Austin, Texas Real Estate Market Update and Statistics September 2012

The Austin housing market continues to shine with August 2012 sales for single-family homes in the City of Austin showing improvement over last year with a 25% decrease in sales inventory, a 26.8% increase in the number of single-family homes sold, a 9.5% increase in the median sold price, and a 31.8% decrease in days on market. Interest rates are still extremely low averaging 3.55% for a 30 year conventional loan today with 0.7 fees/points down per freddiemac.com. Rental prices per square foot have increased by 5.77% with the average rental price at $1375 per month – up from $1300 per month in August of last year. With falling lease inventory, rising lease rates, and low interest rates the investor market is heating up while renters are looking to purchase homes to avoid over paying.

The Austin unemployment rate (Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos) during July 2012 showed the same rate from the previous month at 6.4%.

Market Snapshot (Year-to-date compared to same time period during the year 2011)
• 14.75% increase in homes sold
• 5.0% increase in sold prices (total dollars)
• 1.78% increase in sold prices per square foot
• 26.76% decrease in days on market

(August 2012 compared to August 2011)
• 24.80% decrease in homes actively for sale compared to 9/13/11
• 13.60% increase in homes pending sale compared to 9/13/11
• 15.4% increase in the number of single-family homes sold
• 6.28% increase in median single-family sold price per square foot
• 9.5% increase in median sold price (total dollars)
• 31.8% decrease in the time it is taking to sell a home
• 1.20% increase in number of homes for lease compared to 9/13/11
• 0.84% decrease in the number of homes leased
• 5.77% increase in leased price per square foot
• No change in the time it is taking to lease a home

Between January 1 and August 31, 2012 there were 7,110 single-family homes sold within Austin with a median sold price of $125.33 per square foot ($262,500) and averaging 52 days on the market. During the same time period in 2011 there were 6,196 homes sold with a median sold price of $120.13 per square foot ($250,000) and averaging 71 days on the market. This is a 14.75% increase in the number of homes sold, a 4.33% increase in the median sold price per square foot, a 5.% increase in sold prices (total dollars), and a 26.76% decrease in the days on market compared to the same time period in 2011.

Austin Real Estate Market Summary for August 2012:

Sold: As of 9/10/2012 there were 1006 homes sold in Austin, Texas during August 2012 compared to 872 during the same period of time in 2011 (15.4% increase). Overall home prices (per square foot) have increased 6.28% and the total dollar sales prices have increased by 9.5% during August 2012 compared to August 2011 with a median sold price of $128.4 per square foot ($270,500) in August 2012 compared to $120.8 per square foot ($247,000) in August 2011. In August 2012 these sold homes have averaged 45 days on the market compared to 66 days on the market in August 2011, which shows there was 31.8% decrease in the time it is taking to sell a home this August 2012 compared to last August 2011.

Active: There are 2,446 single-family homes actively for sale within Austin as of 9/10/12 averaging 92 days on the market with a median list price of $147.89 per square foot ($371,715). This is an 8.39% decrease from the 2,670 single-family homes for sale last month on 8/06/12 and a 24.80% decrease in homes actively for sale from the 3,254 single-family homes that were actively for sale within Austin on 9/13/11.

Pending Sale: There are 1,259 houses pending sale in Austin as of 9/10/12 averaging 51 days on the market with a median price of $125.85 per square foot ($249,900). This is a 15.1% decrease from the 1,483 single-family homes pending sale last month on 8/06/12 and a 13.6% increase from the 1,108 homes that were pending sale on 9/13/11.

Withdrawn: There were 265 single-family homes withdrawn from the Austin real estate market during August 2012 compared to 335 homes during the same period of time during August 2011, which is a 20.89% decrease in withdrawals. The homes withdrawn in August 2012 averaged 116 days on the market and were listed for sale with a median price of $142.55 per square foot ($389,000). This compares to an average of 107 days on the market with a median price of $125.24 per square foot ($259,900) for homes withdrawn from the market during August 2011.

Austin Leases: As of 9/10/12 there are 885 homes (all types) for lease within Austin with a median lease price of $1 per square foot per month ($1,525 per month) and averaging 32 days on the market. This compares to 9/13/11 when there were 874 homes (all types) for lease within Austin with a median lease price of $.96 per square foot per month ($1,495 per month) and averaging 34 days on the market.

During August 2012 there were 1,179 homes (all types) leased in Austin compared to 1,189 leased in August 2011, which is a .84% decrease. In August 2012 the median leased price per square foot was $.99 per square foot per month ($1,375/mo) and averaging 22 days on the market compared to $.94 per square foot per month ($1,300/mo) and averaging 22 days on the market in August 2011, which shows the lease price per square foot has increased by 5.77% and no change in the days on the market.

Source: The raw data in this report was provided by the Austin Board of REALTORS® but interpreted by Austin home search expert and Austin luxury REALTOR® Brian Talley of Regent Property Group. The information contained herein is subject to errors, omissions and changes without notice. Any information, statistics, analytics, recommendations or opinions provided in this report are subject to errors and/or omissions and are not in any way guaranteed as accurate or reliable by Brian Talley or by Regent Property Group LLC. Statistics in this report may be updated as more information is added or changed from the source of this information.