# Austin Housing Market Report: August 2022, How to Negotiate When You’re the Only Offer

> The Austin metro median sale price was $513,983 in August 2022, +7.2% year over year, with homes selling in 40 days and 4.1 months of supply. How to Negotiate When You’re the Only Offer, what the numbers mean if you are buying or selling in Austin.

Mike Vilece · September 15, 2022
Canonical page: https://theaustinlocalgroup.com/blog/austin-housing-market-august-2022/

The Austin metro median sat **9.0% below** its April 2022 peak in August 2022, at $513,983. The share selling above asking was 27%. The 30-year fixed averaged 5.22% that month. That made it a roughly balanced market.

## Austin market statistics, August 2022

| Metric | August 2022 |
| --- | --- |
| Median sale price | $513,983 (+7.2% YoY) |
| Median price per sq ft | $255 (+8.3% YoY) |
| Homes sold | 2,563 (-22.2% YoY) |
| New listings | 3,393 |
| Active inventory | 10,455 (+88.1% YoY) |
| Months of supply | 4.1 |
| Median days on market | 40 |
| Sale-to-list ratio | 98.9% |
| Sold above asking | 27.3% |
| Listings with a price cut | 46.7% |
| 30-year fixed rate (avg) | 5.22% |

## How to Negotiate When You’re the Only Offer

Twenty-seven percent above list, down from 66% in March. What buyers could ask for again: a real option period, repairs, seller-paid closing costs, and, the most valuable thing in a 5.7% rate environment, a rate buydown paid by the seller, which is usually worth more to you than the same money off the price.

## What changed since July 2022

The median fell $11,532 from July 2022, a 2.2% move. Time on market lengthened by 6 days, to 40. Active inventory grew by 108 listings, to 10,455. The share of homes selling over asking gave up 10.0 points, to 27.3%.

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 2022 | July 2022 | August 2021 | Since Oct 2016 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Median sale price | $513,983 | $525,515 | $479,600 | range $255,626–$565,000 |
| Median days on market | 40 | 34 | 32 | range 16–58 |
| Active inventory | 10,455 | 10,347 | 5,558 | highest since Oct 2016 |
| Months of supply | 4.1 | 4.2 | 1.7 | range 0.9–4.2 |
| Sold above asking | 27% | 37% | 62% | range 14%–75% |
| 30-year fixed rate | 5.22% | 5.41% | 2.84% | range 2.68%–5.52% |

The right-hand column is the range this series has covered since October 2016. No forecast in it, just where August 2022 falls against every month that came before it.

## If you are buying in Austin right now

4.1 months of supply is close to balance. You can inspect properly, ask for repairs, and walk away from a house that does not work, three things that were not available to Austin buyers between 2020 and mid-2022.

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 $513,983 with 20% down at 5.22%, principal and interest runs about **$2,263 a month**. Add roughly $857 for property taxes and $343 for insurance and you are near **$3,462 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:** 40 median days on market means your first two weeks decide the outcome. Price to the last ninety days of closed comps, not to what your neighbor listed at and did not sell. Condition and photography are doing more work now than they were two years ago.

## Neighborhood in focus

**East Austin (78702).** Holly, Rosewood. Known for creative, eclectic, strong appreciation. It fits buyers who want character and culture.

The metro numbers above are an average of a very unequal city, East Austin 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/east-austin/](/neighborhoods/east-austin/), including what is wrong with it.

## On in Austin, August 2022

| When | What | Why it matters to a listing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Late August | **Bat Fest**, Congress Avenue Bridge | The Congress Avenue Bridge closes for the evening. A reminder that August in Austin is the month buyers stop touring and start waiting for October. |

## What is coming next

Rates heading toward 7%. The November ballot includes a $2.44 billion Austin ISD bond.

## Common questions

### I am moving to Austin from California. What actually surprises people?

Four things, in order of how much money they cost. Property taxes, which run roughly 1.8-2.5% and have no Proposition 13-style cap beyond the 10% homestead limit. Homeowners insurance, which is among the highest in the country because of hail. Summer utility bills in an underinsulated house. And foundations: much of the region sits on expansive clay that moves with drought and rain, so watering your foundation is a real practice here and a structural engineer's report is money well spent on any older slab home.

### How much do I need to earn to buy a median-priced Austin home?

At $513,983 with 20% down at 5.22%, the all-in monthly payment is roughly $3,462 including estimated taxes and insurance. At a 30% housing-to-income ratio that implies household income around **$138,000**. Lenders will approve you well above that; whether you should go there is a different question. Property taxes are estimated at 2.0% of value, verify the actual rate for the specific address, because a MUD can push it past 3%.

### 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 August 2022 was $513,983. 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.

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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 2022; 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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