For the third month in a row, home sales in Austin proper have declined. According to the latest report from the Austin Board of Realtors, single-family home sales in the city limits declined 3.3 percent in November 2017. Home sales in the greater metro area, however, are on the upswing again.
In November, home sales in the Austin-Round Rock metro area increased 3.7 percent year-over-year, while the median home price increased almost 3 percent, to $296,500. Prices in Austin also increased — 6.8 percent year-over-year, to $360,000.
These findings continue the trend seen in October 2017, when citywide home sales fell 1.7 percent and metro home sales grew 2.2 percent. In September, home sales fell across the board: 4.1 percent in Austin and 4.3 percent in the metro area.
Despite the slowdown, ABoR president Brandy Guthrie says 2017 could still be one for the record books.
“Even with the market normalization trends we are seeing, home sales volume throughout the Austin-Round Rock MSA is still on-pace with 2016 year to date,” added Guthrie. “If this month’s home sales volume exceeds that of December 2016, 2017 will most likely be another record-breaking year for the Austin-area housing market.”
And what should prospective buyers expect in the new year?
“The 2018 Austin-area housing market will be a lot like this year’s housing market — slower, but still very strong housing market activity,” Mark Sprague, state director of information capital for Independence Title, says.
“However, there are multiple economic factors to watch out for going into next year. Slowing job growth in Central Texas, the impact of Hurricane Harvey on the price of building materials and housing development costs, and the overhaul of the U.S. tax plan are all factors that could hinder housing market growth and negatively impact housing affordability in the Austin area in 2018.”
