Austin Median Home Prices Hits All-Time High for September

Oblivious to the traditional end of the summer selling season, Austin’s real estate market carried on in September as if nothing had changed. According to the Austin Board of Realtors, the median price of a single-family home in the city of Austin rose 11.9 percent to $406,000 — an all-time high for any September on record. A tight inventory is driving prices up, according to the Realtors group. 

“The adverse effect of low housing stock within the Austin area is higher home prices,” said Kevin Scanlan, president of the Austin Board of Realtors, adding that the city would do well to increase affordable housing options.  “As the anchor city of our region, Austin and its land use code directly impact Central Texas’ ability to meet buyer demands for more housing that’s affordable. Austin has to get our new land use code right and needs to do it sooner rather than later.”

Emily Chenevert, CEO of Austin Board of Realtors, concurred: “Rewriting the land use code is a huge opportunity to improve the imbalance in our housing market and manage our growth. ABoR will support a code that does not infringe on the private property rights of existing owners, embraces the unique character of our community and promotes all types of housing across the city.” 

In the greater Austin area, single-family home sales in September experienced a double-digit percent increase of 13.4 percent to 2,654 home sales, and sales dollar volume jumped 19.6 percent to $1,062,527,517. The median price for single-family homes increased 6.7 percent to $320,000. During the same period, new listings increased 9.5 percent to 3,047 listings; active listings decreased 11.7 percent to 6,686 listings; and pending sales spiked 27.8 percent to 2,861 pending sales. Monthly housing inventory declined 0.4 months year over year to 2.5 months of inventory. 

In the city of Austin, single-family home sales increased by 14.8 percent to 798 sales in September. New listings remained flat at 808 listings; active listings decreased 24 percent to 1,274 listings; and pending sales jumped by 20.3 percent to 824 pending sales. Housing inventory decreased 0.5 months year over year to 1.6 months of inventory.

To the north, in Williamson County, September single-family home sales increased 22% to 953 sales. During the same period, the median price for single-family homes increased 6.1% to $295,000. New listings increased 18.9% to 1,121 listings while active listings decreased 12.4% to 2,352 listings. Pending sales spiked 28.3% to 980 pending sales. 

In September, Hays County single-family home sales increased 9.7% to 329 sales and sales dollar volume increased 6.3% to $107,164,718. The median price for a single-family home increased by 5.2% to $269,950. During the same period, new listings slightly decreased 0.6% to 334 listings; active listings decreased 3.5% to 963 listings; while pending sales jumped 29.3% to 344 pending sales. 

Here are additional Austin metro area home sales figures from September 2019.
Median Price for Single-Family Homes in the Austin Area — $320,000.
Single-Family Homes Sold in the Austin Area — 2,654
Average Number of Days on the Market — 49
Total Dollar Volume of Homes Sold in the Area — $1.1 billion
Months of Housing Inventory Available — 2.5
New Listings — 3,047
Active Listings — 6,686
Pending Sales — 2,861