As Austin swelters, real estate market slows down

Shonda Novak, Austin American-Statesman
·3 min read

Good afternoon, and thanks for being a subscriber to our Building Austin newsletter, which is focused on the Austin real estate and development market. I'm Shonda Novak, the American-Statesman's real estate reporter.

As we here in the ATX attempt to survive the ongoing summer heat, the local housing market keeps showing signs of cooling off.

In recent months, as interest rates have continued to spike, real estate agents have been saying the Central Texas market has been showing signs of slowing from its previously scorching level, and the latest home-sales figures from the Austin Board of Realtors for June supported that.

Now comes another report that provides more evidence.

According to new data from Realtor.com, Austin ranks as the No. 2 metro are in the nation in seeing the highest percentage of price cuts for homes on the market.

"Homebuyers looking to make a move in once-unaffordable cities, like Austin, may finally have the upper hand," Realtor.com said in its report. The online brokerage said many homebuyers are dropping out of the market due to record-high home prices and rising mortgage rates.

The survey says the median list price of homes on the market in Austin is $620,000, and the percentage of listings with price reductions is 32.4%.

Here are the other nine metro areas in the top 10, with the median home list price followed by the percentage of listings with price reductions:

  • Reno, Nevada: $677,500; 32.6%

  • Phoenix: $548,500; 29.5%

  • Anchorage: $436,00; 28.5%

  • Boise: $587,900; 27.4%

  • Ogden, Utah: $580,100; 27.4%

  • Sacramento: $642,500; 25.2%

  • Colorado Springs: $550,000; 25.1%

  • Evansville, Indiana: $246,000; 24.7%

  • Medford, Oregon: $562,500; 23.2%

Housing inventory levels in the Austin metro area now exceed a two-month supply for the first time since November 2019, according to the Austin Board of Realtors.

Which means that while Austin is still a seller's market, it is shifting somewhat back in favor of buyers.

In June, half the houses in the Austin region sold for more than $537,475 and half sold for less, according to the Austin Board of Realtors. That median sale price was a June record, and a 13% increase from the prior June median. Within Austin's city limits, the median sold price also hit a June record at $615,000, up 7.9% over June 2021.

The board's latest report shows that even though the median sale price is still going up, it's not rising as fast as it has been for much of the past two years. The number of home sales is also decreasing, housing supply is increasing and homes are staying on the market a bit longer.

All of which means that sellers aren't as likely to receive multiple offers on their homes, or to see bidding wars break out that result in them landing well above the original asking price.

"The Austin market is by no means balanced and it still favors sellers, but buyers have more bargaining power now than at any point since before the pandemic," said Cord Shiflet, president of the Austin Board of Realtors.

My work isn’t possible without Statesman subscribers. If you subscribe, thank you! And if you don’t currently subscribe, please consider supporting us today. Have tips or story ideas? Contact me at 512.913.4503, snovak@statesman.com or @snovak999.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: As Austin swelters, real estate market cools down a bit