SEED Property Group, located in Austin, Texas, provides updated market statistics on the Austin Real Estate Market.
Recently released statistics from the Austin Board of Realtors reveal that while October represented a month of uncertainty for most Austin home buyers and sellers with the November elections looming, home prices remained very strong across the Austin market area with sales price increases year over year. Our market continues to be strongly impacted by limited inventory and lack of affordability. The bulk of home sales in the Austin market remain under $500,000, and most even under $300,000.
City of Austin home sales (single family homes located within the Austin city limits) have been virtually flat year over year for the past several months, but surged in October with a 7.5% increase. The spike in sales, is attributed to new home sales and an increase in inventory. Infill builders (builders building spec homes in urban high density communities) like MX3, New Castle, Moore Tate along with production homes in close-in planned communities like Mueller, are increasing the options for buyers wanting to live close to Austin’s downtown. Given Austin’s traffic congestion, proximity to downtown and employers is a major consideration for most homebuyers.
According the Austin Board of Realtors, single-family home sales in the city of Austin jumped 7.5 percent year-over-year to 703 home sales in October 2016. Median price increased 6.5 percent year-over-year to $332,250, while housing inventory increased 0.2 months to 2.2 months. Active listings increased 11.3 percent year-over-year to 1,667 listings during the same time frame, while homes spent slightly more time on the market, or an average of 42 days.
Meanwhile, in the Austin-Roundrock market area, home sales declined 3.1 percent year over year, Median price rose 9.3 percent from October 2015 to $279,000, while housing inventory edged up 0.1 months year-over-year to 2.6 months of inventory. Single-family homes spent an average of 51 days on the market in October 2016, two days more than October 2015.
According to Metrostudy – Austin’s housing market is poised for a banner year with record home starts (new home construction) since 2006. The study sites the “big winners” in 2016 as builders offering smaller product that meets the budget and lifestyles of emerging family types.
Single-family home sales in Hays County were flat in October 2016, increasing 0.8 percent year-over-year to 258 home sales. The median price for single-family homes in Hays County jumped 17.5 percent to $249,945 in October 2016. Largely in part to active ongoing housing development throughout the area, housing inventory increased 0.4 months to 3.1 months of inventory in October 2016, while active listings for single-family homes jumped 17.6 percent year-over-year to 874 active listings.
The largest annual decline in home sales in October 2016 was in Williamson County, where single-family home sales fell 12.2 percent year-over-year to 744 home sales. The median price for single-family homes in Williamson County increased 7.1 percent year-over-year to $255,000, while housing inventory fell 0.1 months from October 2015 to 2.2 months of inventory.
Austin topped the charts for best overall real estate investment and development opportunities in the U.S according to the Urban Land Institute’s “Emerging Trends in Real Estate” survey released last month.
As reported by the Austin Business Journal, while Austin’s growth was once revered as somewhat of a fluke, today the city’s track record indicates that Austin is for real — “A solid investment market with an increasing number of opportunities, despite warning flags raised about the hot housing market.”
For more information about our Austin real estate market or more in depth information on last months sales data, please contact us at [email protected]