The Austin-area housing market starting 2015 with a record breaking January as home prices hit an all-time high for the month while single-family home sales continued their rising trend. According to the report released by the Austin Board of REALTORS® (ABOR) released Friday, the Austin-area home sales in January 2015 continued to soar, and it remains a solid sellers’ market with rising prices and lacking inventory.
Barb Cooper, 2015 President of the Austin Board of REALTORS®, explained, “With housing affordability already a challenge for many Austin residents, this increasing pace of home price growth is concerning. More than half of the homes sold in the Austin-area are now priced out of an affordable range for much of Austin’s workforce.”
The concern of affordability is more applicable to homes sold within the Austin city boundaries. While prices have risen in the suburbs as well, cost of living has risen at a much steadier rate than in Austin proper. Over all, the Austin-area housing market saw median home prices increase 13 percent year-over-year in January, hitting $240,000. January 2015 is the highest year-over-year home price increase since September 2013 and is a record high for home sales in the month of January.
The number of homes sold rose 11% while the average days on market remained unchanged at 63. Monthly inventory was only 2.2 months, though that’s a 0.2 month increase from January 2014. For the record, the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University considers 6.5 months of inventory necessary for a balanced housing market.
“Housing inventory is rising, but the current pace is not enough to alleviate Austin’s affordability challenges,” added Cooper. “Furthermore, more homes on the market will not increase housing affordability if those homes are all priced for move-up homebuyers.”
Austin-Area Home Sales in January 2015
- 1,547 – Single-family homes sold, 11 percent more than January 2014.
- $240,000 – Median price for single-family homes, 13 percent more than January 2014.
- $310,187 – Average price for single-family homes, 14 percent more than January 2014.
- 63 – Average number of days single-family homes spent on the market, unchanged from January 2014.
- 2,360 – New single-family home listings on the market, one percent more than January 2014.
- 5,005 – Active single-family home listings on the market, nine percent more than January 2014.
- 2,026 – Pending sales for single-family homes, four percent more than January 2014.
- 2.2 – Months of inventory* of single-family homes, 0.2 months more than January 2014.
- $479,859,289 – Total dollar volume of single-family properties sold, 27 percent more than January 2014.
As long as inventory remains low, we’ll stay in a sellers’ market with reasonably priced homes receiving multiple offers within days of listing. We’re seeing more higher-priced homes hitting the market in February, so if the trends remain the same through the Central Texas area, expect housing prices to continue to rise in the coming months. Homes under $200,000 are nearly nonexistent and newly built homes are pricing at a premium.
Despite the increase in pricing, homes will continue to sell through Austin and the surrounding areas as more people move to our great city. More people are considering selling their homes, so if inventory increases, the boom in sold price might slow down a little, but expect the number of homes sold overall to sky rocket.
If you’re thinking of selling your house or are in need of assistance finding your next one, call us at 512.537.4977 or email us at info@RJFteam.com. If you’d like a more localized analysis of what homes are selling for in your specific neighborhood, request a neighborhood analysis report here.
