November Market Report Shows Signs of Another Record-Breaking Year for Austin Real Estate Sales

On the national scale, there are rumblings of a market shift in the real estate market.  However, at the local level, real estate sales remain strong. According to Steve Crorey, President of the Austin Board of REALTORS, "Sales are up 3.3 percent year-to-date for 2018”. The Austin-Round Rock MSA experienced growth in both the number of homes sold and the median sales price while the City of Austin revealed fewer sales, but a higher median price.  As prices within the city limits continue to increase, buyers are moving farther out in search of an affordable home.

In the Austin-Round Rock MSA, the sales volume increased slightly to 2,201 sales last month while the median home price increased to $301,391.  As would be expected, there was an increase in all stages of listings year over year:  new listings (+1.7%), active listings (+11.5%) and pending sales (+2.5%).
​
Within the City of Austin, median sales price rose 5% to $374,900.  At the same time, November home sales in the City of Austin decreased from 653 sales in November 2017 to 618 sales in November 2018.  The total sales dollar volume for the City of Austin remained the same at $288,251,771.

In my opinion, the strength of the Austin real estate market is directly correlated to the health of the Austin job market.  The local unemployment rate is extremely low, 2.6%, and major businesses continue to move here or expand operations in Austin such as Apple announced this week.

Furthermore, Austin will also always be home to both the University of Texas and government employers.  There are over 50,000 students enrolled in undergrad or graduate programs at UT, and the vast majority of these students stick around and call Austin home.  With Austin being the state capitol of Texas, it is also home to a number of other government agencies such as  the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts; Texas Department of Transportation; Texas Department of Public Safety; Texas Water Development Board, and the Texas Department of Health.  The bottom line is that Austin has a healthy local economy with a variety of high tech businesses built upon a backbone of government and education.  As long as there are jobs, the real estate market will stay strong.

If you’re interested in moving to Austin, contact me today for more information about how you can call this wonderful city home.