Luxe Austin Homes - median sale price

"Housing market shifts to favor buyers — but they're not buying"

Austin Business Journal writes, "Like much else about the U.S. economy, tariffs and broader uncertainty are weighing on home sales amid the industry's crucial spring season.

In March, more than 375,000 homes were newly listed on the market — an increase of nearly 9% compared to the same time last year, according to Zillow Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ZG) research. But newly pending sales were flat compared to last year, despite slightly lower average mortgage rates in March 2025 compared to a year ago.

That's despite several aspects of the market — including price cuts hitting their highest point in at least seven years — shifting to favor buyers.

Inventory rose to 1.15 million homes in March, an increase of 19% from last year and the most inventory…

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"Prices still at record levels even as existing-home sales tick up"

Key takeaways

• Existing-home sales in October 2024 rose 3.4 percent from the previous month and 2.9 percent from a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors — the metric’s first annual gain since 2021.
• The nationwide median sale price was $407,200, up 4 percent from last year and the highest October median on record.
• Inventory in October was at a 4.2-month supply — still tight, but a sign that buyers are gaining more bargaining power.

Bankrate.com writes, "The housing market suffered from sluggish sales again in October 2024, but sales volumes finally are looking up. And home prices remain near record highs, a new report by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows.

The median home-sale price marked the highest…

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"Housing inventory, listings increase in Austin metro as mortgage rates remain elevated"

Austin Business Journal reports, "Mortgage rates remain elevated compared to recent years, but Austin-area homebuyers have a robust inventory of choices, according to the latest market data from the Austin Board of Realtors and Unlock MLS.

The median sale price for homes fell slightly in October to $430,000, a 3.2% drop from the same time last year. And with a housing inventory that eclipsed the five-month mark, buyers had plenty of options.

Meanwhile, overall transaction volume remained flat year-over-year, as both active and new listings increased compared to October 2023.

But elevated mortgage rates — the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.79% for the week of Nov. 7 — continue to be the biggest factor affecting home sales, said…

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"Mortgage rates finally fell, but homebuyers still face a big problem"

Austin Business Journal writes, "The Federal Reserve may have cut interest rates last month, but homebuyers still face a challenge when assessing the current market for real estate: home prices.

Prices were up 5.9% in the third quarter this year over the same three-month period in 2023, according to data from Fannie Mae. While that increase is down from a 6.4% spike in the second quarter, it’s still a substantial jump for buyers who are looking for a home.

Mark Palim, Fannie Mae senior vice president and chief economist, said the “robust” growth is because of a lack of supply. Many current owners don’t want to sell their homes and give up the low interest rate they obtained earlier only to step into a high-interest rate environment.

“Even though…

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"Austin home prices jumped 87 percent in 10 years, report reveals"

CultureMap Austin shares, "A new real estate report confirms something that Austinites pretty much already knew: The city of Austin saw a significant increase in housing prices among U.S. cities within the last decade, with median home prices skyrocketing up to 87 percent.

The report by online real estate database PropertyShark analyzed median home sale prices in 41 of the most populous U.S. cities and locales in 2014 and 2023. According to the study, the median sale price of a home in Austin in 2014 was $287,000. A decade later, median housing prices in the city nearly doubled, landing at $538,000 in 2023.

Demand for housing increased dramatically due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when "millions of office employees suddenly shifted to working from…

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"Is Austin's housing market overvalued? At least by one measure, the answer is yes"

Austin Business Journal writes, "Home prices in Austin are eclipsing the median buying power of local residents.

That's according to data from First American Financial Corp., which found the housing markets in at least half of the nation's major metro areas are overvalued compared to local buying power.

Home prices have soared nationally over the past decade — especially during the pandemic — and that's driving a significant affordability crisis in many regions. High interest rates and a sustained lack of inventory aren't helping matters.

Local buying power in Austin is $434,663, according to the data. Unfortunately for those in the market for a new home, the median sale price of a house in Austin was clocked at $466,867. That's about a…

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"Home prices have reached a milestone. Here's why it's a double-edged sword."

Austin Business Journal shares, "The median sale price for U.S. homes hit a record $383,725 during the four weeks ending April 21, up more than 5% from a year earlier, according to newly available data from real estate firm Redfin Corp.

The increase comes even as the supply of homes also has gone up, with 10.2% more new listings compared to the same time last year.

The record-high sale price is double what the median price was 10 years ago and up about 50% over the past five years, according to Redfin (Nasdaq: RDFN).

High interest rates have kept mortgage rates above 7%, and there's little indication from the Federal Reserve that interest rates will be measurably declining in the near term. That combination has helped push the median monthly…

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"The housing market is slowing but home prices are still going up"

Austin Business Journal writes, "this year's housing market, beset by high interest rates, is on track for the lowest number of homes sold in 12 years.

Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored mortgage financing organization, projects total home sales in 2023 to be about 4.8 million, the lowest since 2011, and only slightly higher in 2024 at 4.9 million. The total amount of mortgage originations for 2023 is expected to be about $1.56 trillion, down from what Fannie Mae had originally projected to be $1.6 trillion this year.

Fannie Mae sees personal spending to be at unsustainable levels relative to American incomes and it projects a "modest economic contraction" in the first half of 2024, combined with mortgage rates hovering above 7%.

And while…

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