Competition Heats Up in Austin’s Real Estate Market
Competition is heating up in Austin’s residential real estate market. That’s the message from the Austin Board of Realtors this month after seeing home prices climb and sales increase year-over-year in April.
The dynamic is perhaps most pronounced inside Austin’s city limits where the average price of a home climbed 9.3 percent year-over-year to $390,000. Meanwhile, sales increased 7.4 percent year-over-year in April — or 859 closed deals.
“In the Austin-Round Rock MSA, price classes across the board are seeing an increase in demand with a decrease in inventory,” said Steve Crorey, 2018 president of the Austin Board of Realtors. “While new listings are up year-over-year, homes are selling faster than they can be listed on the market. This has led to a smaller number of active listings and an increasingly competitive market for homebuyers.”
Looked at from a different perspective, the average sales price of a home in Austin has increased from $372,492 in 2017 to $378.907 in the most recent 12 months. Meanwhile, the number of homes sold climbed from 30,572 in 2017 to 30,980 in the past 12 months.
Austin metro area homes priced between $150,000 and $250,000 have been selling fastest as more people look for affordable options in the area. Those homes closed within 35 days of being listed. Meanwhile, in Austin, homes took 20-33 days on the market to sell.
Supplies continue to dwindle as Austin’s population boom continues, although at a slightly slower pace than a few years ago.
Williamson County reported 7.6 percent more sales in April this year, compared to last April. Meanwhile, median prices climbed 3.6 percent to $285,000.
Hays County, however, had an 8.5 percent year-over-year decrease in sales and the median price shrank by 6.8 percent to $247,000.
Here are additional Austin metro area home sales stats from April 2018.
- Median Price for Single-Family Homes in the Austin Area — $316,000
- Single-Family Homes Sold in the Austin Area — 2,611
- Average Number of Days on the Market — 51
- Total Dollar Volume of Homes Sold in the Area — $1.1 billion
- Months of Housing Inventory Available — 2.4
- New Listings — 4,139
- Active Listings — 6,154
- Pending Sales — 3,320