The Austin area housing market posted higher inventory levels than usual in July, giving the city a nice trend shift in favor of home buyers.
“In years past, the high demand of the summer selling season has further constrained inventory levels and further pushed up home prices,” said Brandy Guthrie, 2017 President of the Austin Board of Realtors. “This year has been different, with steady gains in sales volume as well as listings and inventory throughout the summer. During a month when housing inventory should reach its lowest point of the year, housing inventory across the Central Texas region is at its highest point since fall 2012.”
Meanwhile, sales continued a hot streak, although without posting big year-over-year gains. Single-family home sales in the Austin metro area climbed 2.8 percent from July 2016 to 2,892 homes sold. Inside the city of Austin, the pace of sales cooled from a year ago, with a 2.5 percent decrease that highlights the lack of affordable homes in the city’s core.
The average sales price for a home in the Austin-Round Rock MSA, as shown on the graphs below, has grown to nearly $368,478 as compared to about $366,000 our July 2016 report, an increase of 6% per square foot. The average days on market stayed steady at about 51 days. Interestingly, the number of new listings in July 2017 was 3,864, which is 4% higher than July 2016, which continues to work in homebuyers’ favor.
“Strong homebuilding activity throughout Central Texas – particularly in Williamson and Hays counties – has been a key driver of housing inventory growth and in starting the region’s housing market on the path towards a balance between supply and demand,” Guthrie said. “It’s important to note, however, that as home prices and development costs continue to rise, so does the price range of homes on the market.”
You can see the dynamic in the numbers. Travis County home sales fell 1.1 percent year-over-year. Meanwhile, sales increased 15.3 percent in Hays County — that’s 376 homes sold. And Williamson County, north of Austin, saw a 2.3 percent uptick, with 1,004 home sales.
“While housing development is critical to maintaining inventory amidst rapid demand, the long-term sustainability of our market lies not in the pace of development but in the price points and types of housing options being developed,” Guthrie said. “Without sound development policies in place that allow for lower-cost housing solutions to be built in Austin and in surrounding markets, our region’s housing affordability crisis will only continue to worsen.”
Here are a few other key stats from the Austin Board of Realtor’s housing report on the Austin metro area in the month of June.
- Median Price for Single-Family Homes in the Austin Area — $301,332
- Single-Family Homes Sold in the Austin Area — 2,892
- Average Number of Days on the Market — 44
- Total Dollar Volume of Homes Sold in the Area — $1.12 billion
- Months of Housing Inventory Available — 3.2
- New Listings — 3,864
- Active Listings — 7,965
- Pending Sales — 2,948