AUSTIN, Texas — Austin-Round Rock MSA housing inventory topped 3.0 months in March, while an increase in new and active listings indicates favorable market conditions for buyers and sellers, according to the Austin Board of REALTORS® latest Central Texas Housing Report. In March, 4,385 residential properties hit the market, an increase of 6.6% listings from the year prior. Active listings soared 377.7% to 8,059 listings, pushing the region’s housing inventory up 0.5 months to 3.0 months of inventory across the five-county area. Pending sales declined 7.4% to 3,046 transactions, while homes spent an average of 80 days on the market, up 58 days from March 2022. At the same time, residential home sales declined 14.0% year-over-year to 2,804 closed sales, median price declined 13.5% to $450,000, and sales dollar volume dropped 24.9% to $1,580,024,101.
Dr. Clare Losey, who recently joined ABoR as its first housing economist, commented on the ongoing strength of Central Texas’s housing demand as mortgage rates stabilize and housing activity continues to normalize. "Austin’s housing market is still demand driven, contributing over $1.5B to our region’s economy last month even as the pace of home sales and price growth adjusts from the extreme anomaly of the last two years. The increase of new listings in March, specifically month over month, indicates rising seller confidence, and the recent decline in mortgage rates provided momentum for homebuyers. Mortgage rates are projected to remain consistent for the rest of the year, making now a great time to make a move."
City of Austin In March, home sales decreased 24.6% to 774 sales, while sales dollar volume decreased 32.6% to $534,646,203. At the same time, the median price decreased 15.1% to $529,495 for the City of Austin. Last month, new listings ticked up 9.9% to 1,448 listings, active listings skyrocketed 307.9% to 2,166 listings as pending sales declined by 18.8% to 879 pending sales. Monthly housing inventory increased 2.3 months year over year to 2.8 months of inventory.
Travis County In Travis County, home sales decreased 21.1% to 1,262 sales, while sales dollar volume decreased 29.0% to $852,870,042. Last month, the median price in Travis County dropped 14.2% year over year to $514,900, while new listings increased 9.9% to 2,250 listings and active listings ballooned 336.9% to 3,775 listings year over year. Pending sales declined 13.0% to 1,401 pending sales as monthly housing inventory increased 2.6 months year over year to 3.1 months of inventory.
Williamson County March home sales decreased 11.9% to 973 sales in Williamson County. Sales dollar volume declined 20.8% year over year to $473,710,413. The median price decreased 13.0% to $425,000 and new listings fell 7.2% to 1,242 listings. During the same period, active listings soared 462.0% to 2,366 listings while pending sales dropped 8.7% to 1,016 pending sales. Housing inventory rose 2.2 months to 2.6 months of inventory.
Hays County In Hays County, March home sales increased 2.8% to 400 sales and sales dollar volume dropped 16.4% to $192,017,930. The median price for homes fell 15.5% to $388,950. During the same period, new listings increased 35.6% to 621 listings, while active listings skyrocketed by 429.9% to 1,293 listings. Pending sales decreased 19.5% to 441 pending sales as housing inventory jumped by 2.9 months to 3.5 months of inventory. (information courtesy of ACTRIS)
National Market Update Sales of existing homes cooled in March after their big February surge. The good news for buyers was that median prices fell 0.9% from March 2022 and are down 12.7% from their mid-2022 peak. The Pending Home Sales index of signed contracts on existing homes fell 5.2% in March. Yet buyer demand is strong, with about a third of listings getting multiple offers and 28% selling above list price. Meanwhile, annual home price growth dropped from 3.7% in January to 2.0% in February’s S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, with the monthly price gain a miniscule 0.2%. New Home Sales jumped almost 10% in March, posting the strongest monthly gain since March last year. It was the fourth straight monthly increase, as builders continue to benefit from the lack of existing home listings. Single-family housing starts rose 2.7% in March, up for the second month in a row for the first time since 2021. Spending on residential construction in February slipped a tad (about half a percent below January), coming in nationally at a strong $852.1 million annual rate. However, spending is still around 5% below last year.
With the drop in multi-units, overall starts were off a tick, but homes under construction remain near the highest level on record. That backlog of projects tells why building permits fell in March. The National Association of Home Builders sentiment index rose for the fourth month, though still less than half the builders see conditions as good. In line with these reports, Black Knight found that rate locks on purchase loans grew 44% month-over-month in March. Even refinance lock activity grew, with cash-outs up 31% and rate-and-term locks up 36%, as rates eased. Black Knight reports a February monthly gain in home prices after seven months of declines. But the U.S. annual home price growth rate keeps sliding, falling to 1.94% in February, the first time that figure fell below 2% in 11 years. Wall Street expects the Fed to hike a quarter percent in May and then hold for a while, although there is some sentiment for a rate cut in July. Freddie Mac's Chief Economist observed, "Mortgage rates continued to trend down entering the traditional spring homebuying season," though there's still a "low inventory of homes for sale, especially for aspiring first-time homebuyers.” Freddie Mac also noted that falling mortgage rates, decelerating inflation, and tight labor markets “are creating increased optimism among prospective homebuyers as the housing market hits its peak in the spring and summer.” Thanks to those lower rates, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported purchase mortgage applications jumped 8%, noting “the likelihood of even lower rates in the months ahead should lead to increased demand.”