Confidence in the real estate market is on the rise in the Austin-Round Rock metro area, according to the latest monthly report from the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR). This is due to buyers gaining more leverage through inventory increases, resulting in the housing market trending in the right direction. The report shows that housing inventory in February spent an average of 84 days on the market, which is a significant 55-day jump from the same month the previous year.
Despite the drop in median home prices by 12 percent to $436,419, Austin’s housing market is seeing steady-paced and sustainable activity. The ABoR president, Ashley Jackson, believes that a healthy housing market is defined by steady-paced and sustainable activity, rather than breaking records every month. Buyers have more options and negotiating power with each passing month, while sellers have more time to make their next move.
In Austin and Travis County, completed home sales decreased by less than 30 percent in February, but active home listings skyrocketed in both areas. New home listings in Austin decreased by less than one percent, while pending sales declined by nearly 20 percent. Travis County’s pending sales also saw a 16 percent decrease, while new home listings increased 5.7 percent.
Outside Austin, median prices continued to fall in Williamson, Hays, Bastrop, and Caldwell counties, resulting in more completed home sales in Bastrop and Hays. Caldwell’s home sales stayed flat, while Williamson County’s home sales decreased. However, looking at the month-to-month data, pending sales are consistent or rising in neighborhoods that are typically more affordable in areas outside Austin city limits.
According to Taylor Jackson, CEO of the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin, home builders are gaining more confidence in the market’s stability every month, evidenced by fewer cancellations and minimized supply shortages. First-quarter sales incentives have remained strong, and for the first time in a long time, builders have a renewed sense of optimism in the direction the market is heading.
Despite these positive trends, Jackson emphasizes the importance of any incentive that increases housing accessibility for buyers, since many still struggle to afford living in Austin proper. She also stressed that there is still much work to do to address systemic issues in affordability, accessibility, and missing middle construction, which should remain the community’s number one concern.
In conclusion, the latest monthly report from the Austin Board of Realtors suggests that the housing market is trending in the right direction in the Austin-Round Rock metro area. Buyers are gaining more leverage through inventory increases, resulting in steady-paced and sustainable activity. While there is still work to do to address systemic issues, home builders are gaining more confidence in the market’s stability, and first-quarter sales incentives have remained strong.