# Austin Housing Market Report: September 2023, How Real Estate Commissions Actually Work

> The Austin metro median sale price was $459,994 in September 2023, -4.0% year over year, with homes selling in 60 days and 4.6 months of supply. How Real Estate Commissions Actually Work, what the numbers mean if you are buying or selling in Austin.

Mike Vilece · October 15, 2023
Canonical page: https://theaustinlocalgroup.com/blog/austin-housing-market-september-2023/

The Austin metro median sat **18.6% below** its April 2022 peak in September 2023, at $459,994. The share selling above asking was 12%. The 30-year fixed averaged 7.2% that month, the highest monthly average in this series so far. That made it a buyer's market.

## Austin market statistics, September 2023

| Metric | September 2023 |
| --- | --- |
| Median sale price | $459,994 (-4.0% YoY) |
| Median price per sq ft | $225 (-7.7% YoY) |
| Homes sold | 2,144 (-18.0% YoY) |
| New listings | 2,962 |
| Active inventory | 9,855 (-7.4% YoY) |
| Months of supply | 4.6 |
| Median days on market | 60 |
| Sale-to-list ratio | 97.3% |
| Sold above asking | 12.4% |
| Listings with a price cut | 40.7% |
| 30-year fixed rate (avg) | 7.2% |

## How Real Estate Commissions Actually Work

Rates near 7.5%. The Sitzer/Burnett antitrust trial starting next month challenges the practice of listing agents offering compensation to buyer agents through the MLS. Whatever the verdict, buyers should already understand what they are paying for: representation, comparative pricing, negotiation, and someone whose duty runs to them and not the seller.

## What changed since August 2023

The median fell $10,006 from August 2023, a 2.1% move. Time on market lengthened by 5 days, to 60. Active inventory grew by 113 listings, to 9,855. The share of homes selling over asking gave up 1.7 points, to 12.4%.

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

| | September 2023 | August 2023 | September 2022 | Since Oct 2016 |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Median sale price | $459,994 | $470,000 | $478,900 | range $255,626–$565,000 |
| Median days on market | 60 | 55 | 47 | range 16–85 |
| Active inventory | 9,855 | 9,742 | 10,647 | range 2,660–10,647 |
| Months of supply | 4.6 | 3.7 | 4.1 | range 0.9–5.4 |
| Sold above asking | 12% | 14% | 22% | range 10%–75% |
| 30-year fixed rate | 7.2% | 7.07% | 6.11% | highest since Oct 2016 |

The right-hand column is the range this series has covered since October 2016. No forecast in it, just where September 2023 falls against every month that came before it.

## If you are buying in Austin right now

At 4.6 months of supply this is a buyer's market, and 60 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 97.3% of asking, so roughly 2.7% under list was the normal outcome, not an insulting one.

**The payment math.** At $459,994 with 20% down at 7.2%, principal and interest runs about **$2,498 a month**. Add roughly $767 for property taxes and $307 for insurance and you are near **$3,571 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 9,855 active listings and 60 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

**Hyde Park (78751).** North Loop, North University. Known for craftsman bungalows, established. It fits buyers who want an established neighborhood with long-term value.

The metro numbers above are an average of a very unequal city, Hyde Park 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/hyde-park/](/neighborhoods/hyde-park/), including what is wrong with it.

## On in Austin, September 2023

| When | What | Why it matters to a listing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 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

The verdict in late October. Proposition 4 on November 7.

## Common questions

### 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.

### What is the average home price in Austin?

The median single-family sale across the Austin metro in September 2023 was $459,994. 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 September 2023, a buyer's market, 4.6 months of supply, with 12% 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.

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*Part of a retrospective series on the Austin market, one post per month since 2016, compiled from the historical record. This edition covers September 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](/#contact).*

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