Austin-area buyers had 8,560 active listings to work with in March 2023, up 120.7% from a year earlier. The median sat 19.6% below the April 2022 peak of $565,000. Homes took a median of 76 days to sell. That made it a market tilted to sellers.
Austin market statistics, March 2023
| Metric | March 2023 |
|---|---|
| Median sale price | $454,000 (-14.4% YoY) |
| Median price per sq ft | $226 (-15.0% YoY) |
| Homes sold | 2,499 (-12.8% YoY) |
| New listings | 3,576 |
| Active inventory | 8,560 (+120.7% YoY) |
| Months of supply | 3.4 |
| Median days on market | 76 |
| Sale-to-list ratio | 97.2% |
| Sold above asking | 14.5% |
| Listings with a price cut | 33.2% |
| 30-year fixed rate (avg) | 6.54% |
Down 14.5%, and Up Month Over Month
The median was down 14.5% year over year, the steepest print of the correction to that point. Silicon Valley Bank failed on March 10 and mortgage rates fell briefly on the flight to safety. Meanwhile the actual month-over-month price rose. The spring market was working even as the annual comparison looked awful.
What changed since February 2023
The median rose $14,505 from February 2023, a 3.3% move. Time on market shortened by 9 days, to 76. Active inventory grew by 742 listings, to 8,560. The share of homes selling over asking gained 2.0 points, to 14.5%.
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 2023 | February 2023 | March 2022 | Since Oct 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | $454,000 | $439,495 | $530,689 | range $255,626–$565,000 |
| Median days on market | 76 | 85 | 25 | range 16–85 |
| Active inventory | 8,560 | 7,818 | 3,878 | range 2,660–10,647 |
| Months of supply | 3.4 | 4 | 1.4 | range 0.9–5.4 |
| Sold above asking | 15% | 13% | 66% | range 10%–75% |
| 30-year fixed rate | 6.54% | 6.26% | 4.17% | range 2.68%–6.9% |
The right-hand column is the range this series has covered since October 2016. No forecast in it, just where March 2023 falls against every month that came before it.
If you are buying in Austin right now
At 3.4 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 home sold for 97.2% of asking, so roughly 2.8% under list was the normal outcome, not an insulting one.
The payment math. At $454,000 with 20% down at 6.54%, principal and interest runs about $2,305 a month. Add roughly $757 for property taxes and $303 for insurance and you are near $3,365 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: 76 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 2023
| 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 May 6 city election includes Proposition A on police oversight. Homestead exemption deadline April 30.
Common questions
What is the average home price in Austin?
The median single-family sale across the Austin metro in March 2023 was $454,000. 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 March 2023, a market tilted to sellers, 3.4 months of supply, with 15% 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 0.9 months in December 2020 to 5.4 in January 2023.
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?
Down 14.4% year over year as of March 2023. Against the April 2022 peak of $565,000, the metro median is 19.6% lower. Which number matters to you depends on when you bought.
Part of a retrospective series on the Austin market, one post per month since 2016, compiled from the historical record. This edition covers March 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.