Austin Business Journal writes, "one year after setting a median sales price record of $550,000 last April, housing prices are down in the metro.
The median sales price in the Austin area was $466,705, a 15% year-over-year decrease that amounts to $83,295, according to the Austin Board of Realtors April market report. And while prices have been trending up in recent months, the year-over-year decrease is a welcome signal to Central Texas, which saw housing prices skyrocket at unsustainable rates during the Covid-19 pandemic to a level where many buyers were over-bidding on property. It wasn't uncommon for a $400,000 home to sell for closer to $500,000 in recent years.
“This is still a market that is seeing lots of activity, just not at a record-setting pace, and that is to be expected given broader economic trends,” said Ashley Jackson, 2023 ABOR president. “Home prices are moderating, pending sales are holding strong and homes on the market last month are selling closer to list price. These are all signs of a market that is still balancing and doing so in a healthy way.”
Rising interest rates have impacted affordability for any given household, but “should decline slightly later this year and into 2024,” said Clare Losey, a housing economist that joined ABOR earlier this month. “Meanwhile, over the past year, wage growth in the Austin-Round Rock MSA has outpaced that of the nation. These factors, combined with the moderation in home prices, will improve Austin’s housing affordability long-term, allowing more potential buyers to eventually enter the market.”
Potential buyers have seen an uptick in inventory in recent months.
The metro’s housing inventory reached 3.2 months in April, a level not seen since October and a 2.4 month increase over last April. Moreover, homes are spending an average of 71 days on the market, a 53-day year-over-year increase.
“The doubling of mortgage rates over the past year-plus has slowed the pace of home sales in our region,” Losey said. “As such, homes are spending more time on the market. The rise in active listings has brought much-needed inventory to our market … More inventory means more opportunities for buyers and a more sustainable pace of market activity.”
In addition to rising mortgage rates, fear of a recession, stress on the banking system and inflation have also contributed to declines in home prices nationally, Losey said.
“In Austin, robust job and population growth have mitigated these effects on homebuyer demand, favorably indicating that our region’s economy and housing market continue to outperform national economic trends. Austin remains resilient and able to withstand broader economic turbulence more effectively.”"
Source: Austin Business Journal
Written by: Cody Baird
Published: May 15, 2023
Posted by Grossman & Jones Group on
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