Detailed Austin Housing Market Update- ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง-๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐๐ค ๐๐๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ซ๐ค๐๐ญ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ง๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐; REALTORS® report recent uptick in activity.
In January, ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ 6.3% ๐ฉ๐ค $450,000, the largest price drop since July 2011, according to the Austin Board of REALTORS® latest Central Texas Housing Report. Despite the price decrease, ๐ข๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐ก๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐ช๐จ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ค๐ง๐ฎ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐ฉ at 2.7 months of inventory from December 2022, demonstrating that this market is still in need of more housing as the industry standard is that six months of available inventory is considered a balanced market between buyers and sellers.
In January, residential home sales declined 27.3% year-over-year to 1,634 closed sales and sales dollar volume declined 29.1% to $917,954,115. ๐๐๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ 16% year-over-year to 2,988 listings while pending listings dropped 16.7% to 2,581 transactions. Monthly housing inventory increased 2.3 months to 2.7 months of inventory, and ๐๐ค๐ข๐๐จ ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ 76 ๐๐๐ฎ๐จ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ข๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฉ homes spent an average of 76 days on the market, up 47 days from January 2022, but only up three days from December 2022.
When looking at the added context of month-to-month changes from December 2022 to January 2023, in addition to a modest change in days on market, new listings increased 63.4% to 2,988 month-to-month. This demonstrates that sellers see opportunity in this market. At the same time, buyers also were more active in January 2023 compared to December 2022 as pending listings increased 32.4% to 2,581.
While prices decreased in the City of Austin, Travis County and the MSA, ๐จ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ค๐ช๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐พ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ก ๐๐๐ญ๐๐จ ๐๐ง๐๐๐จ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ข๐๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐ข๐ ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐๐๐จ.
Outlying areas like Caldwell and Hays counties are the most affordable pockets in Central Texas. When we have a city like ๐ผ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ง๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ฎ, the entry point in surrounding areas will slightly increase as people try and find neighborhoods they can afford. These outer county data sets are reflective of affordability disappearing from Austin and closer-in suburbs hence why buyers are moving further out in Central Texas.
Housing affordability woes combined with higher interest rates play an outsized role in market activity. There is no national real estate market. Consumers need to follow local REALTORS® and local news while taking sensational headlines and reports with many grains of salt. Now more than ever, it is important for buyers and sellers alike to work with a REALTOR® who best understands how to navigate the changing landscape of our real estate market.
๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง
In January, home sales decreased 37.3% to 439 sales, while sales dollar volume decreased 35.0% to $295,909,860. At the same time, median price slightly decreased 4.6% to $525,000 for the City of Austin. Last month, new listings ticked up 13.0% to 886 listings, active listings skyrocketed 387.5% to 1,760 listings as pending sales declined by 26.0% to 678 pending sales. Monthly housing inventory increased 1.9 months year over year to 2.2 months of inventory.
๐๐ซ๐๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ
In Travis County, home sales decreased 31.7% to 749 sales, while sales dollar volume decreased 31.3% to $492,893,906. Last month, the median price in Travis County slightly dipped 5.9% year over year to $499,274, while new listings increased 17.0% to 1,410 listings and active listings ballooned 421.9% to 3,116 listings year over year. Pending sales declined 22.3% to 1,130 pending sales as monthly housing inventory increased 2.0 months year over year to 2.4 months of inventory.
๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฆ๐ฌ๐จ๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ
January home sales decreased 26.2% to 556 sales in Williamson County. Sales dollar volume declined 28.8% year over year to $269,359,523. The median price slightly decreased 4.9% to $437,500 as new listings ticked up 6.8% to 892 listings. During the same period, active listings soared 654.1% to 2,383 listings while pending sales dropped 11.4% to 909 pending sales. Housing inventory rose 2.2 months to 2.5 months of inventory.
๐๐๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ
In Hays County, January home sales decreased 11.9% to 245 sales and sales dollar volume also dropped 16.7% to $123,838,974. The median price for homes rose 7.3% to $427,665. During the same period, new listings increased 38.4% to 447 listings, while active listings skyrocketed by 398.7% to 1,192 listings. Pending sales slightly decreased 10.1% to 372 pending sales as housing inventory jumped by 2.7 months to 3.3 months of inventory.
๐๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ
Last month, Bastrop County home sales decreased 35.7% year over year to 63 sales, while sales dollar volume also fell by 39.2% to $24,904,074. Median price decreased 7.9% to $350,000 as new listings ticked up 5.2% to 163 listings. Active listings soared 319.3% to 499 listings as pending sales decreased 20.8% to 122 pending sales. Housing inventory increased by 3.2 months to 4.1 months of inventory, the highest level of inventory across the MSA in January.
๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ญ๐ฒ
In Caldwell County, home sales decreased 4.6% year over year to 21 sales, and sales dollar volume also dropped 20.0% to $6,458,267. The median home price slightly rose 0.6% year over year to $316,750. At the same time, new listings increased by 31.0% to 76 listings as active listings skyrocketed 315.6% to 133 listings. Pending sales decreased 7.7% to 48 pending sales, and housing inventory increased 2.1 months to 3.1 months of inventory.
