Austin Real Estate Market Report

Austin Home Sales Held Steady in September

Inside Austin city limits, home sales decreased 0.9 percent in September, year-over-year, to 702 home sales.

After a summer of fast-paced home sales, the Austin area saw a slight decrease in single-family home sales. But sales fell less than a percentage point, and the Austin Board of Realtors say the metro area is still on pace for a record year in 2018.

“Austin-area housing market activity has bucked the trend of a cool-weather slowdown over the last several years, maintaining much of the momentum from the summer months through the end of the year,” said Steve Crorey, 2018 president of the Austin Board of Realtors. “Home sales growth declined five percent last September, so it’s good to see that the area housing market held steady in September 2018. Austin continues to be one of the fastest-growing markets and most competitive housing markets in the country.”

Inside Austin city limits, home sales decreased 0.9 percent in September, year-over-year, to 702 home sales. At the same time, the median price for a single-family home in Austin climbed from $353,500 to $365,000. Meanwhile, new listings fell 11.3 percent.

Rising prices certainly have played a role in the stabilization of Austin home sales after years of exceptional growth. But interest rates have increased a bit, which is also playing a role.

“Higher interest rates have cut affordability and are holding back home sales,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist and senior vice president of research at the National Association of Realtors. “But steady growth in jobs and income will boost housing demand over time. Increasing housing supply as reflected in higher housing permits will also help slow home price growth and help consumers.”

In the Austin metro area, home sales also decreased 0.9 percent year-over-year. But the metro is still ahead of where it was this far into 2017.

Looking back at the last 12 months, Austin home prices average out at $386,564. That’s up from $372,492 in 2017 and $353,919 in 2016. Meanwhile, the number of days homes are on the market, on average, has climbed from 50 days in 2016 to 54 last year and 56 in the past 12 months.

North of Austin in Williamson County, the pace of sales fell 9.1 percent year-over-year while prices climbed by 2.2 percent to $275,978. To Austin’s south, in Hays County, sales climbed by 10.8 percent in September. The median price there, meanwhile, climbed 3.4 percent to $258,500.

Here are more Austin metro area home sales figures from September 2018.

Median Price for Single-Family Homes in the Austin Area — $302,250

Single-Family Homes Sold in the Austin Area — 2,368

Average Number of Days on the Market — 53

Total Dollar Volume of Homes Sold in the Area — $906 Million

Months of Housing Inventory Available — 3

New Listings — 2,790

Active Listings — 7,706

Pending Sales — 2,362