HOME SALES, MEDIAN PRICES STILL RISING
House sales rose 2.8% in July; median price rose 5.2% to $301,332.
Austin-area home sales and prices continued on their upward trend in July, with both showing increases over the same month last year, the Austin Board of Realtors said Thursday. Inventory levels also were up.
Sales of single-family homes rose 2.8 percent, with 2,892 houses changing hands, the board said in its latest monthly report, which covers the fivecounty Austin region from Georgetown to San Marcos.
Half the homes sold for more than $301,332 and half for less, pushing the median price up 5.2 percent compared with July 2016, the board said.
During a month when housing inventory should be at its lowest point of the year, due to the high demand of the summer selling season, housing supply across the Central Texas region reached its highest point in July since the fall of 2012, said Brandy Guthrie, the board’s president.
Strong homebuilding activity, particularly in Williamson and Hays counties, is boosting inventories, she said, although July’s 3.2 months of supply still means the market remains undersupplied. Experts consider a supply of less than 6.5 months to be a market tipped in favor of sellers.
Active listings — the number of homes available on the market at any given time — also are pushing inventory levels up. Listings jumped 16.9 percent, with nearly 8,000 homes for sale.
Some local real estate agents say that as inventory has risen, giving buyers more options, some sellers are having to lower prices.
But real estate broker Brad Pauly, owner of Pauly Presley Realty in Austin, said he doesn’t think the market has been hurt by the rise in inventory.
“If a property hits the market that is priced right and in a desirable location, a buyer can still expect multiple offers,”
Pauly said. “Sellers are still aggressive with pricing, since the market is still strong. New highs are still being set in many Austin neighborhoods.
“Overall, Austin still has a low housing inventory, interest rates are currently stable around 4 percent, and Austin’s population continues to grow,” Pauly said. “That’s a recipe for a strong market.”
Of July’s nearly 3,000 home sales, the board said that 32.7 percent sold for less than $250,000; 50.3 percent sold for between $250,000 and $500,000; and 16.8 percent sold for $500,000 or higher.
“As has been the case for the last 12 months or so, both resale and new home demand remains strongest in the price points below $325,000,” said housing market analyst Eldon Rude, principal of 360 Real Estate Analytics, an Austin-based consulting firm.
“It was clear after my client meetings this quarter that builders who focus on the first-time market continue to be challenged with securing the lots and needed labor to start enough homes to meet buyer demand,” Rude said.
Within the city of Austin, sales declined 2.5 percent year-over-year, with 832 sales, while the median price rose 7.2 percent, to $369,900.
The sales dip impacted Travis County as a whole, with a 1.1 percent decline in sales in July, the board said. Travis County’s median price was $359,865, up 7.4 percent from July 2016.
Elsewhere, Hays County’s sales climbed 15.3 percent, and Williamson County’s increased 2.3 percent.
The median sales price in Hays County was up 13.1 percent, to $270,000. Williamson County’s median increased 4.4 percent, to $274,450.
According to Metrostudy, which tracks housing construction, home starts in the Austin area are at their highest level in 10 years, with about 1,000 more home starts in the second quarter of 2017 than the year prior.
More than half of the starts were in the $250,000$299,999 price range, with Cedar Park/Leander West, Pflugerville and Kyle/Buda comprising nearly one-third of home starts activity.
Rude, the housing consultant, said there has been a slight softening in the higher-end market.
“One reason is the recent slowdown in job growth in the higher-paying job categories, which translates into fewer relocation buyers to the area,” Rude said. “The other is the fact that more homes are now for sale in the higher price ranges than there was this time last year.”