While the summer selling season has ended for most housing markets, the Austin Board of REALTORS latest Central Texas Housing Market Report shows a double-digit percent increase in Austin home sales, which continue to outpace inventory and drive up home prices. The median price of a single-family home in the city of Austin rose 11.9% this month to $406,000––an all-time high for any September on record.
“The adverse effect of low housing stock within the Austin area is higher home prices,” Kevin P. Scanlan, 2019 ABoR president, said. “As the anchor city of our region, Austin and its land use code directly impact Central Texas’ ability to meet buyer demands for more housing that’s affordable. Austin has to get our new land use code right and needs to do it sooner rather than later.”
Emily Chenevert, chief executive officer for ABoR, said the latest market statistics make the case that a more flexible code is needed to allow for increased housing.
“Rewriting the land use code is a huge opportunity to improve the imbalance in our housing market and manage our growth. ABoR will support a code that does not infringe on the private property rights of existing owners, embraces the unique character of our community and promotes all types of housing across the city.”
Austin-Round Rock MSA
In the Austin-Round Rock MSA, single-family home sales in September experienced a double-digit percent increase of 13.4% to 2,654 home sales, and sales dollar volume jumped 19.6% to $1,062,527,517. The median price for single-family homes increased 6.7% to $320,000. During the same period, new listings increased 9.5% to 3,047 listings; active listings decreased 11.7% to 6,686 listings; and pending sales spiked 27.8% to 2,861 pending sales. Monthly housing inventory declined 0.4 months year over year to 2.5 months of inventory.
City of Austin
In the city of Austin, single-family home sales increased by 14.8% to 798 sales in September. During the same period, sales dollar volume spiked 23.3% to $393,731,739. New listings remained flat at 808 listings; active listings decreased 24% to 1,274 listings; and pending sales jumped by 20.3% to 824 pending sales. Housing inventory decreased 0.5 months year over year to 1.6 months of inventory.
Travis County
This September, single-family home sales increased in Travis County by 10.6% to 1,267 sales and sales dollar volume also increased by 20.1% to $620,090,740. The median price for single-family homes increased 9.1% year over year to $382,000. During the same period, new listings increased 5.1% to 1,436 listings, while active listings decreased 16% to 2,897 listings. However, pending sales jumped 28.7% to 1,421 pending sales. Monthly housing inventory decreased 0.5 months year over year to 2.2 months of inventory.
Williamson County
In Williamson County, September single-family home sales increased 22% to 953 sales; sales dollar volume experienced a double-digit increase of 26.1% to $307,745,640. During the same period, the median price for single-family homes increased 6.1% to $295,000. New listings increased 18.9% to 1,121 listings while active listings decreased 12.4% to 2,352 listings. Pending sales spiked 28.3% to 980 pending sales. Housing inventory decreased 0.5 months year over year to 2.5 months of inventory.
Hays County
In September, Hays County single-family home sales increased 9.7% to 329 sales and sales dollar volume increased 6.3% to $107,164,718. The median price for a single-family home increased by 5.2% to $269,950. During the same period, new listings slightly decreased 0.6% to 334 listings; active listings decreased 3.5% to 963 listings; while pending sales jumped 29.3% to 344 pending sales. Housing inventory decreased 0.2 months to 3.1 months of inventory.
Bastrop County
Bastrop County single-family home sales declined 15.6% to 76 sales, and sales dollar volume dropped 10.6% to $20,552,725 in September. However, the median price for a single-family home had a double-digit percent increase of 11.2% to $258,000. During the same period, new listings spiked 24.8% to 126 listings; active listings rose 10.5% to 370 listings; and pending sales increased 6.1% to 87 pending sales. Housing inventory remained flat at 4.1 months of inventory.
Caldwell County
In Caldwell County, September single-family home sales jumped 26.1% to 29 sales, and sales dollar volume spiked 57.6% to $6,544,941. The median home price increased 6.1% year over year to $206,930. During the same period, new listings decreased 18.9% to 30 listings; active listings slightly decreased 1% to 104 listings; and pending sales sharply increased 31.8% to 29 pending sales. Housing inventory increased 0.1 months to 4.3 months of inventory.
