Austin Housing Market Remains Strong, Suggests Trend Toward Pricing Stabilization
After a strong first quarter, real estate sales in the Austin area remained strong in April, with sales surging 16% when compared to the same period in 2018. Median sales prices, however, increased by a much smaller number, suggesting a stabilization in market prices might be imminent, according to the Austin Board of Realtors.
“In the first quarter of the year, the median price of a single-family home in the Austin-Round Rock MSA increased by just 0.2 percent, which is a much smaller margin compared to previous years. Between 2012 and 2015, we saw price increases as high as 9 percent,” said Kevin P. Scanlan, president of the Austin Board of Realtors. “These narrower margins are a strong indication that market prices are starting to stabilize.”
After a five-year — from December 2013 to December 2018 — median home price hike of 33 percent, the time might be right for a stabilization. The median home price in Austin jumped from $226,000 to $301,391 during that period. Statewide, this increase was bettered only by Fort Worth, which saw a 52 percent increase.
In the Austin metro area, the median home price increased to $320,000. Home sales increased year over year by 14.9 percent to 3,035 sales; sales dollar volume increased 14.1 percent to $1,207,238,711. During the same period, new listings decreased 1.8 percent to 4,018 new listings, while active listings increased 1 percent to 6,217 active listings. Pending sales jumped 14.3 percent to 3,588 pending sales. Housing inventory in April remained unchanged at 2.4 months of inventory.
A slight dip in new listings one month “isn’t indicative of a larger trend,” according to Scanlan. “We expect to see listings increase as we enter the summer selling season.”
Over the last 12 months, the average sales price of Austin-area homes was $388,553, a very slight decrease from a 2018 average sales prices of $388,786, and higher than the 2017 average of $372,492. Meanwhile, the average number of days homes spent on the market was flat in the last twelve months as compared to 2018, at 57. That’s up slightly from 2017, at 54. The number of houses sold in the last 12 months was 31,406, up from 30,867 in 2018 and 30,572 in 2017.
Within Austin proper, the median home price in April increased year over year by 1.1 percent to $394,450, while single-family home sales increased by 3.6% to 889 sales. Inventory dropped by 0.2 months to 1.5 months of inventory.
North of Austin, the high-growth area of Williamson County saw single-family homes sales increase by 22.6 percent, to 1,122 sales, possibly as a result of the median home price seeing a small, .5 percent dip and a decrease of 3.7 percent in new listings. Pending sales were up 13 percent.
In also-booming Hays County, home sales increased by 17.2 percent to 341 in April, despite the median price for a single-family home in this area increasing year over year by 18.7 percent to $296,500. New listings increased in April by 10.1 percent to 458.
Here are additional Austin metro area home sales figures from April 2019.
Median Price for Single-Family Homes in the Austin Area — $320,000.
Single-Family Homes Sold in the Austin Area — 3,035
Average Number of Days on the Market — 50
Total Dollar Volume of Homes Sold in the Area — $1.2 billion
Months of Housing Inventory Available — 2.4
New Listings — 4,018
Active Listings — 6,217
Pending Sales — 3,588
