Buyers in Austin have fewer homes to choose from, and are paying more for property than they were last year. While these increases aren’t too steep, it’s enough to definitely call attention to the current trends. If they continue over the next year, home prices will increase even more, and that would put sellers in a better place than they are today. Right now is the time to buy before prices increase. Let’s look at the numbers.
Steady Decrease in Austin Home Inventory
The current inventory of homes is 2,030, and last month is was at 1,915. That’s a 5% increase in a month; expected for this time of the year. But look at what happened between last year and today.
Twelve months ago, there were 3,217 homes for sale. That means there has been a 58% decrease in inventory-which is pretty impressive. People are holding on to their real estate and waiting it out for the larger closing check.
Now, if the current trend continues throughout the year, we could have another 50% decrease, which would definitely put the sellers at an advantage. Buyers won’t have much to choose from and will probably be in a hurry to snatch up whatever is available.
Homes Are Taking Longer to Sell
Even though the inventory is decreasing, homes are not flying off the market right now. Today, it takes 42 days to sell a home in Austin. Last month we were looking at 40 days, so there’s not much of a difference there-roughly 4%. In April 2012 homes took on average 49 days to sell, again, not, much of a difference from today. 16% in 12 months is not extraordinary. This trend shows that buyers are either waiting for the inventory to increase, or waiting for the prices to shift a bit in their favor.
Sales Price Slowly Increasing in Austin, TX
Let’s look at the numbers from a different perspective. Right now, homes in the area are selling for $419,000, which is the same amount that they sold for last month. Last year, houses sold for $315,000, so there was an increase in this area, 24% to be exact. That’s extremely healthy growth that is welcomed in any market. The fact that there was no change between March and April, may be a sign that the median prices have reached a plateau. Monitoring this number for the next few months will be key in making this prediction.
The price per square foot is also slowly increasing. It may not be happening at rapid speed, but the steady pace is actually a good sign of recovery. The median price per square foot right now is $185. Last month it was $182, which is a small increase of almost 2%. The big change happened between last year and today, when the price per square foot was only $151. That’s an increase of 18%.
Mortgage Rates are Lower
Buyers can take advantage of lower mortgage rates right now. The current rates are 3.15%, which is a slight difference from last month at 3.5%, and a big jump from last year at 3.7%. If these numbers continue to decrease, houses could start to sell at a faster rate, as buyers would want to jump and take advantage of the interest rates. It’s a really close call, but right now, sellers in Austin are reaping the benefits in today’s market.
