If you’re buying or selling a home in the Austin metro you may wonder why everyone is talking about a slow down in the real estate industry when here we are in Austin with not only record-breaking months but even another potentially record-breaking year. Last month’s rapid sales pace was busy enough to put the Austin MSA on track to have the most annual sales ever as only 300 sales are needed in December to exceed last year’s total sales.
Many of those sales happened in the Travis County suburbs and Williamson County. The latter had 927 sales in November and pending sales rose sharply by 32.5%. More noteworthy is that the median price actually fell by 0.4% year-over-year. Despite the extremely tight inventory and high prices, the city of Austin had 670 sales last month.
November 2019 Single-Family Home Stats to Know
The November 2019 Austin-Round Rock MSA stats from the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR) Central Texas Housing Market Report prove there’s no slowdown in sight:
- Median single-family home price increased 1.7% y-o-y to $305,000.
- Median single-family home price in Austin rose 10.6% y-o-y to $405,000.
- A total of 2,554 homes were sold, a y-o-y increase of 14.3%.
- Total sales volume went up 18.3% y-o-y to $984,201,220.
- Months of inventory decreased 0.5 months to end November at 2.1 months.
- Pending sales increased by 21.9% y-o-y to end the month at 2,526.
Urban Sprawl on Track to Expand in 2020
As always, low inventory is still an issue here in our local Austin real estate market. It’s pushing prices up and driving buyers out further from the city center. Austin Board of REALTORS® President Kevin Scanlan attributed the increased urban sprawl to high prices and lack of inventory within the city limits of Austin. Not surprisingly, in November the suburbs saw a bigger increase in home sales than Austin, which had 4.5% more sales year-over-year.
Builders are also moving into the ‘burbs. Surrounding areas have considerably less expensive land for building and there are fewer development constraints. A lot of construction is currently underway for homes that will be available in the first half of 2020.
Despite expectations a year ago that there would be a slowdown, November 2019 proved demand for housing in the Austin MSA is stronger than ever. One projection that is panning out is that nearby cities around Austin will continue to see significant growth in the coming year. Based on the November sales, Bastrop County and Caldwell County will experience the most rapid growth. While there were only 20 sales, Caldwell County sales increased by an amazing 53.9%.
SEED Property Group can help you buy or sell a home anywhere in the Austin MSA from downtown condos to lakefront getaways in Lakeway to historic homes in Georgetown. Give us a call to discuss your needs with one of our team members or to get more information on the current market.