Austin Housing Market on Pace for Record-Breaking Year

The Austin home real estate market remains scorching hot and is on pace to surpass the record-breaking numbers of 2015, according to the Austin Board of REALTORS^® June 2016 and Mid-Year 2016 Central Texas Housing Market Report.

“The Austin-Round Rock housing market is on track to outpace 2015 market levels, which was a record-breaking year for home sales,” said ABOR President Aaron Farmer. “Despite the ongoing housing shortage and affordability challenges impacting our region, population growth and housing demand continue to drive home sales upward.”

For the month of June 2016, home sales in the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area increased 8.5 percent compared to June 2015, to 3,219 sales. Median price increased 8.2 percent to $295,500. Inventory was unchanged at 2.5 months, four months less than a supply deemed a balanced market by the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. Total dollar volume sold was $1.19 billion, a 20 percent increase compared to June 2015.

For the first half of 2016, home sales increased 6.1 percent year-over-year to 14,482 home sales, and median price increased seven percent year-over-year to $282,000. Home inventory did show improvement, with active listings increasing 6.6 percent to 5,290 listings and new listings increasing 5.7 percent to 20,060 listings. However, pending sales also were up 7.2 percent to 15,909 sales.

Overall for the six month period, the sales dollar volume in the Austin MSA increased 11.5 percent compared to the first half of 2015, to a total dollar volume of $5,073,874,678.

Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University Chief Economist Jim Gaines said, “The Central Texas housing market is performing very well, but extreme housing shortages across the region continue to be a challenge. Homes under $300,000 have less than two months of inventory in the Austin-Round Rock MSA, which means that housing at these price ranges is essentially nonexistent. The growing ‘donut effect’ of homes sales activity as homebuyers move outside Austin city limits in search of more affordable housing is on pace to continue in the near future.”

Austin-area June 2016 Sold Homes

• Number of sold homes: 3,219 (Up 9% compared to June 2015)
• Median sold price: $295,500 (Up 8% compared to June 2015)
• Days on the market: 41 (Unchanged compared to June 2015)

Austin-area June 2016 Single-Family Homes on the Market

• New listings: 3,694 (Up 1% compared to June 2015)
• Active listings: 6,114 (Up 6% compared to June 2015)
• Pending sales: 2,940 (Up 6% compared to June 2015)