Selling Season Ahead

The Austin area market peaked in May 2022 with an average sold price of $681,952. Since that time we’ve had a 20.49% price correction. Interest rates during Q1 ’22 were in the 3% range. Today, we’re fast approaching 7% once again; we were there in the late fall. There was a bit of interest rate decline in December/January which brought some buyers back to the market. Interesting is that even with all the available inventory the average list price for active homes in the metro has now increased by 10.91% year over year. Some sellers still have not reconciled that the market has corrected itself. Both the average and median sold prices in the Austin-Metro MLS have declined by 10.78% and 10.96% respectively, year over year.

Based on months of available inventory we are still in a sellers market with 63% of the 30 cities in the metro area having less than 4.9 months of inventory. However, the data indicates we are headed towards a more neutral market.

The chart below shows that the majority of active listings are experiencing price reductions. While the market is still favorable to sellers,  buyers now have a lot more choices and negotiating ability. It's apparent that the market has cooled down a bit from it's peak in the first half of 2022. With sold prices coming down, and days on the market going up some, the market may be stabilizing. There are still opportunities out there for both buyers and sellers who are savvy about market conditions. Our local area selling season is upon us. How it turns out will likely depend upon inventory levels and interest rates.