# Austin Housing Market Report: August 2020, Project Connect Goes on the Ballot

> The Austin metro median sale price was $355,000 in August 2020, +9.2% year over year, with homes selling in 17 days and 1.4 months of supply. Project Connect Goes on the Ballot, what the numbers mean if you are buying or selling in Austin.

Mike Vilece · September 15, 2020
Canonical page: https://theaustinlocalgroup.com/blog/austin-housing-market-august-2020/

In August 2020, **32% of Austin-area homes sold for more than the asking price**. The median sale was $355,000, up 9.2% year over year. Homes took a median of 17 days to sell. That made it an extreme seller's market.

## Austin market statistics, August 2020

| Metric | August 2020 |
| --- | --- |
| Median sale price | $355,000 (+9.2% YoY) |
| Median price per sq ft | $168 (+7.8% YoY) |
| Homes sold | 3,589 (+14.0% YoY) |
| New listings | 3,217 |
| Active inventory | 5,009 (-30.2% YoY) |
| Months of supply | 1.4 |
| Median days on market | 17 |
| Sale-to-list ratio | 99.7% |
| Sold above asking | 32.3% |
| Listings with a price cut | 21.2% |
| 30-year fixed rate (avg) | 2.94% |

## Project Connect Goes on the Ballot

Council voted in August to put Project Connect on the November ballot as Proposition A: a $7.1 billion transit plan funded by an 8.75-cent property tax rate increase, with light rail lines and a downtown tunnel. Thirty-two percent of homes sold above list in August. Both facts belong in the same paragraph, because the tax rate is part of what a house costs.

## What changed since July 2020

The median fell $4,000 from July 2020, a 1.1% move. Time on market shortened by 1 days, to 17. Active inventory grew by 141 listings, to 5,009. The share of homes selling over asking gained 1.6 points, to 32.3%.

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

| | August 2020 | July 2020 | August 2019 | Since Oct 2016 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Median sale price | $355,000 | $359,000 | $325,000 | range $255,626–$359,000 |
| Median days on market | 17 | 18 | 31 | range 16–58 |
| Active inventory | 5,009 | 4,868 | 7,173 | range 4,660–7,969 |
| Months of supply | 1.4 | 1.2 | 2.3 | range 1.2–3.8 |
| Sold above asking | 32% | 31% | 21% | highest since Oct 2016 |
| 30-year fixed rate | 2.94% | 3.02% | 3.62% | lowest since Oct 2016 |

The right-hand column is the range this series has covered since October 2016. No forecast in it, just where August 2020 falls against every month that came before it.

## If you are buying in Austin right now

At 1.4 months of supply there is no version of this where you take your time. Be fully underwritten before you tour, not pre-qualified, underwritten, with income and assets already verified. Decide your ceiling in writing before you see the house, because you will be asked to decide in a day.

The average sale closed at 99.7% 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 $355,000 with 20% down at 2.94%, principal and interest runs about **$1,188 a month**. Add roughly $592 for property taxes and $237 for insurance and you are near **$2,017 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 17 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

**Westlake (78746).** Rollingwood, Lost Creek, Rob Roy. Known for eanes ISD, Hill Country views, luxury. It fits families prioritizing schools, and runs $800K to $5M+.

The metro numbers above are an average of a very unequal city, Westlake 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/westlake/](/neighborhoods/westlake/), including what is wrong with it.

## On in Austin, August 2020

| When | What | Why it matters to a listing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| August 2020 | **Public events**, cancelled | Austin's public event calendar did not run in its usual form. Large gatherings were restricted from mid-March 2020, and the festivals, races and street closures that normally shape a month here were cancelled, moved online or held at reduced size. |

## What is coming next

The November 3 election, with Prop A and a separate $460 million mobility bond as Prop B.

## Common questions

### How much are property taxes in Austin?

Combined city, county, school district and community college rates in the Austin area generally land between about 1.8% and 2.5% of assessed value, and higher inside a Municipal Utility District, where 3%+ is possible. There is no state income tax in Texas, and property tax is the trade. Two things every buyer should do: file a homestead exemption by April 30 of the year after you close, which caps annual taxable value increases at 10%, and check whether your target address sits in a MUD or PID before you finalize your budget.

### What should I know about flooding before buying in Austin?

Central Texas is Flash Flood Alley: thin soil over limestone, steep terrain, and storms that stall. Austin models its own floodplain, which is often stricter than FEMA's, so a house can sit outside the FEMA 100-year map and inside the city's. Standard homeowners insurance does not cover flood, NFIP policies take 30 days to take effect, and plenty of local flooding happens outside mapped floodplains. Pull both maps and get a flood quote during your option period.

### Are Austin home prices going up or down?

Up 9.2% year over year as of August 2020. Austin's price growth in this period is running well ahead of national averages, which is a function of job growth, not of anything unusual about the houses.

### Should I buy in Austin or in the suburbs?

The honest trade: Round Rock, Cedar Park, Leander, Pflugerville, Georgetown, Kyle and Buda will get you meaningfully more square footage and, in Round Rock ISD, Leander ISD and Lake Travis ISD, schools that rate as well or better than most Austin ISD zones. What you give up is proximity, and in Austin proximity is the scarce good. The drive from Leander to downtown at 8am is not the drive you tested on a Sunday. Check the MUD rate before you compare prices; a suburban house can carry a higher monthly cost than a more expensive central one.

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*Part of a retrospective series on the Austin market, one post per month since 2016, compiled from the historical record. This edition covers August 2020; 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](/#contact).*

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