Austin Market Report - February 2025

[David Ivy]

The February 2025 report from the Austin Board of REALTORS® (ABoR) shows a stable, balanced housing market with buyer demand looking a bit sluggish as we head into March. Here are some key highlights from the report, which compares February 2025 with February 2024:

• The median sales price for the greater Austin metro declined 3.6% to $430,000, while the City of Austin rose modestly by 2.6% to $564,000.
• Total sales in the metro fell 6.5%, with the city itself seeing a 1.2% decrease in closed sales.
• Pending sales under contract dropped 5% in the metro and 7.4% in the City of Austin, suggesting more sluggish demand at the start of 2025.
• Listing inventory increased 16.7% in the metro and 15.5% in the City of Austin, resulting in around 5 months of available housing inventory in both the city and greater metro.
• According to the Texas A&M Real Estate Center, a balanced real estate market has around 6.5 months of inventory. The Austin area had 5-6 months of inventory for most of the past year.

Here are the February 2025 stats for Austin and the greater metro:

Here’s a chart showing the median sales price of a single-family home in the City of Austin in over the past year:

The median sales price for a single-family home in February 2025 showed a year-over-year increase of 7.2% in Austin.

For some broader context, here’s a chart of the median sales price of a single-family home in Austin over the past 10 years:

Compared to the recent price peak in June 2022, the median single-family home price in Austin is down approximately 15%. However, pricing in Austin is still substantially above pre-pandemic levels. In fact, the median sales price of a single-family home in the Austin metro is about 50% higher than it was at the start of 2020. For the 10 year period spanning

February 2015-2025, single-family prices nearly doubled in Austin, generating an annualized 9.8% appreciation rate.

I’m happy to report that I’m now also sharing leasing stats in my monthly updates. Here are the numbers for the City of Austin and the greater Austin metro area:

A 30-year fixed rate mortgage is still sitting around 6.8% interest, which is down from the 7.5% high seen over the past year:

For broader context, here’s a chart for 30-year fixed mortgage rates over the past 5 years:

What if I’m a buyer? In many ways, this is the best market for buyers in Austin in many years. There are more listings to choose from now than any other time in nearly a decade. Listings are selling for roughly 93% of their list price on average. Multiple offer situations are the rare exception, not the norm. Buyers have significantly more negotiating power. They can take time with their search and be more selective about a property’s location and condition. So, if interest rates are a buyer’s primary roadblock, then I recommend negotiating a rate buydown at a seller’s expense or looking at new construction, where builders are offering rate reductions and other substantial incentives. You will face more competition from fellow buyers as we head into spring. However, you will also see more listings hit the market to meet the demand.

What if I’m a seller? There is still strong demand for Austin area housing. Prices are still considerably higher than just five years ago. However, it’s important to price competitively and be prepared for buyers to request concessions. Days on market are averaging around 80 days, depending on the area. Many listings are adjusting their asking price at least once while on the market. But properties priced and marketed appropriately can still go under contract in a matter of days. Now is not the time to “test the market” with an ambitious price to “see what happens.” With the increased competition, it’s crucial to prepare your property to stand out and work to address obvious buyer objections prior to going on market.