What has happened to Austin housing since the City of Austin banned large gatherings?

It is still too early to understand the impact of the Coronavirus health crisis on the Austin housing market. What we know so far, since the City of Austin banned large gatherings on March 14, is that there has been a 12.5% decrease in the number of single-family homes sold in the greater Austin area. That is referring to the timeframe of March 15 – April 7, 2020 compared to the same period of time in 2019. What is more, the number of homes listed for sale dropped 17% from 7363 to 6108 in March 2020 vs 2019. However, it is worth noting that the number of homes listed for sale have been decreasing significantly every month for the last year due to tight inventory. To put that in context the number of homes listed for sale decreased 13% in January & 16% in February compared to the prior year. Sold prices have actually increased by 9.5% while the sold price per square foot decreased by 5% in that 3/15/20-4/7/20 timeframe compared to 2019 and there was a 20% decrease in the days on market.

In conclusion, it appears we are experiencing a notable drop in the number of homes sold while prices are not yet notably decreasing. This is similar to what happened early in the previous recession.

We will continue to monitor the market data over time to mark noticeable changes. While there are big headwinds for our country, we are confident that Austin will continue to remain a hot destination. If you have an immediate need for housing this may be a good time to get in front of a home that would normally have more competition while people are hunkered down. There is likely to be a surge of demand once restrictions are loosened.