AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin-Round Rock area saw a 23.9% sales jump in January, according to the latest Central Texas Housing Market Report from the Austin Board of REALTORS® (ABoR). That amounts to 2,523 home sales through the month of January.
“The last week has shown us, once again, that our homes are more important than ever,” said Susan Horton, 2021 ABoR president. “Austin REALTORS® are not just local market experts in buying or selling a home but we can also provide guidance and resources for home repairs if your current home has been impacted by the winter storms. If you are currently in process of buying or selling a home, talk to your REALTOR® about how recent events might impact your closing timeline and what the appropriate next steps should be – this can include insurance policy terms or additional inspections that may be required.”
Experts said that across the five-county metropolitan statistical area, home sales dollar volume spiked 53.5% to $1,161,692,362 while pending sales increased 15.9% to 3,365 through the month. Despite 2,878 new listings posted in January, marking an 11% decline from last year, active listings dropped 73.9% to only 1,369 properties across the area. Inventory decreased 1.3 months to a record-low 0.4 months of inventory as homes spent an average of 33 days on market, which is 33 fewer days than last year.
Vaike O’Grady, the regional director with housing market researcher Zonda, said that the high demand across all price classes, housing types and geographies means that low inventory and ultra-fast market conditions are not going away any time soon.
“There is strength across every price point and demand for every product,” O’Grady said. “Despite developers building as quickly as they can throughout the region and more than 6,000 homesites projected to come online within the next six months, the overall number of lots in development is only just able to keep up with current demand. This means that homes will continue to sell as soon as they hit the market, and prices will continue to rise steadily in the months to come.”
Horton said she believes the recent winter storms are likely to increase the demand for housing across Central Texas.
“While it will be weeks before we know the full impact of the winter storms on our communities, the disruption in transactions and the high demand for repair services will further complicate an already complex housing market. It is of the upmost importance to have a REALTOR® on your side to help you understand all options available to you. That includes down payment resources and ways that you can bridge the gap between selling your home and buying your next one.”
For more data, including statistics for Austin, Travis County, Williamson County, Hays County, Bastrop County and Caldwell County, check out the full report here.
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