The Austin area has boomed throughout 2015, and residential home sales are on track to outpace all the activity in the market in 2014, according to the latest figures recorded by the Austin Board of Realtors.
And that’s despite a slight slowdown in sales during November, when residential home sales declined by 4 percent compared to last year. It was only the second month of the year that saw a decrease compared to 2014.
The rapid pace of sales is particularly remarkable when considering how quickly home values have increased. November, like most months this year, saw a new record for the median home sale price. It increased 10 percent compared to last year, reaching $270,000. And the average sale price climbed even more — by 12 percent — to hit $347,292.
It’s another sign of how strong Austin’s economy has been, and there continue to be plenty of signs that the growth will continue. The metro area’s unemployment rate has remained below 4 percent for 12 months — the lowest sustained rate since the late 1990s. And several of the city’s biggest employers are poised to expand in 2016, including big hiring efforts by high-paying technology companies.
“With the Austin-area population exceeding two million over the summer, growth in Central Texas is showing no signs of slowing,” said Barb Cooper, 2015 President of the Austin Board of Realtors.
Nationally, the economy was deemed healthy enough for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates slightly. But the slight uptick doesn’t seem likely to have a significant impact on the pace of Austin’s growth.
“Millennials—a large portion of Austin’s population—have never seen interest rates go above 10 percent, so some might be concerned about the impact higher interest rates will have on Austin’s housing market and economy,” said Mark Sprague, State Director of Information Capital at Independence Title Company. “Even with this increase, however, interest rates are still among the lowest they have ever been, and we do not anticipate a significant impact on the Austin-area housing market.”
The city’s housing supply has remained relatively low, but steady, with about 2.4 months of inventory in November. And the average time a home is on the market has also held steady at 54 days — just a day less than November last year.
Here’s a look at the rest of the November 2015 Statistics
- 1,814 – Single-family homes sold, four percent less than November 2014.
- $270,000 – Median price for single-family homes, 10 percent more than November 2014.
- $347,292 – Average price for single-family homes, 12 percent more than November 2014.
- 54 – Average number of days single-family homes spent on the market, one day less than November 2014.
- 2,095 – New single-family home listings on the market, one percent more than November 2014.
- 5,703 – Active single-family home listings on the market, three percent more than November 2014.
- 1,965 – Pending sales for single-family homes, four percent more than November 2014.
- 4 – Months of inventory* of single-family homes, unchanged compared to November 2014.
- $629,987,688 – Total dollar volume of single-family properties sold, eight percent more than November 2014.
