A house in the Austin metro took a median of 63 days to sell in October 2023. The median sat 20.4% below the April 2022 peak of $565,000. The median sale was $449,665, down 5.7% year over year. Active inventory stood at 9,475 listings, down 8.0% year over year. That made it a buyer's market.
Austin market statistics, October 2023
| Metric | October 2023 |
|---|---|
| Median sale price | $449,665 (-5.7% YoY) |
| Median price per sq ft | $221 (-8.0% YoY) |
| Homes sold | 2,129 (+4.6% YoY) |
| New listings | 2,510 |
| Active inventory | 9,475 (-8.0% YoY) |
| Months of supply | 4.5 |
| Median days on market | 63 |
| Sale-to-list ratio | 97.4% |
| Sold above asking | 13.2% |
| Listings with a price cut | 40.4% |
| 30-year fixed rate (avg) | 7.62% |
7.79% and a $1.78 Billion Verdict
The 30-year fixed hit 7.79% on October 26. The cycle high, and the highest since 2000. Five days later a Missouri jury returned a $1.78 billion verdict against the National Association of Realtors and two brokerages over commission practices. Both of those change what buying a house costs, in different ways and on different timelines.
What changed since September 2023
The median fell $10,329 from September 2023, a 2.2% move. Time on market lengthened by 3 days, to 63. Active inventory shrank by 380 listings, to 9,475. The share of homes selling over asking gained 0.8 points, to 13.2%.
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
| October 2023 | September 2023 | October 2022 | Since Oct 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | $449,665 | $459,994 | $476,748 | range $255,626–$565,000 |
| Median days on market | 63 | 60 | 54 | range 16–85 |
| Active inventory | 9,475 | 9,855 | 10,293 | range 2,660–10,647 |
| Months of supply | 4.5 | 4.6 | 5.1 | range 0.9–5.4 |
| Sold above asking | 13% | 12% | 16% | range 10%–75% |
| 30-year fixed rate | 7.62% | 7.2% | 6.9% | highest since Oct 2016 |
The right-hand column is the range this series has covered since October 2016. No forecast in it, just where October 2023 falls against every month that came before it.
If you are buying in Austin right now
At 4.5 months of supply this is a buyer's market, and 63 median days on market is the negotiating position. A listing that is ninety days old belongs to a seller whose plan is not working. That is worth more than any clever offer strategy.
The average home sold for 97.4% of asking, so roughly 2.6% under list was the normal outcome, not an insulting one.
The payment math. At $449,665 with 20% down at 7.62%, principal and interest runs about $2,545 a month. Add roughly $749 for property taxes and $300 for insurance and you are near $3,594 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: with 9,475 active listings and 63 median days on market, you are competing against a lot of houses and a patient buyer. Price ahead of the market rather than chasing it down, and consider funding a rate buydown, at these rates it moves a buyer's monthly payment more than an equivalent price cut does.
Neighborhood in focus
Crestview & Brentwood (78756 & 78757). Little Deli, Brentwood Social House, Crestview Station. Known for old-Austin feel, hidden gems. It fits buyers who want a neighborhood that still feels like old Austin.
The metro numbers above are an average of a very unequal city, Crestview & Brentwood 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/crestview-brentwood/, including what is wrong with it.
On in Austin, October 2023
| When | What | Why it matters to a listing |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 6–15 | ACL Music Festival, Zilker Park | Two weekends. Zilker, Barton Hills and 78704 are closed to normal traffic both of them, and rental demand spikes citywide. |
| Oct 22 | Formula 1 United States Grand Prix, Circuit of the Americas, southeast | Race weekend. Southeast Travis County and SH-130 congest from Friday, and downtown hotel rates hit their annual high. |
| Late October | Austin Film Festival, Downtown theatres and hotels | Eight days across downtown venues. Hotel demand overlaps the Grand Prix weekend most years, which is when downtown rates peak. |
| Sep 30–Oct 1 | Pecan Street Festival (Fall), Sixth Street Historic District | The autumn edition, same footprint as May. Sixth Street closed for the weekend, downtown slow, nothing beyond it. |
| Home Saturdays | Texas Longhorns home games, Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium | I-35 through central, campus parking and everything within a mile of the stadium stop working by late morning on a home Saturday. A wasted afternoon for an open house in 78705, 78751 or downtown. |
What is coming next
Proposition 4 on November 7. Council votes in December on the HOME initiative, which would allow up to three units on lots currently zoned for one.
Common questions
What are the best neighborhoods in Austin for families?
It depends on what you are optimizing for, and anyone who answers without asking is selling you something. Broadly: Circle C, Steiner Ranch and Avery Ranch for space and schools; Mueller, Crestview and Brentwood for walkability with a yard; Westlake and West Lake Hills for Eanes ISD if the budget reaches; Hyde Park and Bryker Woods for older homes near central. There are honest write-ups of nine of these at theaustinlocalgroup.com/neighborhoods, including the parts that are not flattering.
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 $449,665 with 20% down at 7.62%, the all-in monthly payment is roughly $3,594 including estimated taxes and insurance. At a 30% housing-to-income ratio that implies household income around $144,000. 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%.
Is the Austin housing market going to crash?
It already corrected. The metro median is 20.4% 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.
Part of a retrospective series on the Austin market, one post per month since 2016, compiled from the historical record. This edition covers October 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.