July 2022 Housing Market Update for Austin, TX MSA
July 2022 statistics have been released for the Central Texas Housing market. There was a slight decrease in median sales price from the preceding month and a 8% increase from the preceding year for the entire Austin Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The City of Austin saw a change in median home price from $615,000 to $633,000, a month to month increase of $18,000 and an 11% increase from the previous year. The Austin-Round Rock MSA saw a change in median home price from $537,475 to $515,000 a month to month decrease of $22,475 and an 8% increase from the previous year.
The following infographics and data is courtesy of the Austin Board of Realtors:
Housing inventory continues to slowly climb and now shows 2.7 months for the entire MSA which is a 1.8 months increase over the preceding year. The City of Austin now has 2.4 months of housing inventory, which is a 1.5 months increase over the preceding year.
I want to focus on a particular segment of the housing market data this month which is Active Listings. This is up 167% from the previous year and presents a unique opportunity for buyers. The past two years have had a resounding complaint of ‘over-bidding' and rapid price increases. But no one complained about the stellar rates they were locking in at. Today the bidding wars are the anomaly and higher rates are the primary source of buyers' woes. However, higher rates can be tweaked and this creates opportunities for creative financing strategies. FHA buyers have an almost wholly untapped potential with creative options and was one of the most suppressed avenues the previous two years for acquiring properties.
As a seller right now top dollar is tough to secure, especially if you are competing with builders. One builder in the MSA was offering a $100,000 in buyer and agent incentives (not including upgrades). This is a daunting incentive package to compete with as a seller and it would be prudent to dive into nearby comparable sales as well as nearby homes currently for sale to hone a listing strategy. Analyzing the market data today is not the same as it was the preceding two years. It may be worth mentioning that the builder effect is being felt more strongly in the growing suburbs of the MSA than Austin itself. Simply more development and builder inventory in those areas compared to the City of Austin.
Disclaimer: The information provided here is for educational purposes only, past performance is never a guarantee of future performance.
