Austin Business Journal shares, "The Federal Reserve has lowered rates by a quarter point, a welcome sign for homebuyers.
The federal funds rate is now 4% to 4.25%, according to a Sept. 17 announcement, marking the Fed's first rate cut since December. The cut comes as economic indicators point to the growth of economic activity moderating in the first half of the year, job gains slowing and the national unemployment rate increasing to 4.3%, according to the announcement.
Lowering the rate could have an impact on housing affordability in the Austin metro, where the median price of a home was $444,490 in August, 1.3% more than the year prior.
“Even a small rate shift can improve affordability and prompt more buyers to re-enter the market, a trend we’ve seen in past cycles,” Vaike O’Grady, research advisor at Unlock MLS, said in a statement.
Austin’s housing market was already displaying healthy movement ahead of the rate cut. Pending sales are on the rise — 2,669 sales were pending in August, an 8.2% year-over-year increase — and the market had a fairly balanced level of inventory last month at 5.9 months with 14,220 home listings on the market, 13% more than the same time last year, according to data from the Austin Board of Realtors.
The metro’s most expensive homes on average remain in the city of Austin itself, where the median sales price of a home in August was $590,000. Much of the talk surrounding affordability in the metro over the past several years has been about workforce housing, as Austin’s home prices have been largely unattainable for occupations such as teachers and first responders, and this rate cut could be a step toward them and their families being able to afford homes in the heart of the metro rather than the surrounding suburbs, where home prices are generally more affordable."
Source: Austin Business Journal
Written by: Cody Baird
Published: September 18, 2025
Posted by Grossman & Jones Group on
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