Austin Real Estate Update: New Listings Continue to Surge in May, Sales Price Trying to Maintain
* Note: June saw an even even bigger rise in new listings creating continued and heightened competition. Interest rates mostly stayed in the 7’s. Update coming soon.
AUSTIN, Texas — In may, Austin MSA housing inventory reached the highest level in 13 years per Unlock MLS. This means our inventory has reached 4 to 6 months of inventory across the City of Austin and surrounding counties. This would seem like good news to Buyers, but the continued elevated interest rates are making it difficult for both buyers and sellers. Buyers options continue to grow, but their ability to purchase remains hindered.
While months of inventory continue to increase, sales price has held fairly firm. The median sales price in the city of Austin rose 11.6% in May, Travis was up 4.7%, Hays was down 2.5% and surrounding counties were down 3% or more. Pending dropped in Round Rock 2.5%, Travis 9.5%, Williamson 1.5%, Bastrop 8.7% while rising in the City of Austin 6.3%, and Hays 17.8%. This shows that specific areas saw a shift in focus the last few months with more clients buying in Austin and heading to Hays County.
Buyers: Maximize Savings with Seller Incentives and In-House Financing in a Competitive Market
As a buyer, seeking seller incentives to help reduce your interest rate by buying down points has become common practice and can help take the edge off higher interest rates. Some new construction homes also offer in-house financing, which can be both enticing and helpful for buyers. In the current market, you can be selective and make requests; however, the best renovated and priced homes continue to sell fairly quickly.
Sellers: Maximize Your Home's Value with Expert Preparation and Staging Assistance from Wagner Real Estate
For sellers, maximizing preparation, staging, renovations, and repairs both inside and outside is of the utmost importance. While buyers have more options available to them, you have to capitalize on the showings you get by helping buyers see every bit of value in your property over the competition. At Wagner Real Estate, we’ll help connect you with any professional you may need to get the property looking top-notch and ready to list and sell.
Investors: Capitalize on Growing Inventory and Affordable Housing Opportunities in Surrounding Cities
For investors with cash, now continues to be a good time to take advantage of the growing inventory. For both commercial and residential real estate investments, we continue to recommend the surrounding cities to our clients. In general, affordable housing will continue to spark commercial and retail growth, and any city with property at a $300,000 price point will be of interest. It will continue to attract buyers who can’t afford to live in bigger cities, and this will, in turn, expand commercial necessity.