Austin Real Estate Market Report February 2018

The Austin Board of Realtors just released the February 2018 Central Texas Housing Market Report today.  While February is typically a slow month for real estate, this year proved otherwise.  According to the report home sales volume across the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) thrived in February with double-digit percentage increases in price and decreases in sales activity in those areas with the highest demand and lowest inventory.  In the Austin area alone, the median home price far surpassed the predicted 5% growth, with the highest demand in Austin and Cedar Park.  There are fewer and fewer homes in the lower price classes.  This coupled with sharp home price increases in these areas are causing people to become discouraged in buying a home.

In the Austin-Round Rock MSA, home sales rose 5.7% year-over-year in February 2018 to 1,955 sales. $299,900 was the median price of single-family homes, a 3.6% increase.  There was no change to housing inventory from the previous year, it remained flat at 2.0 months.

In the city of Austin, the median price for single-family homes was $367,701, a 12.2% increase year-over-year in February. There was a 6.7% decrease to 599 sales in single-family home sales from the same period last year.  There was a slight decrease in housing inventory from 1.4 months in February 2017 to 1.3 months this February.

Most notably was the double-digit increase in sales volume in Williamson County.  This area saw a 13.1% jump in single family home sales 689 sales in February 2018 when compared to the year before. In contrast, the median price remained steady, only increasing 1.1% to $275,000.  Williamson County also saw a slight increase in housing inventory from 1.9 months of inventory in February 2017 to 2.0 months of inventory this February.

• Cedar Park: February sales dropped 6.8% to 69 sales, while the median price of single-family homes leaped 12.5% to $329,000.
• Leander: February sales jumped 13.9% to 82 sales, while the median price of single-family homes decreased 6.6% to $269,900.
• Round Rock: February sales increased subtly 2.8% to 109 sales, with median home prices also increasing by 6% to $263,840.

With the Austin area becoming more and more expensive and inventory levels decreasing, demand in outer areas is ever increasing.  Hays County displayed significant increases in home sales –  12.1% to 222 sales – compared to the previous year and the median home price increased 6.7% to $255,000. Kyle experienced a whopping 21.2% increase in sales to 63 sales when compared to the previous February as well as a 2.8% increase in median price to $213,000.

If you would like help buying or selling real estate, contact TCP Real Estate today!