Austin, TX Home Prices Reach All Time High in March
Austin, TX (PRWEB) April 24, 2015 -- Barb Cooper, 2015 President of the Austin Board of REALTORS®, explained, “The Austin-area housing market is the least affordable it has ever been. Solving Austin’s affordability issues is not only dependent upon generating new, affordably-priced housing stock, but also preserving and maintaining Austin’s existing housing stock. The recent Zucker Report is yet another indicator that Austin’s city leadership needs to take significant steps to ensure that all of Austin’s residents live in safe, code-compliant homes and are able to quickly and easily make improvements to those homes.”
Michele Turnquist of Engel & Volkers Austin also noted that "with Spring now in full swing, we should see more inventory enter the market over the next couple of months especially with news over the past few months of all-time highs being set for home prices. "
According to the report, the median price for Austin-area single-family homes increased 10 percent year-over-year to $255,000 in March 2015, while average price increased 13 percent to $334,758 during the same time frame. This is the highest Austin-area home prices have ever been. Only three in ten single-family homes sold in the Austin area in March 2015 were priced less than $200,000.
Single-family home sales increased 13 percent year-over-year to 2,440 home sales in March 2015, a new record for March single-family home sales volume. In March, more than half of the homes sold in the Austin area were outside of Austin’s city limits, with a majority of sales occurring in Round Rock, Pflugerville, Georgetown, the Cedar Park/Leander area and the Kyle/Buda area.
Austin-area monthly housing inventory was statistically unchanged from March 2014 at 2.2 months, a figure still well below the 6.5 month level the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University estimates as a balanced housing market. Homes continued to spend more time on the market in March 2015, increasing four days year-over-year to an average of 55 days.
New and active listings for single-family homes both increased six percent year-over-year to 3,402 new listings and 5,274 active listings in March 2015. Pending sales also rose during the same time frame, increasing five percent year-over-year to 2,812 pending sales in March 2015.
Cooper concluded, “It’s encouraging to see how seriously Austin’s City Council is taking the findings of the Zucker Report. Now that Mayor Adler and Austin’s new City Council members are past their first 100 days in office, the Austin Board of REALTORS® expects quick and decisive action on policies that will put a stop to Austin’s growing housing affordability issues. We’re looking forward to working with city leaders on finding these solutions.”
March 2015 Statistics
-2,440 – Single-family homes sold, 13 percent more than March 2014.
-$255,000 – Median price for single-family homes, 10 percent more than March 2014.
-$334,758 – Average price for single-family homes, 13 percent more than March 2014.
-55 – Average number of days single-family homes spent on the market, four days more than March 2014.
-3,402 – New single-family home listings on the market, six percent more than March 2014.
-5,274 – Active single-family home listings on the market, six percent more than March 2014.
-2,812 – Pending sales for single-family homes, five percent more than March 2014.
-2.2 – Months of inventory* of single-family homes, statistically unchanged from March 2014.
-$816,809,520 – Total dollar volume of single-family properties sold, 28 percent more than March 2014.
Information and graph courtesy of: The Austin Board of REALTORS®
Barrett Tilson, Turnquist Real Estate Partners, http://www.turnquistpartners.com, +1 (512) 328-3939, [email protected]
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