AUSTIN, Texas — More than two years ago now, 2020 saw what many real estate agents and developers called a gold rush in Austin, with homes being sold in a matter of hours. Now, the market appears to be slowing down.
"It's brought a lot of people here and it was just a perfect storm," said Chester Wilson, one of the owners of Greater Austin Builders.
Two years ago, many set their sights on Austin.
"Gold rush is a perfect term for it. I've been doing this for 25 years. It was unlike anything we've ever seen," said Cord Shiflet, the president of the Austin Board of Realtors.
However, Shiflet said Austin's real estate boom isn't going anywhere but that it's just slowing down.
He noted that rather than taking only a day or two to sell, homes now take around a month to sell. But why?
"On average, interest rates have pretty much doubled in the last year," said Shiflet. "You've got to kind of erase what you've seen for the last year or two. I mean, those are historic lows."
The Austin luxury real estate business is also feeling the slowdown.
"We couldn't believe it. Prices kept going up. We thought it was good," said Wilson in reference to how fast they were selling homes in 2020. "We kind of positioned ourselves to be ready for today if and when there was a slowdown, and here it is."
Wilson and his team built these luxury homes around Austin, saying that longer listing times lead to price cuts.
"There's actually a lot of compelling reasons to get out and look for homes. Now, with the extra inventory for the buyers and especially with all the price reductions that we're seeing," said Wilson.
Shiflet noted there are some silver linings for buyers.
"What buyers are enjoying is there are no longer 40 offers on a house. They're actually able to have a shot at getting a house," said Shiflet.
He said if buyers take advantage now, they can refinance in the future after interest rates have dropped.
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