The median single-family home in the Austin metro sold for $259,900 in October 2015, up 7.9% year over year. Homes took a median of 31 days to sell. Active inventory stood at 5,919 listings, up 0.1% year over year. The share selling above asking was 19%. That made it a market tilted to sellers.
Austin market statistics, October 2015
| Metric | October 2015 |
|---|---|
| Median sale price | $259,900 (+7.9% YoY) |
| Median price per sq ft | $130 (+8.4% YoY) |
| Homes sold | 2,229 (+1.9% YoY) |
| New listings | 2,450 |
| Active inventory | 5,919 (+0.1% YoY) |
| Months of supply | 2.7 |
| Median days on market | 31 |
| Sale-to-list ratio | 98.2% |
| Sold above asking | 18.8% |
| Listings with a price cut | 32.0% |
| 30-year fixed rate (avg) | 3.8% |
What the Halloween Flood Changed About Buying Near a Creek
On October 30 the remnants of a Pacific storm dropped 14.99 inches of rain on Austin-Bergstrom in a single day. The wettest day in the airport's record, beating 8.70 inches set in November 1974. Onion Creek crested at 39.12 feet, more than 22 feet over flood stage and second only to the Halloween 2013 crest. Roughly 400 structures were damaged inside the city limits and several hundred more across Travis County. Two Halloweens produced two of the three worst crests at that gauge in 146 years of records.
If you are buying in Austin right now
At 2.7 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 98.2% of asking, so roughly 1.8% under list was the normal outcome, not an insulting one.
The payment math. At $259,900 with 20% down at 3.8%, principal and interest runs about $969 a month. Add roughly $433 for property taxes and $173 for insurance and you are near $1,575 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: 31 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
Downtown Austin (78701). Rainey Street, 6th Street, Congress Ave. Known for high-rise condos, walkable nightlife. It fits professionals who want urban living without a commute, and runs $350K condos to $1M+ penthouses.
The metro numbers above are an average of a very unequal city, Downtown 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/downtown-austin/, including what is wrong with it.
What is coming next
The Onion Creek buyout program was already running before this week; expect it to move faster now. Expect too that floodplain maps and elevation certificates stop being a specialist's footnote in South and Southeast Austin and become a normal part of the contract conversation.
Common questions
Is it a good time to buy a house in Austin?
It is a reasonable one. At 2.7 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.
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?
Up 7.9% year over year as of October 2015. Austin's price growth in this period is running well ahead of national averages, which is a function of job growth, not of anything unusual about the houses.
Part of a retrospective series on the Austin market, one post per month since 2016, compiled from the historical record. This edition covers October 2015; 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.