The median Austin-area listing spent 63 days on the market in March 2024. The median sale was $457,495, flat against a year earlier at +0.8%. Active inventory stood at 9,603 listings, up 12.2% year over year.
Austin market statistics, March 2024
| Metric | March 2024 |
|---|---|
| Median sale price | $457,495 (+0.8% YoY) |
| Median price per sq ft | $224 (-0.8% YoY) |
| Homes sold | 2,490 (-0.4% YoY) |
| New listings | 4,009 |
| Active inventory | 9,603 (+12.2% YoY) |
| Months of supply | 3.9 |
| Median days on market | 63 |
| Sale-to-list ratio | 97.7% |
| Sold above asking | 16.2% |
| Listings with a price cut | 26.8% |
| 30-year fixed rate (avg) | 6.82% |
The NAR Settlement and What Buyers Now Pay
The National Association of Realtors announced a $418 million settlement on March 15. Two changes take effect in August: offers of buyer-agent compensation come off the MLS, and buyers must sign a written representation agreement before touring a home. What that means practically is that buyers now negotiate their agent's fee directly, in writing, up front.
What changed since February 2024
The median rose $12,495 from February 2024, a 2.8% move. Time on market shortened by 20 days, to 63. Active inventory grew by 1,138 listings, to 9,603. The share of homes selling over asking gained 3.5 points, to 16.2%.
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 2024 | February 2024 | March 2023 | Since Oct 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | $457,495 | $445,000 | $454,000 | range $255,626–$565,000 |
| Median days on market | 63 | 83 | 76 | range 16–85 |
| Active inventory | 9,603 | 8,465 | 8,560 | range 2,660–10,647 |
| Months of supply | 3.9 | 4.1 | 3.4 | range 0.9–5.4 |
| Sold above asking | 16% | 13% | 15% | range 9%–75% |
| 30-year fixed rate | 6.82% | 6.78% | 6.54% | 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 March 2024 falls against every month that came before it.
If you are buying in Austin right now
3.9 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 97.7% of asking, so roughly 2.3% under list was the normal outcome, not an insulting one.
The payment math. At $457,495 with 20% down at 6.82%, principal and interest runs about $2,391 a month. Add roughly $762 for property taxes and $305 for insurance and you are near $3,458 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: 63 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
South Austin (78704). Travis Heights, Bouldin Creek, Zilker, Barton Hills. Known for barton Springs, Zilker, tight inventory. It fits buyers who want walkability to South Congress and the park.
The metro numbers above are an average of a very unequal city, South 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/south-austin/, including what is wrong with it.
On in Austin, March 2024
| 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 8–16 | 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 eclipse April 8. Austin is in the path of totality. Homestead exemption deadline April 30. HOME Phase 2 at Council in May.
Common questions
Is the Austin housing market going to crash?
It already corrected. The metro median is 19.0% below the April 2022 peak, which is a larger drawdown than most US metros saw in this cycle, because Austin's run-up was larger. What is not present is the 2008 setup: lending standards are tight, most owners hold fixed-rate mortgages well below current rates, and Central Texas is still adding jobs and people. A slow market and a crashing one look different, and this is the first one.
Is it a good time to buy a house in Austin?
It is a reasonable one. At 3.9 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.
Part of a retrospective series on the Austin market, one post per month since 2016, compiled from the historical record. This edition covers March 2024; 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.