AUSTIN, Texas — Despite the Austin-area housing market continuing to set price records through the end of 2022, experts say the market continues shifting toward buyers.
According to the Austin Board of Realtors' (ABoR) December 2022 and Year-End Central Texas Housing Market Report, the median price for a home in the Austin-Round Rock area set an annual record of $503,000. But home sales declined 18.3% to 33,547 homes sold last year. Meanwhile, inventory increased, with homes on the market for 31 days – 11 days more than in 2021.
In the month of December, closed listings across the area declined 31.5% to 2,435 year over year as sales dollar volume decreased 36.1% to $1,357,155,494. The median sales price dropped 3.7% to $457,426, while new listings declined 15.1% to 1,828, active listings jumped 275.4% to 7,493 and pending sales dropped 22.8% in December to 1,949 sales.
In December, homes spent an average of 73 days on the market, 47 more than in December 2021.
"After two years of unprecedented demand, activity and price increases, our housing market began to stabilize in 2022," said Ashley Jackson, 2023 ABoR president. "Signs point to that trend continuing in 2023 even as interest rates fluctuate, so buyers need to date the rate and marry the house. Bidding wars have subdued as homes on average sold for only less than the original listing price in 2022, but as we head into what is normally a seasonal peak for sales, today will still be the most cost-effective time to buy a house."
Jackson said it's important for prospective homebuyers to remember that the local housing market is still desirable and sought-after.
"It is just that now we are seeing our market return to a more normal level of high demand and activity than what we experienced in the years leading up to the COVID pandemic and subsequent boom in our market," she said.
Information capital expert Mark Sprague said that construction costs and supply chain and labor issues could take years to return to normal. Because of that, inventory could fall in the coming year.
Experts also said that affordability will continue to be a major issue in 2023, especially as interest rates impact people's budgets and companies continue to create jobs across Central Texas.
For more information on the ABoR's December 2022 and Year-End Central Texas Housing Market Report, head to ABoR.com/MarketStatistics.
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