Once again Austin-area housing sales hit an all-time high for price while the number of homes sold in the Austin hit a record for the month of April. According to data released by the Austin Board of REALTORS® in late May, home sales increased for the eighth month straight as housing affordability continues to be an issue in the Austin area.
Barb Cooper, 2015 President of the Austin Board of REALTORS®, explained, “The summer selling season doesn’t usually start in April, but it arrived early this year with significant increases in single-family home sales and prices for April 2015. Showing the impact of these increases, it cost nearly $20,000 more to buy a home in April 2015 than in March 2015 – one of the largest jumps in median home price that we’ve seen in years.”
The report shows that the median price of all Austin-area homes sold in April hit $274,000, a 14 percent increase from the homes sold in April 2014. The average price increase 11 percent to $341,054. Fewer than three homes in 10 sold in Austin were priced beneath $200,000, providing more fear that housing is Austin is become increasingly unaffordable for many people.
Inventory has finally started to increase, but it remains tight at 2.5 months. That’s 0.2 months higher than April 2014, but it’s still way beneath the 6.5 month threshold that the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University considers to be a balanced housing market. With homes selling quickly, a slight uptick in inventory is helpful, but sellers still have a lot of control over the market right now. This is one of the reasons home prices continue to increase as more buyers fight over a limited inventory, especially in main popular neighborhoods where homes don’t stay on the market for longer than a week.
“While this influx of housing stock is badly needed, unfortunately the majority of homes entering the market continue to be priced outside of an affordable range for many Austin residents, driving home buyers to look to surrounding markets outside of Austin,” added Cooper. “More than half of Austin-area homebuyers continue to purchase homes outside of Austin’s city limits in areas like Kyle, Pflugerville, and Georgetown.”
Homes are staying on the market a little longer with an average of 46 days on market. This is partially because of the increase in the higher end homes sitting on the market for longer due to the limited buyers seeking homes over $350K. Homes that are under $300K are often still selling within less than a month when the list price match upgrades, location and desirable features.
Statistics for Austin-Area Housing Sales in April 2015
- 2,568 – Single-family homes sold, eight percent more than April 2014.
- $274,000 – Median price for single-family homes, 14 percent more than April 2014.
- $341,054 – Average price for single-family homes, 11 percent more than April 2014.
- 46 – Average number of days single-family homes spent on the market, one day more than April 2014.
- 3,807 – New single-family home listings on the market, nine percent more than April 2014.
- 5,915 – Active single-family home listings on the market, 11 percent more than April 2014.
- 2,909 – Pending sales for single-family homes, four percent more than April 2014.
- 5 – Months of inventory* of single-family homes, 0.2 increase from April 2014.
- $875,826,672 – Total dollar volume of single-family properties sold, 19 percent more than April 2014.
While the overall area statistics show that home sales continue to increase while home prices get higher, we’re starting to see subtle market shifts that could prove to be a course correction around the corner. Housing prices in the Austin area have been increasing at unsustainable rates for over two years now and, despite the increase in people moving to the area, this trend could reverse by year’s end, especially in the higher end markets.
If you’d like to read more about the micro-trends we’re seeing on a day-to-day basis that show that the Austin-area housing market might start seeing a slight slowdown from record setting sales months, check out my article here. We don’t expect that that Austin-area housing market will take a complete nose dive, but the days of 15 offers on one property and homes selling with 48 hours as a regular occurrence could soon be behind us as a more moderately paced market comes into fruition.
Source: Austin Board of REALTORS
