Home Prices Hit All Time High in Austin as Inventory Declines
Decreasing housing inventory paired with strong demand continues to drive Austin’s growing affordability crunch, according to the May 2018 Central Texas Housing Market Report from the Austin Board of REALTORS® (ABoR).
In the city of Austin, the availability of housing compared with demand — as measured through inventory — continues to be historically low while median home prices have reached historic heights.
The median price for single-family homes in the city of Austin increased 3.7 percent year-over-year to $389,000 in May, an all-time high for the city. While home sales rose 5.9 percent to 1,037 sales, housing inventory decreased from 2.1 months last year to 2.0 months during the same time frame. There were fewer active listings as well, as the amount of homes available on the market decreased 6.8 percent to 1,533 listings.
The growth in housing prices in the city of Austin also has implications for the Central Texas region at large, where home prices continue to rise amidst tight inventory. In May 2018, seven in 10 homes sold within the five-county MSA were sold outside of Austin city limits.
In the Austin-Round Rock MSA, home sales rose 4.2 percent year-over-year to 3,210 sales in May 2018 and housing inventory decreased from 2.8 months last May to 2.7 months this year. During the same time frame, the median home price increased 4.8 percent year-over-year to $325,000.