Austin area home sales only increased a little bit in August, compared to the same month a year prior. But don’t let the modest increase mislead — Austin is coming off the hottest summer of residential real estate sales ever.
Single-family home sales volume hit a new milestone this summer as the metro area’s sales exceeded $1 billion in June, July and August, the Austin Board of Realtors reported. The $1 billion mark is getting to be the new norm as housing prices continue to rise. The median rate also set records this summer, with median prices above $300,000 each month.
Moving Toward a Balanced Market
Observers say not to expect the breakneck pace of sales and climbing prices to continue indefinitely.
“The Austin-Round Rock MSA looks like it is moving toward a more normalized housing market,” said Jim Gaines, chief economist for The Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. “Similar to what we’re seeing across the state, housing inventory levels are slowly increasing, despite continued increases in sales volume and median price. That could indicate that in the latter half of 2017, we will likely experience some slowing of the home price increases that have become common in recent years – not price decreases, as the relationship between home buying and selling activity begins to balance out.”
Looking year to year, you can also see the trend lines. In the last 12 months, average sale prices increased from $353,919 to $369,624. In 2015, it was $330,523. That’s almost a 12 percent increase over two years. Meanwhile, the pace of sales climbed from 29,805 last year to 30,221 this year.
Supply of Listings Increases
Another storyline in Austin’s evolving real estate market is the city’s increasing inventory of homes, largely driven by aggressive development across the region.
Housing inventory levels were above 3 months everywhere in the Austin area, except in the city itself, where it was 2.4 months of inventory. That’s below what experts recommend for a balanced market. But it represents an improvement in Austin.
“With the Central Texas population growing at record levels, housing affordability continues to be strained,” Brandy Guthrie, 2017 president of the Austin Board of Realtors, said. “While we’re currently seeing positive upticks in housing inventory across our region, housing prices will continue to rise with demand.”
Key Austin Housing Market Statistics
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 August.
- Median Price for Single-Family Homes in the Austin Area — $300,000
- Single-Family Homes Sold in the Austin Area — 2,994
- Average Number of Days on the Market — 46
- Total Dollar Volume of Homes Sold in the Area — $1.13 billion
- Months of Housing Inventory Available — 3.1
- New Listings — 3,316
- Active Listings — 7,781
- Pending Sales — 2,710