Austin, the no longer little, sleepy college town, is bucking yet another nationwide real estate trend…this time, the national trend is one of dropping the number of homes for sale at the fastest pace in four years. Instead of having 9% fewer homes for sale like the rest of the country, Austin has 24% more homes for sale this year than it had last year! Even Austin’s rental market, up at 64.4%, isn’t slowing down.
Austin’s inventory rose to 2.1 months overall in May, 2017. The housing stock being added is at levels with increasingly higher price points. Stock at market levels of $250,000. and less is just under 1 month.
The Austin – Round Rock area topped a sales record of $1B in May, 2017 according to the Central Texas Housing Market Report released by the Austin Board of Realtors. This is the highest grossing month for central Texas in the region’s history and the first time sales volume topped $1B in a single month within the five county area. The median sales price of a single family home in Austin was up 8.6% at $380,000. while the national increase is 7.4%. 3,170 homes were sold and the average days on the market was 43.
Brandy Guthrie, president of the Austin Board of Realtors, said, “Housing is the backbone of our region’s economy and the heart of our communities. With sales volume at an all time high, steady growth in home sales and prices and with listing activity and housing inventories increasing…it seems we could continue to increase this thrust into our aggressive summer selling season.”
It is anticipated by the National Multifamily Housing Council and the National Apartment Association that Austin will add some 115,000 apartments between now and 2030, according to Cindy Clare, Chair of the National Apartment Association. “Austin ranks the third highest among 50 metro areas in terms of growing additional apartment buildings with Raleigh and Orlando just behind.”
Clearly, a vibrant economy, increased job growth from technology and a booming arts scene are enabling factors that thrust Austin beyond national trends.
