[ad_1]
Despite the pandemic, the Austin area housing market appears to be well on its way to becoming a record year in home sales and house prices in 2021.
That is the view of Susan Horton, President of the Austin Board of Realtors – and is supported by the board’s real estate market data for the first six months of the year.
As for months, average home sales reached an all-time high in June, both within the Austin city limits and throughout the subway area, which includes five counties from Georgetown to San Marcos, the board said. Homes continued to sell fast, many with multiple offers and above asking price, according to local real estate agents and board numbers.
Across central Texas, half of the homes that closed in June sold for more than $ 482,364 and the other half for less. That’s a 43% increase in average sales price from June 2020 and the highest value ever recorded, the board said.
In the city of Austin, half of its homes sold for more than $ 575,000 and half for less in June – another all-time high and a 42% increase from June 2020. Sales in the city rose 16.9% (1,374 closings), and sales increased 8.6% (4,369 closings) across the region – both records in June, the board said.
“I think this is going to be a record year and the numbers speak for it,” said Horton. “I think we’ll see these kinds of purchases for the rest of the year.”
During the pandemic, Horton said, “Employers have found that people can work from anywhere and that has created a lot of sales that we probably wouldn’t have had.” Low mortgage rates have also boosted sales, she said.
However, although the market’s uptrend continues, it is showing signs of stabilizing at a more steady, less hectic pace, say some local real estate agents.
In a recent newsletter, Austin-based Womack Real Estate said July introduced more home inventory, “more than what we’ve seen in the past 18 months”.
“This means that houses sometimes sit on the market a little longer,” says Womack’s newsletter. “What we’re seeing is we’ve gone from about single-digit days on the market under 10 to 15 to 16 days on the market. It feels like Austin is moving to a more stable housing market.”
Cynthia Roehricht, real estate agent at Realty Austin, also sees a subtle shift in the market.
Lately, Roehricht said, she has seen that in some cases buyers can buy a home “at asking price or slightly more,” a marked change from the much larger list-price gap that has marked the market in recent months.
“I think there is a bit more inventory,” said Roehricht, also because the supply of new houses is increasing.
She said the amount buyers may have to bid above the asking price to win in a multi-bid situation can vary widely, but is generally between 5% and 20% right now. The higher end of that spectrum is likely to be in a desirable neighborhood with low inventory and a highly rated school district such as the Northwest Hills area.
Roehricht said a couple she represented recently closed a house in South Austin, off MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) and William Cannon Drive.
“In the end we found a converted house and won the (bid), but there were only two offers and we didn’t have to pay too much. We just skipped over a bit (asking price), ”she said.
In the market in general, the number of multiple offers for a particular property seems to be decreasing, said Roehricht.
She said that builders are selling houses so quickly that “they don’t even have to put them online. When they’re ready to build them, they already have a waiting list. It’s a seller’s market.”
Still, Horton and other local real estate agents say the market continues to show strength across the region, and the numbers for the first six months of the year are evidence of this.
“One of the Nation’s Most Crucial recoveries”
Across the metropolitan area, record sales in June saw a 16.5% increase in closings by mid-year with nearly 20,000 homes changing hands, according to the Austin Board of Realtors. Half of those homes sold for more than $ 440,000 and the other half for less, representing a 35.4% increase in the average home sales price through June compared to the first six months of 2020.
Within the Austin city limits, approximately 6,470 homes were sold as of mid-year, up 21.6% from the first six months of 2020, according to the Austin Board of Realtors. Half of these homes sold for more than $ 530,000 and the other half for less, a nearly 31% increase in the average price.
By comparison, in the first six months of last year, Austin city limits sales fell 13.6% and the average home sales price rose 9.7% to $ 406,000.
“In June and the first six months of the year, we confirmed that the Austin real estate market was one of the strongest in the country,” said Horton. “Our market has established its own new normal as median prices rise while inventories remain low. Given the unprecedented growth our region continues to experience, we can expect these trends to continue. “
Aside from a few months of steep double-digit sales declines last year for post-pandemic stay-at-home orders, the Austin area’s housing market rebounded quickly in the summer of 2020 and “we had a sales season that lasted”. last year, “said Horton.
Indeed, at the time, Zillow economist Treh Manhertz described the Austin summer 2020 rebound as “one of the nation’s most critical rebounds.”
When local shelter-in-place orders were lifted in May last year, it sparked “a lot of pent-up demand for homes from those who had already planned to buy early spring,” Eldon Rude, an Austin real estate advisor, said at the time .
Jessica Lautz, vice president of Demographics and Behavior Insights at the National Association of Realtors, said buyers have shifted priorities since the beginning of the pandemic and fueled the real estate market boom in the Austin area.
“The pandemic has changed buyer preferences,” said Lautz in a written statement. “Reliable broadband access, at least one home office and flexible work and living spaces have top priority.”
Lautz said remote working and low mortgage rates have enabled buyers to buy homes in suburbs, which have more square feet of outdoor space and more purchasing power than urban areas.
Even with more properties appearing across the region (new listings rose 23.8%), buyers are quick to buy them, said Horton and several real estate agents.
From year to year through June, homes spent an average of 22 days in the market – 31 days less than the first half of 2020, the board said. Homes spent an average of 13 days in the market in June, compared to 46 days in June 2020.
Roehricht said she’s been watching people move to the Austin area from everywhere, including Seattle, California and the east coast.
“A lot of people buy second homes here as an investment, or they just love Austin and see the potential in the market,” said Roehricht.
Rude, the housing consultant, said he expected the local market to stay strong in the coming months but expected demand to slow.
“The rapid rise in real estate prices in the area is making Austin less attractive to relocation buyers than some of our peer group markets,” said Rude, director of 360 ° Real Estate Analytics, based in Austin. “Also, there is likely to be less motivation to move when companies in the US start moving their employees back to the office.”
[ad_2]
