$299,000 is what the median Austin-area house sold for in March 2017, up 6.8% year over year. Active inventory stood at 5,946 listings, up 11.2% year over year. The share selling above asking was 23%. That made it a market tilted to sellers.
Austin market statistics, March 2017
| Metric | March 2017 |
|---|---|
| Median sale price | $299,000 (+6.8% YoY) |
| Median price per sq ft | $144 (+7.1% YoY) |
| Homes sold | 2,392 (-3.0% YoY) |
| New listings | 3,836 |
| Active inventory | 5,946 (+11.2% YoY) |
| Months of supply | 2.5 |
| Median days on market | 24 |
| Sale-to-list ratio | 98.6% |
| Sold above asking | 23.1% |
| Listings with a price cut | 28.7% |
| 30-year fixed rate (avg) | 4.2% |
How to Protest a Travis County Appraisal
Appraisal notices go out in April, and the protest deadline is May 15 or 30 days after the notice, whichever is later. Travis County appraisals had been climbing faster than the sale data in several central ZIPs, which is the setup for a protest that actually wins. Bring closed comps, not opinions.
What changed since February 2017
The median rose $9,000 from February 2017, a 3.1% move. Time on market shortened by 20 days, to 24. Active inventory grew by 819 listings, to 5,946. The share of homes selling over asking gained 3.1 points, to 23.1%.
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
| March 2017 | February 2017 | March 2016 | Since Oct 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | $299,000 | $290,000 | $280,000 | highest since Oct 2016 |
| Median days on market | 24 | 44 | 24 | range 16–44 |
| Active inventory | 5,946 | 5,127 | 5,349 | range 4,660–6,891 |
| Months of supply | 2.5 | 2.8 | 2.2 | range 2.1–3.3 |
| Sold above asking | 23% | 20% | 26% | range 17%–30% |
| 30-year fixed rate | 4.2% | 4.17% | 3.69% | range 3.44%–4.2% |
The right-hand column is the range this series has covered since October 2016. No forecast in it, just where March 2017 falls against every month that came before it.
If you are buying in Austin right now
At 2.5 months of supply, sellers still have the edge on the best listings and buyers have real leverage on everything else. The spread between those two groups is where the negotiation lives.
The average sale closed at 98.6% 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 $299,000 with 20% down at 4.2%, principal and interest runs about $1,170 a month. Add roughly $498 for property taxes and $199 for insurance and you are near $1,867 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: 24 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, March 2017
| When | What | Why it matters to a listing |
|---|---|---|
| Early March | Zilker Kite Festival, Zilker Park | Zilker parking is gone by mid-morning and Barton Springs Road backs up. A Sunday that costs you traffic in 78704 and nowhere else. |
| Mar 10–19 | SXSW, Downtown / Convention Center | The hardest week of the year to show a downtown property. Central traffic is unusable and short-term rentals price like hotels. |
What is coming next
The homestead exemption deadline is April 30. If you closed in the last twelve months and have not filed, file. It caps your taxable value increase at 10% a year, and in a market appreciating faster than that, the cap is the whole point.
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 $299,000 with 20% down at 4.2%, the all-in monthly payment is roughly $1,867 including estimated taxes and insurance. At a 30% housing-to-income ratio that implies household income around $75,000. 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 March 2017 was $299,000. 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 March 2017; 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.