In December 2023, 9% of Austin-area homes sold for more than the asking price. The 30-year fixed averaged 6.82% that month. The median sale was $448,000, down 2.4% year over year. That made it a roughly balanced market.
Austin market statistics, December 2023
| Metric | December 2023 |
|---|---|
| Median sale price | $448,000 (-2.4% YoY) |
| Median price per sq ft | $215 (-4.0% YoY) |
| Homes sold | 2,114 (-8.8% YoY) |
| New listings | 1,535 |
| Active inventory | 7,930 (-2.5% YoY) |
| Months of supply | 3.8 |
| Median days on market | 77 |
| Sale-to-list ratio | 96.6% |
| Sold above asking | 9.4% |
| Listings with a price cut | 21.9% |
| 30-year fixed rate (avg) | 6.82% |
Three Units Per Lot: Austin Finally Changes the Rules
Council passed HOME Phase 1 on December 7, allowing up to three housing units on lots previously limited to one, across most of the city's single-family land. After CodeNEXT's collapse and the land development code litigation, Austin finally changed its housing rules. Mortgage rates also fell to about 6.6% as the Fed signaled it was done hiking.
What changed since November 2023
The median rose $15,000 from November 2023, a 3.5% move. Time on market lengthened by 10 days, to 77. Active inventory shrank by 1,269 listings, to 7,930. The share of homes selling over asking gave up 2.8 points, to 9.4%.
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
| December 2023 | November 2023 | December 2022 | Since Oct 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | $448,000 | $433,000 | $458,845 | range $255,626–$565,000 |
| Median days on market | 77 | 67 | 72 | range 16–85 |
| Active inventory | 7,930 | 9,199 | 8,135 | range 2,660–10,647 |
| Months of supply | 3.8 | 4.8 | 3.5 | range 0.9–5.4 |
| Sold above asking | 9% | 12% | 11% | lowest since Oct 2016 |
| 30-year fixed rate | 6.82% | 7.44% | 6.36% | range 2.68%–7.62% |
The right-hand column is the range this series has covered since October 2016. No forecast in it, just where December 2023 falls against every month that came before it.
If you are buying in Austin right now
3.8 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 home sold for 96.6% of asking, so roughly 3.4% under list was the normal outcome, not an insulting one.
The payment math. At $448,000 with 20% down at 6.82%, principal and interest runs about $2,341 a month. Add roughly $747 for property taxes and $299 for insurance and you are near $3,387 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: 77 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
UT Area & Bryker Woods (78703 & 78705). West Campus, Bryker Woods, Old West Austin. Known for uT-adjacent investment potential. It fits investors and buyers who want to be in the center of everything.
The metro numbers above are an average of a very unequal city, UT Area & Bryker Woods 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/ut-area-bryker-woods/, including what is wrong with it.
On in Austin, December 2023
| When | What | Why it matters to a listing |
|---|---|---|
| Mid to late December | Armadillo Christmas Bazaar, Palmer Events Center | Runs to Christmas Eve at the Palmer. Adds to the Zilker-area congestion the Trail of Lights is already causing. |
| Mid-December | Trail of Lights, Zilker Park | Roughly two weeks of nightly closures around Zilker. Barton Springs Road and the 78704 approaches are slow every evening it runs. |
What is coming next
A second HOME phase in 2024 addressing minimum lot sizes. And a likely settlement in the commission litigation.
Common questions
Is it a good time to buy a house in Austin?
It is a reasonable one. At 3.8 months of supply neither side has a decisive edge, which means the outcome depends more on the specific house and your specific terms than on the market. That is the normal condition, and Austin has not spent much of the last decade in it.
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.
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 December 2023 was $448,000. 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.
Part of a retrospective series on the Austin market, one post per month since 2016, compiled from the historical record. This edition covers December 2023; 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.