Austin Housing News August 2022

Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area's August housing inventory reaches the highest level since 2018.

Wow, what a crazy summer.  I mean a different kind of crazy from the crazy that already was. We did a swing from a market that struggled to keep up with demand from all the businesses and people moving to Austin to a slowdown due to inflation and changing interest rates.  But, you already know this.  You can the numbers.  

The positives:

1. The market normalizing
2. A sustainable rate of home price growth
3. The increase in available inventory supply

The statistics:

• Active listings soared to 170.2%.
• Inventory now sits at 2.9 months (highest since September 2018) *A healthy market is suggested to have six months of inventory. 
• Year-over-year price growth was less than 6% for the first time since June 2020.
• The median home price increased 5.5% to $496,039.

Many people believe that the shift is a market downturn.  Let's reframe the conversation to one that suggests home values are still appreciating at a more reasonable rate. 

In August, residential home sales declined 23% year-over-year to 2,924 closed sales.  New listings fell slightly by 6.2% and homes spent an average of 31 days on the market.  This is the first time since February 2018 that houses have averaged more than one month on the market. 

The Austin Board of REALTORS president says, "Housing is still the most important issue facing our community today and tomorrow."  The cost of building in Austin is still incredibly high. The development fees are roughly 187% higher than in other areas in the state.  This is something that we need to keep an eye on and pay attention to.  

So, what does all this mean to you?

• Buyers - it is a good time to test the market.  Inventory continues to increase and prices are balancing.
• Sellers - manage your expectations when it comes to days on market and when establishing your list price. 

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Interested in more tips, tricks, and strategies? Download a copy of my informative buyer's guide to help walk you through your home-buying process.  You can also visit my YouTube Channel for a series of videos about how to go about buying your next home.