April 2018 Market Report

[David Ivy]

The April 2018 Central Texas Housing Market Report is out from the Austin Board of REALTORS®. The median price for a single-family home in Austin is now roughly $400,000. That's a 9% jump from April 2017! All signs continue pointing toward an incredibly strong summer season for Austin area real estate. Last month, 2,611 single-family homes sold in the Austin-Round Rock MSA. That is up 4% from last year. However, inventory remains incredibly tight, with only 1.7 months of inventory in Austin and 2.4 months in the greater Austin area (a balanced market is 6.5 months).

Steve Crorey, 2018 president of the Austin Board of REALTORS®, said, "In the Austin-Round Rock MSA, price classes across the board are seeing an increase in demand with a decrease in inventory. While new listings are up year-over-year, homes are selling faster than they can be listed on the market. This has led to a smaller number of active listings and an increasingly competitive market for homebuyers.”

Here are basic stats on single-family home sales for April 2018 for the City of Austin and the greater Austin area:

Affordability remains an issue. The 2017 median annual income for a family of four in Austin-Round Rock MSA was $81,400. That's nowhere near enough to afford the median priced home in Austin. Things look only to get tougher for median income and entry-level home buyers, who are already priced out to the suburbs and beyond. Rising mortgage interests rates will make it even worse.

Mark Sprague, state director of information capital for Independence Title, said that, "The desire to live in the city of Austin continues to drive home sales. Inventory levels for luxury homes priced at $700,000 or higher have decreased year-over-year, and the inventory for homes priced under $500,000 continues to decline in Austin. As a result, we’re seeing locals purchase more homes in the suburbs. However, the real estate landscape continues to be strong compared to most major cities in the country.”