In October, the most recent data available, the median sales price of a home in Williamson County clocked in at $420,000 compared to $510,000 in Travis County and $565,000 in the city of Austin, according to the Austin Board of Realtors’ and Unlock MLS’ latest market data.
While the more affordable inventory in Williamson County is attractive to first-time homebuyers, the job market fueled by employers such as Apple and Samsung is also a major driver of demand in the region.
Kent Redding, ABOR's 2024 president, said buyers are comparing the average sales price of a home in Austin to other areas of the metro and deciding they simply can’t afford a house in Austin — especially at a time when mortgage rates are elevated.
The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage as of Dec. 5 was 6.69%, according to Freddie Mac.
Williamson County’s more affordable inventory has been attractive to first-time homebuyers in 2024, added Clare Losey, ABOR's housing economist. As a result of mortgage rates climbing in 2022, first-time buyers “sidelined” themselves through 2023, expecting mortgage rates to lower in 2024. Though mortgage rates have not fallen significantly in 2024, many of those first-time buyers have since been re-entering the market.
"First-time homebuyers have sort of taken themselves off of the sidelines and said, ‘You know what? Even though rates aren’t necessarily lower in 2024, we want to go ahead and purchase a home,'" Losey said. "That’s why we have seen a stronger performance among that more affordable inventory within just the broader MSA.”
There were 807 closed home sales in Williamson County in October, which trailed only Travis County’s 979 closed sales.
Besides affordable homes, Williamson County’s growing economy has been a draw for homebuyers.
“Instead of being a bedroom community that was just a cousin of Travis County, [Williamson County] has built up their own industry and their own job market substantially,” Redding said.
And Williamson County’s booming economy could continue to be a major boon for its housing market over the next decade thanks to major employers like Samsung and the businesses that crop up to support it, Losey said. Williamson County has already grown from a population of 609,006 in 2020 to an estimated 697,191 in July 2023, a period in which many major employers and economic drivers, such as Samsung, staked their claim on the region.
Williamson County at a glance
Williamson County boasted a home inventory of 4.2 months in October. That trails the metro average of 5.1 months of inventory, but can partially be explained by the higher percentage of first-time homeowners in Williamson County, Losey said.
The fact of the matter is, Williamson County has been a bastion for first-time buyers in recent years, and they're reluctant to sell any time soon.
“They can’t necessarily recoup their initial investment and make a profit, so to speak, until a couple of years down the road,” Losey said. First-time homebuyers, we tend to think of them residing in their home for about five to seven years.”
And despite a more muted inventory compared to the metro average, new listings, active listings and pending sales in Williamson County were all up in October. Active listings rose to 3,369, up 9.2% year-over-year; new listings reached 1,028, up 7.1% year-over-year; and pending sales hit 835, up 11.3% year-over-year.
Of course, this is the scene today. Developers are ringing alarm bells because Williamson County land prices are so high in the wake of the pandemic, it's a struggle to put together a business plan that would yield market-rate housing in the coming years — much less any housing that can be deemed affordable."
Source: Austin Business Journal
Written by: Cody Baird
Published: December 12, 2024
Posted by Grossman & Jones Group on
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