A house in the Austin metro took a median of 22 days to sell in April 2019. The share selling above asking was 26%. The 30-year fixed averaged 4.14% that month. Closed volume was 2,959 homes, up 13.7% year over year. That made it a seller's market.
Austin market statistics, April 2019
| Metric | April 2019 |
|---|---|
| Median sale price | $320,000 (+1.3% YoY) |
| Median price per sq ft | $154 (+2.5% YoY) |
| Homes sold | 2,959 (+13.7% YoY) |
| New listings | 3,801 |
| Active inventory | 6,455 (-0.5% YoY) |
| Months of supply | 2.2 |
| Median days on market | 22 |
| Sale-to-list ratio | 98.9% |
| Sold above asking | 25.8% |
| Listings with a price cut | 28.3% |
| 30-year fixed rate (avg) | 4.14% |
How to Protest Your Property Taxes and Win
Protest season. The process is free, you can do it online through Travis CAD, and the informal hearing settles most cases. What wins: closed sales of comparable homes, photos of deferred condition, and the equity argument: that your assessment is out of line with similar properties, which is a separate and often stronger ground than market value.
What changed since March 2019
The median rose $16,940 from March 2019, a 5.6% move. Time on market shortened by 13 days, to 22. Active inventory grew by 205 listings, to 6,455. The share of homes selling over asking gained 5.7 points, to 25.8%.
One month is noise. The reason to read it anyway is that direction shows up in inventory and days on market well before it shows up in price, so the months where those two disagree with the headline number are the interesting ones.
Where this month sits in the cycle
| April 2019 | March 2019 | April 2018 | Since Oct 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | $320,000 | $303,060 | $315,780 | range $255,626–$325,000 |
| Median days on market | 22 | 35 | 21 | range 16–58 |
| Active inventory | 6,455 | 6,250 | 6,489 | range 4,660–7,969 |
| Months of supply | 2.2 | 2.4 | 2.5 | range 2.1–3.8 |
| Sold above asking | 26% | 20% | 25% | range 14%–30% |
| 30-year fixed rate | 4.14% | 4.26% | 4.47% | range 3.44%–4.87% |
The right-hand column is the range this series has covered since October 2016. No forecast in it, just where April 2019 falls against every month that came before it.
If you are buying in Austin right now
2.2 months of supply is a seller's market, but not a chaotic one. Good homes priced correctly move in the first weekend; anything still sitting after three weeks has a reason, and finding out what it is before you offer is the whole job.
The average sale closed at 98.9% of list, essentially at asking. The negotiation in a month like this happens on price cuts before you arrive and on repairs after you are under contract, not on the headline number.
The payment math. At $320,000 with 20% down at 4.14%, principal and interest runs about $1,243 a month. Add roughly $533 for property taxes and $213 for insurance and you are near $1,990 a month all in. Texas has no state income tax and this is where the state collects instead, budget the tax line from day one, not as an afterthought.
If you are selling: you have the leverage, and the mistake available to you is overpricing into it anyway. Homes were selling in 22 days. A listing that sits three weeks in this market has told every agent in town that something is wrong, and you will end up taking less than if you had priced it right on day one.
Neighborhood in focus
Crestview & Brentwood (78756 & 78757). Little Deli, Brentwood Social House, Crestview Station. Known for old-Austin feel, hidden gems. It fits buyers who want a neighborhood that still feels like old Austin.
The metro numbers above are an average of a very unequal city, Crestview & Brentwood does not move in lockstep with Kyle or Leander, and the gap between ZIPs widens in exactly the months the metro looks calm. There is a longer, more honest write-up at /neighborhoods/crestview-brentwood/, including what is wrong with it.
On in Austin, April 2019
| When | What | Why it matters to a listing |
|---|---|---|
| Late April | Austin Food + Wine Festival, Auditorium Shores | Auditorium Shores and the south shore of Lady Bird Lake close for the weekend. Downtown hotel demand rises but nothing like SXSW. |
| Late March into early April | Texas Relays, Mike A. Myers Stadium, UT campus | Campus-area traffic and hotels fill for the weekend. Localised to 78705 and the blocks around San Jacinto. |
What is coming next
SB 2 and HB 3 are both moving toward passage before the session ends in late May.
Common questions
When is the best time of year to buy a house in Austin?
October through January, consistently. Austin's listing calendar runs about six weeks ahead of the national one. The best selection appears in March and April, and so does the most competition. By late fall, spring listings are six months old, sellers have adjusted their expectations, and days on market runs 30 to 50 days longer than it did in April. You get less to choose from and far more leverage over what is left.
What is the average home price in Austin?
The median single-family sale across the Austin metro in April 2019 was $320,000. Median is the more useful number than average here. A handful of Westlake and Tarrytown sales pull an average upward in a way that tells you nothing about what you will pay. Note also that the metro figure covers Travis, Williamson, Hays, Bastrop and Caldwell counties; the City of Austin proper runs meaningfully higher, and the suburbs meaningfully lower.
Is Austin a buyer's market or a seller's market?
In April 2019, a seller's market, 2.2 months of supply, with 26% of homes selling above asking. The rough convention: under about 3 months favors sellers, 4 to 6 is balanced, and above 6 favors buyers. Since October 2016 this metro has ranged from 2.1 months in December 2015 to 3.8 in January 2019.
What is a MUD district and why does it matter?
A Municipal Utility District is a taxing entity that finances water, sewer and drainage infrastructure in developments outside city utility service: common in Leander, Kyle, Buda, Manor and parts of Pflugerville and Dripping Springs. It levies its own rate on top of city, county and school, and can add a full percentage point or more to your effective tax rate. MUD rates typically decline as the district's debt is paid down, but that takes decades. It is the most common surprise in a suburban Central Texas closing, and it is disclosed, read the MUD notice.
Part of a retrospective series on the Austin market, one post per month since 2016, compiled from the historical record. This edition covers April 2019; every figure is as reported for that month, and nothing in it looks past it.
Source: Redfin Data Center metro market tracker: single-family, Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos metro, not seasonally adjusted. Mortgage rates are the monthly average of the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey 30-year fixed rate. Payment, tax and insurance figures are estimates for illustration and are not a quote. Median sale price is not a guarantee of value for any specific property.
Written by Mike Vilece, a licensed Texas real estate agent with Compass in Austin. If you want the version of this that applies to your street and your budget, ask me directly.