Luxe Austin Homes - affordability

"Austin Is The New Austin"

National Mortgage Professional writes, "there’s no such thing as a perfect housing market, but Austin is trying to check off all the boxes for would-be buyers. Young and savvy tech professionals are flocking to the funky metro known for its music scene to scoop up jobs and take the plunge into homeownership.

Since Austin is attracting new buyers and transforming long-term renters into prospective homeowners, LOs aren’t having trouble wrangling customers to buy loans. And it helps that 25.8% of homes in Austin have lower estimated monthly housing payments than they would have if they had been for sale a year ago, according to Redfin. Year-to-date home sales price data from the Austin Board of Realtors show a 12.6% decline in the median price for…

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"July data shows high interest rates not slowing Austin metro housing market"

Community Impact Austin reports, "while homes in cities across the Austin-Round Rock metropolitan statistical area have been hit with high interest rates in recent months, data from the Austin Board of Realtors shows that the market is continuing to stabilize.

According to July ABoR data for the metro, closed listings increased 0.6% year over year to 2,815 sales. Homes spent an average of 59 days on the market—37 more days compared to last year—and the number of new listings on the market also fell, but active listings and overall home inventory increased. Additionally, median home prices across the metro is down 10% for an average of $462,000.

The breakdown

In Travis County, year over year:

• There were 5.5% more sales, 15.8% more active listings…

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"Q&A: Austin Board of Realtors housing economist helps others ride the waves of Austin market"

Community Impact Austin shares, "Clare Losey joined the Austin Board of Realtors as its housing economist in March. She graduated from Texas A&M University with a PhD in August 2021 and previously worked at the Texas Real Estate Research Center. This interview has been edited for clarity and consistency.

What made you choose Austin?

I attended [The University of Texas] for undergrad and just really fell in love with Austin, and I love just the outdoorsy aspect of it. I think folks here tend to strike a happy medium; they tend to find jobs that they’re at least reasonably passionate about, but yet they have hobbies on the side that they really enjoy.

What do you do as a housing economist for the ABoR?

Much of what I do is focus just on digesting what’s…

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"Home prices stabilize after historic highs in Southwest Austin area"

Community Impact Austin writes, "even as Southwest Austin remains among the most desirable and pricier areas of the metro to buy or rent, local data points to the housing market settling down after a recent burst of activity.

Movement toward a more balanced market has been underway since last year with observers crediting broader trends, such as rising interest rates, lasting inflation and more mild job growth, for spurring the changes. Every month in 2023 has seen local homes priced well below 2022 levels and taking longer to sell.

The days of new home listings drawing crowds and selling rapidly are not entirely over, some real estate experts said. Generally, they said buyers now have a better chance to explore their options thanks to narrowing…

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"Austin housing market improved over the first 6 months of 2023, despite economic challenges"

CultureMap Austin reports, "despite economic struggles, lack of housing availability, and affordability woes making up a majority of concerns with the Austin-Round Rock housing market, overall trends have improved through the first half of 2023. The latest Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR) report details a need for more inventory to address rapid population growth.

"Despite a slight uptick in mortgage rates in June, the median sales price rose a modest 2.7 percent from May," said ABoR's housing economist Dr. Clare Losey. "Overall, the moderation in home prices throughout the region over the past year has eased the affordability constraint posed by higher rates, but more work needs to be done across the region and into the future to fully address this…

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"Austin housing prices are down one year after setting spring records"

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…

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"Housing Market Predictions For 2023: Are Home Prices Finally Becoming Affordable?"

Could a housing recovery possibly be underway?

In March, mortgage rates ended the month over 30 basis points lower than where they started and more buyers returned to the market. Home sales prices fell year-over-year in February—the first time in nearly 11 years—and total home sales saw their largest monthly percentage increase since July 2020. However, many economists remain mixed about how much more home prices will drop this year.

For one, the nation’s housing supply remains limited. Those who purchased homes in recent years at record-low interest rates are staying put. Tight inventory issues, in part, are also keeping prices from dropping off, which is perpetuating affordability challenges for many, especially first-time homebuyers.

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"Report shows Southwest Austin home prices down, inventory up"

Community Impact shares, "the latest Austin Board of Realtors report shows home prices are down and inventory is up in Southwest Austin compared to this time last year.

For the month of January, the median home price in Southwest Austin was $537,450, down from $587,100 in January 2022.

Southwest Austin is not alone with this downward trend, as median home prices throughout Austin decreased 6.3% to $450,000 in January 2023. This is the largest drop since July 2011, according to the ABoR report.

While prices are dropping, inventory is going up in the area, according to the report. In January 2023, there were two months of inventory compared to January 2022 when there were 0.4 months of inventory, the report shows.

"January's data demonstrates the…

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"January housing report: Central Austin home prices trend downward, housing inventory increases"

Community Impact writes, "home prices are continuing to trend downward, and housing inventory is on a steady uptick in Central Austin, according to Austin Board of Realtors January report.

In January, median home prices in Central Austin decreased 0.2% to $680,000 in Central Austin.

This trend was reflected throughout the Austin-Round Rock area, where median home prices decreased 6.3% to $450,000, the largest drop since July 2011, according to ABoR.

ABoR President Ashley Jackson said that while the market is cooling within the Austin region, surrounding Central Texas cities are seeing an uptick in home prices.

“Outlying areas like Caldwell and Hays counties are the most affordable pockets in Central Texas. When we have a city like Austin challenged by…

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"Is Austin housing hot or not? Prices are sliding but buyers, sellers cautiously test waters"

Austin Business Journal writes, "despite chilly forecasts from the likes of Zillow and Goldman Sachs, others expect the heat to stay elevated in Austin’s housing market — by at least one measure, it's still among the hottest in the country.

Austin tied with Durham, North Carolina for third place in the U.S. News & World Report’s latest Housing Market Index, released Feb. 14. Raleigh, North Carolina ranked first and Denver ranked second.

The index takes into account data on employment, housing prices, builder sentiment and much more.

Austin ranked No. 4 in the supply sub-index, which included government data on housing supply, rental vacancy rates, construction costs, construction jobs, builder sentiment from the National Association of Home…

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