AUSTIN, TX — New homes that hit the real estate market in Austin are selling at a record pace and are often gone in less than three times the amount of time as other new homes across Texas, according to a new report.

New homes listed the city remained on the market an average of only 17 days in September, according to a new monthly report released this week by HomesUSA.com. The new record pace is down drastically from an average of homes spending 83 days on the market at this time in 2020, according to a three-month average of new home sales.

In Texas, the average time on the market for new homes was 54 days, according to the report, which also marked the least amount of time spent listed since the rate was at 93 days last September, the report said.

"The Austin new homes market is moving at breakneck speed," Ben Caballero, owner of HomesUSA.com, said in a news release. "Builders are building homes as fast as they can, but record low inventory continues to push prices higher."

According to Caballero, home builders in the United States built an average of 1.1 million single-family homes each year between 1959 and 2007. Since that time, however, builders have not managed to match that total, which has created a nationwide shortage of 5.5 million homes, he said.

All reports tracking how long new homes spend on the market are the lowest recorded since the launch of the index that HomesUSA.com created in 2017 and are believed to be the fastest sales pace ever, the company said in the news release.

Low inventory, in turn, is driving new home prices higher. The three-month moving average for a new home in Austin broke the $400,000 price barrier, averaging $480,157 in September and $443,374 in August, the company said. The average new home price was higher in all four of the state's major new home markets last month.

With the except of Austin, local MLS data shows new home sales continue to fall but that is likely a result of limited MLS inventory not because builders are actually selling fewer homes, according to Caballero. Austin reported new home sales totaling 392 for September versus 349 for August. Total home sales as recorded by local MLSs declined statewide and in Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, and San Antonio.

"Typically, Days on Market averages are higher for new homes than resale homes by about 60 days due to construction time," Caballero said. "But now new homes are selling so fast, builders are not listing homes until they know their construction costs." As a result, the DOM for new homes has "closed the gap" and is currently closer to the resale market than ever recorded."


Source: Patch.com

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