtown Living Tour.

Here’s a tour preview:

Here are the details:

2007 Downtown Living Tour
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Noon to 5PM

Join us as the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association (DANA) holds its 4th Annual Downtown Living Tour Sunday, September 30th, from noon to 5 pm. The event showcases homes and the benefits of living in downtown Austin.

This year’s tour will feature a combination of existing residences, units in new buildings, and sales models of upcoming developments. More than fifteen sites will be represented on the tour, including

* 360 Condominiums
* Austonian
* Four Seasons Residences
* Spring Condominiums
* The 5 Fifty Five
* Sabine on 5th
* The Monarch
* 2nd Street Retail District
* Posada Del Rey
* Bridges on the Park
* Plaza Lofts
* Burk/Henricks House

The tour will start at noon at the lobby of the Carr-America building located at 300 West 6th Street (across from The Belmont).

For more info checkout the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association Website.

I don’t know if I’ll make it this year, so if you go give us a summary in the comments.

Update 9/29/07:
I should also mention there are several other downtown events this weekend: Bevo Boulevard, ESPN Radio College Home Game Day, Old Pecan Street Fall Festival 2007, Silicon Labs Marathon Relay 2007 and the Alzheimer’s Memory Walk 2007. Here’s a few useful links:

• Downtown Street Closures
• Old Pecan Street Festival
• Downtown Living Tour 2006 Photos on the Austinist blog

The Austin Business Journal reported Monday on the latest market data released by the Austin Board of Realtors:

Report: Home sales dip 10 percent

Monday, September 24, 2007 – 3:01 PM CDT
Austin Business Journal

Home sales in Austin continue to fall.

A total of 2,501 single-family homes were sold in August, down 10 percent from a year ago, according to the latest Multiple Listing Service report released Monday by the Austin Board of Realtors. The August sales figure is also down 5 percent from July, further proof of a market in decline.

Still, other factors are tempering the sales downturn. The median price for single-family homes rose 6 percent year-over-year to $192,000 as the number of days homes sit on the market fell 3 percent to 58 days.
…

The article goes on to interview a few Realtors for their personal data and views on the current market conditions. It’s good anecdotal evidence to go along with the hard numbers.

My opinion – I think the widely publicized real estate declines in other areas along with tighter lending restrictions nationwide are finally impacting the Austin Market. A closer look at the MLS data reveals that Multifamily sales (primarily investors) are down more than single family residences (while prices increased 19% over last year).

Of course the month-to-month decline can partially be attributed to the usual seasonal market slowdown. Here’s a quick graph of the past few years to give you the full picture of seasonal single family sales data:

The increase in active listings and decrease in pending listings means there is more inventory for buyers to choose from, a change for those searching for homes in Austin recently. Prices are still appreciating, and days-on-market remain low. Here’s a plot of average and median single family sales prices over time:

Another interesting tidbit – Sales of homes priced below $150k are down vs. last year, likely a result of the decline in sub-prime 1st time home buyers. However sales of homes priced above $150k are up, especially those priced between $400k and $700k.

Bottom line: The Austin market is still very healthy, however sales are slowing from their recent pace, especially at the lower end of the market.

Do you have another angle on this data? Share it in the comments.

Also check out another Austin Real Estate blog I frequent: Steve Crossland – Report: Austin Home sales dip 10 percent. Steve is a fellow Realtor who has a great writing style and good insights into the market.

A few links for the weekend:

• In Wind Energy news, from the Austin Business Journal: Austin Energy boosting wind generated power
• The Dwell Blog has a cool video of architects building a massive Lego cityVideo: Lego Mania
• Check out My Money Blog for A Comparison Of Home Flipping Shows: Flip This House, Flip That House, and The Property Ladder. I personally prefer the shows that follow up with the flippers to convey the true outcome, instead of bragging up the ‘projected profit’.
• Slashdot covers a Method for $1/Watt Solar Panels Will Soon See Commercial Use.
• Lifehacker points out a map based local music search: Find Local Music with Gruvr Maps. It’s a neat app, we’ll see if it can handle the # of shows in Austin.
• Rolling Stone lists the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time

Enjoy.

A few weeks back I posted about The Energy Detective – a new product for Home Energy Monitoring. Since then there have been several other great articles about new options for monitoring energy prices and home energy consumption:

First, local builder Matt Risinger added a link to the Kill-a-Watt device in the comments of my original post.

The Kill-a-Watt is plugged in between a device (lamp, computer, microwave) and a power outlet. This way it can monitor the power consumed the plugged-in device. Here is a detailed review of the Kill-a-Watt EZ on the Gadgeteer blog. Definitely a good option to monitor the power of specific appliances.

One important aspect of energy consumption is the effect of demand on energy prices. Electricity prices rise during times of peak demand (like during hot afternoons). Reducing your power consumption during these peak periods can have a big impact on your electricity bill. Two new technologies have been used to help customers reduce their peak demand.

First, the Ambient Orb – this device was designed as a way to unobtrusively convey useful information (stock prices, temperatures, etc.). It was effectively used by Southern California Edison Power company to make customers aware of energy prices, and thereby reduce their peak demand. Here are a few articles on this topic:

• Wired Magazine: Clive Thompson Thinks: Desktop Orb Could Reform Energy Hogs
• Inhabitat: Ambient Orb Coverage

This use of the Ambient Orb was so popular that Ambient devices released the Energy Orb, an Ambient Orb built (not hacked) for this purpose.

Interestingly, the Ambient Systems (maker of the Ambient Orb) also makes a product specifically for tracking energy prices and consumption – the Energy Joule.

Like the ambient orb, it changes color to indicate the current energy cost. It also displays temperature, energy usage, and energy cost meters. Here are a couple of links discussing the Energy Joule:

• Infosthetics: Ambient Devices Energy Joule
• Inhabitat: Energy Joule Coverage

As you can see there are lots of options for home energy monitoring. Any of these devices are excellent tools to encourage efficient energy usage.