Prices up, sales down in Texas capital

Home sales in the Texas capital fell last month as the median price soared.

The Austin-Round Rock metro area recorded 3,280 closed sales in April, down for the second straight month and down 6.2% since April 2021, according to a report from the Austin Board of Realtors. The median price in the region nevertheless set an all-time high, reaching $550,000, a 19.6% increase over the same period last year.

Notably, while changes in new listings and average time on market were little changed from a year ago, active listings jumped 52.5% and pending sales declined, leading to an increase housing stock. This is the largest year-over-year increase in housing stock since the summer of 2017.

“We’re a long way from having a good number of homes for sale in our market, so any increase in housing stock is a welcome sign,” ABoR’s Cord Shiflet said. “Our area continues to be influenced by companies targeting the Austin area for job creation and expansion, and this workforce relocation needs a place to live. Austin continues to be a demand driven market.

Within Austin city limits, April home sales fell 4.2% and the median price hit a record high of $640,000, a 16.3% increase from the median in April 2021.

The largest median price increase in the region occurred in Caldwell County, where it rose 47.1% year-over-year. The county southeast of Austin has recently attracted development projects, in part related to the booming I-35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio. Despite the steep year-over-year increase, at $365,000, the county had the lowest median price in the metro area.

Although Austin’s median price was the highest in the region, its year-over-year increase of 16.2% was the smallest. Travis County, where Austin is located, has seen a 16.8% increase since April 2021, the second-lowest in the region.