Hot or Not - Market Update October 2018
The Austin market continues to be interesting and different from the national market. South Austin is also distinctly different from the rest of Austin. We go over the October market statistics which show Austin is continuing to buck the trend
Austin solds are up year over year by 3.1%, whereas South Austin (South of 71) sales are also up but 4.4% year over year, more than Austin itself. An interesting note to this is that the inventory in October in South Austin is actually down 10% from August, so even though it is higher year over year, a lot have been purchased in the last few months.
More homes are coming on the market than last year and even more so in South Austin. This includes new construction, but overall there is more sales activity than last year in both markets which will typically reduce inventory unless more people are putting their homes on the market than are actually buying them.
Austin active listings are down year over year by 10.1%, whereas South Austin actives are up 4.4%.
This is interesting because there is less inventory to buy in Austin than there was last year, except in South Austin. The inventory has actually increased, so the increased sales activity has incentivized South Austin home owners to cash in on their increased property values. This means there are other areas of Austin with an even greater loss in inventory to make up for the increase in South Austin. So people are willing to pay more to move to the core of Austin.
Nationwide inventory is actually up in the last two months for the first time in several years. So Austin is bucking the national trend whereas South Austin is closer to that trend.
Median Sales Price is up 2.2% year over year in Austin ($387,750), and the South Austin median sales price is up 3.8% ($315,000). So you're getting more appreciation in South Austin which may have something to do with the inventory.
Interest rates are also trending up which will reduce affordability as buyers will have to pay more in their payments for the same price of home. So this puts downward pressure on prices. That is not the only lever on prices though. Enough demographic movement into the city can still push prices up while interest rates are going up. Regardless it's going to be more expensive to buy the same home in the coming year.
We put together buyer, seller, and investor guides if you want to learn more.