AUSTIN, Texas — Austin's housing market saw an overall decline in closed sales compared to January 2021, according to a new report from the Austin Board of Realtors (ABoR).
ABoR's report shows that the number of closed listings in January 2022 fell 5.8% to 2,295 when compared to the year prior.
“This was the second-most active January on record in our market,” said Cord Shiflet, 2022 ABoR president. “We need to make it easier to build homes across all price ranges in the region so that anyone who wants to own or rent a home has the opportunity to do so. Recent housing development announcements across the region like Trinity Ranch in Elgin and Prairie Lakes in Hays County are welcome news, but our community — including elected officials — needs to do more to address the systemic issues we face when it comes to getting new homes built quickly and residential redevelopment projects completed faster.”
Trinity Ranch is a 1,700-plus home subdivision planned for Elgin, where homes are expected to be valued in the $300,000 range.
The new ABoR report said that in January 2021, median sales prices in the Austin-Round Rock MSA rose 30.4% to $476,000 amid the dip in closed sales. The report also said sales dollar volume rose to 18.2% to $1,318,618,884.
New listings decreased 10.1% to 2,614 as active listings also dropped 0.7% to 1,351, according to the ABoR report. Pending listings increased 3.8% to 3,352, as months of inventory stayed flat at 0.4 months. The report said homes spent an average of 28 days on the market, down six days from January 2021.
"We're seeing that it's taking builders twice as long as it is to complete a house as it was before COVID hit," Shiflet said. "So when you when you look at that, we're building less homes per year and we're really trying to get that number up."
The 0.4 months of inventory translates to about two weeks or less that houses stay up for sale.
"We're still seeing a dozen offers on those homes over the first weekend, so they feel like they're flying off the shelves a lot faster than two weeks," Shiflet said.
“Austin’s unprecedented economic growth shows no signs of stopping, with announcements of new projects almost daily. While this is great for Austin long term, our capacity to house people cannot keep up, with people having to drive further outside city limits to find a home they can afford,” said Scott Tuner, president of the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin. “While demand is higher than ever, supply chain issues are contributing to the slowing rate of construction. It is harder than ever for builders to complete homes on time due to a lack of both materials and labor. It takes almost twice as long to build than it did pre-pandemic, so we are building less housing per year, despite our best efforts.”
For a look at the full ABoR report for January 2022, click here.
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