Even with the ever-rising price of a home, Austin once again logged a record-breaking year in 2014 for single-family home sales volume, according to a new report by the Austin Board of REALTORS®.
All told, 27,768 homes sold in the Austin area in 2014. That’s about $8.6 billion worth of real estate transactions.
Austin’s robust job market and booming population have fueled sales volume increases for four years in a row. And strong demand continues to push up prices.
While annual home sales volumes grew by 2 percent compared to 2013, the median price of a home increased 8 percent to $242,500 and the average price hit $309,975 — a 7 percent jump.
“The Austin-area housing market is consistent, but so are its challenges,” said Barb Cooper, the 2015 President of ABoR. “More homes on the market, at all price ranges and throughout all areas of Austin, will be crucial to maintaining Austin’s affordability in 2015.”
Meanwhile, Austin posted record sales volumes for the month of December, too. Nearly 2,300 homes were sold in the Austin area, a 14 percent increase over December 2013.
The median home price for December climbed 10 percent beyond the median price during the same month in 2013.
Not surprisingly, Austin’s housing inventory remains low, even though it shook off an 18-month trend of monthly decreases at the end of 2014. The slow rise in housing inventory — thanks to an increase in listings during the last half of 2014 — still leaves Austin out of balance under guidelines established by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.
Active listings were up during December 2014, beating December 2013 by 12 percent, and new listings climbed by 10 percent.
Homes spent an average of 47 days on the market in 2014 — about three days less than 2013.
“The Austin area experienced a strong, stable housing market in 2014, with year-end 2014 showing similar market conditions to those one year ago,” Cooper said. “The U.S. Census Bureau named Austin the third-fastest growing big city in America since 2000. That steady job and population growth has continued to drive increases in home sales volume and, combined with low housing inventory levels, home prices as well.”
Townhomes and condos, meanwhile, spent an average of 43 days on the market in 2014. That’s nine days less than 2013.
Like homes, condos increased in average price during 2014 to $220,750, a 5 percent increase over the year prior. Overall, 3,150 condos sold during 2014, which was about the same 2013.
Just the Stats
2014 Year-End Totals
- 27,768 – Single-family homes sold, two percent more than 2013.
- $242,500 – Median price for single-family homes, eight percent more than 2013.
- $309,975 – Average price for single-family homes, seven percent more than 2013.
- 47 – Average number of days that single-family homes spent on the market, three days fewer than 2013.
- 35,423 – New single-family home listings on the market, four percent more than 2013.
- 5,734 – Active single-family home listings on the market, four percent more than 2013.
- 28,325 – Pending sales for single-family homes, one percent more than 2013.
- $8,607,385,376 – Total dollar volume of single-family properties sold, nine percent more than 2013.
December 2014 Statistics
- 2,283 – Single-family homes sold, 14 percent more than December 2013.
- $246,530 – Median price for single-family homes, 10 percent more than December 2013.
- $311,082 – Average price for single-family homes, six percent more than December 2013.
- 55 – Average number of days single-family homes spent on the market, three days more than December 2013.
- 1,546 – New single-family home listings on the market, 10 percent more than December 2013.
- 5,077 – Active single-family home listings on the market, 12 percent more than December 2013.
- 1,623 – Pending sales for single-family homes, 18 percent more than December 2013.
- 2.2 – Months of inventory* of single-family homes, 0.2 month more than December 2013.
- $710,200,206 – Total dollar volume of single-family properties sold, 21 percent more than December 2013.