It seems that more people want to “Keep Austin Weird” than ever before. The home market in Texas’ capitol city is booming. Home sales in Austin hit a seven-year high in March to 2,262 single-family homes sold. And they’re selling fast, too.
Austin-area homes are spending an average of 51 days on the market. That’s 13 days fewer than in March 2013.
And why not? The city is number two on Niche Ink’s top cities for millennials. The city is the live-music capitol of the world, boasts some of the best barbecue in the country, is home to the state’s second largest university, and has Texas’ best balance of nature and city life. It’s no big surprise that people want to settle down in Austin.
And with home sales increasing and days on the market shrinking, the housing inventory is decreasing. The monthly housing inventory decreased by 0.4 months from 2.6 to 2.2 in March, according to data released by the Austin Board of Realtors.
“The Austin-area housing market continues its aggressive pace as housing demand continues to accelerate and outstrip supply,” said Bill Evans, 2014 president of the Austin Board of Realtors.
So it’s getting harder to find a house in Austin and it’s getting more expensive, too. The median and average listing prices for homes in Austin are going up as well. The median price for single-family homes was $231,750 in March 2014, a 6% increase from the same month last year, and average price increased 5% to $296,640. On the whole, the total dollar volume of single-family homes is $670,999,680, which is up 12% from March 2013.
“Housing development is up compared with the same period in 2013, but current trends indicate that the upcoming summer selling season could bring one of the most competitive markets Austin has seen,” Evans said. “Austin must enforce housing development policies that allow for a healthy supply of housing options that are readily available and affordable for all members of our community.”
