Growth = Demand

The Austin job market is expanding at a level that exceeds the availability of housing.  While more homes sold in the first three months of this year compared to any prior year, the number of homes on the market is at record lows.  This is occurring for several reasons.

Business relocations, combined with job  expansion of current business and the attractiveness of the Austin business and social climate continues to bring more people to Austin.  The Wall Street Journal claims Austin is the second fastest “boomtown” in the US, only behind Salt Lake City.

The Milken Institute rated Austin the Third Best Preforming city on metrics including jobs, wages, salaries and technology output , just behind Provo, Utah and Palm Bay, Florida.

Site Selection Magazine in March identified the cities with the most corporate expansion and Austin came in sixth in the nation for total active expansion with 84.   And Austin came in second with 43 projects per capita.

Over 130 people are moving into the Austin area every day.  Over half are relocating from Texas because of the strong job market.  There is strong migration from California, Florida, New York and Illinois.

While the number of homes for sale continues to grow, this growth is not able to compete with the influx of new people.  The result is houses listed for sale are sold quickly, having received multiple offers and with most homes selling for over list.  This causes home prices to increase.

Austin Exploding

Austin is now one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. In the last 20 years, the city of Austin has seen a population increase of 48%, from 675 ,000 in 2000 to over 1 million today. Oracle Corporation and Tesla have both just moved their headquarters from California to Austin. Other companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Indeed are expanding their presence. According to the Austin Chamber of Commerce business relocations this year are expected to create nearly 10,000 jobs. The result is increasing demand. At a time when some home owners are hesitate to move because of the Covid19 Virus, demand for existing homes listed for sale are intensifying. The result is prices are rising. For a most up too date on the Austin market by Zip Code and Price Range, click on the Market Report link at the top of this page.

Austin Rebounding

In the Spring of 2020, the coronavirus and the federal, state and Austin restrictions on public activity had a major short term impact on the Austin real estate market. The governmental restrictions were most severe in late February, March and part of April. In mid April restrictions began to be relaxed.

Initially , the number of homes sold dropped significantly, down as much as 24% from the February totals.

As the real estate market began opening up, the pent-up demand can be seen in the number of home sales that are Pending, under contract but not closed. Pendings in the first of June are at the highest level in Austin history and 15% higher than June of one year ago. Demand for homes remains very strong as people continue to relocate to Austin. Several companies have made deep commitments to Austin and they are not backing off.

Sellers concerned about the uncertainty of the coronavirus impact and the desire to restrict outsiders into one’s home have significantly decreased the number of homes for sale. The number of homes on the market today is down 27% from one year ago.

Prices overall have remained steady during this time and we are again seeing prices increasing because of the high demand and low inventory. For homes priced below $600,000, it remains an Extreme Seller’s Market. For homes over $2M, it remains an Extreme Buyer’s Market. Every zip code and price range is different. See the June Market Report at the Tab listed above for the complete analysis of this market. Experience in the Austin real estate market is critical in the rapidly changing landscape.

March 2020 Market Report

More homes sold in February than any other February in Austin history.  2,263 homes sold last month.  This is a 13% increase from one year ago.

Pending home sales, homes under contract that have not closed, are up significantly from one year ago.  Currently there are 4,715 homes under contract.  This is an increase of 19% from one year ago.  This is a record number of Pendings for any March.

There are 20% fewer homes for sale than one year ago. Today there are 5,080 homes for sale.

Because of he high demand and the lower homes for sale, there are only 2.24 Months of Inventory making Austin average an “Extreme Sellers Market.”  Each Price Range, Zip Code and residential area is different.

The average sale price last month was $402,271, an increase of 10.3% from one year ago.

The Median sold price last month was $325,000, an increase of 10.2% from last year.

Last month, homes that sold had been on the market for 61 days.  This is a decrease in the number of days by 9% from one year ago.

Click on Market Reports Tab above to view the full report.

Austin Real Estate Market to Remain Strong

“We do not see anything getting in the way of another robust year in our industry in 2020,” said Eldon Rude, principal of 360 Real Estate Analytics, to the Austin Home Builders Association, in January of 2020. To meet demand for housing in 2020 builders will need to deliver another 18,000 to 20,000 lots in the Austin area. Additionally, Zillow Inc. recently names Austin the “hottest housing market of 2020” This positive outlook is also confined by the West Austin Properties February Market Report. (See Market Report tab above.) In the one month of January, 1,848 homes sold, an increase of 14% from one year ago. And the number of homes for sale in Austin have decreased by 18% from one year ago. Each Zip Code and Price Band have different market conditions so review our Market Report.