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Austin-area home prices set record for September

Normal 1413924753 September 2014

Austin-area home prices set record for September, home sales rebound in September 2014

Austin Board of REALTORS® releases real estate statistics for September 2014

AUSTIN, Texas – October 21, 2014 – According to the September 2014 Multiple Listing Service (MLS) report released today by the Austin Board of REALTORS® (ABoR), Austin-area single-family home prices set a record for the month of September. At the same time, Austin-area single-family home sales rebounded from the last two months of home sales declines, increasing 10 percent from September 2013 to 2,524 home sales.

Bill Evans, 2014 President of the Austin Board of REALTORS®, explained, “September’s 10 percent increase in home sales, despite ongoing issues in housing affordability, is a testament to the strong population and job growth that the Austin area and its economy continue to enjoy. However, these records in home prices also show that area homes continue to become more and more unaffordable for Austin homebuyers. ABoR encourages Austinites to take action on Nov. 4 by voting for City Council candidates who will prioritize housing development and affordability issues in 2015.”

Median price for Austin-area single-family homes increased eight percent year-over-year to $240,000 and average price rose seven percent year-over-year to $308,514 in September 2014. These are the highest figures recorded for both median and average price for the month of September.

At the same time, Austin-area monthly housing inventory slipped back to 2.8 months, despite a year-over-year increase of 0.1 months from September 2013. This is still well below the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University’s balanced housing inventory level of 6.5 months.

While Austin-area homes continue to sell quickly, the average number of days single-family homes spent on the market remained unchanged from September 2013 at 44 days. This is the first time that the average number of days spent on the market remained statistically unchanged year-over-year since September 2011.v In September 2014, active listings increased eight percent year-over-year to 6,469 listings and new listings rose four percent during the same time frame to 2,586 listings. Continued gains in single-family home listings over the last few months are having a positive effect on pending sales, which jumped 11 percent year-over-year in September 2014 to 2,201 pending single-family home sales.

Evans concluded, “Recent reports from a national real estate advertising company have claimed that the Austin-area housing market is overvalued, but local economic experts continue to point to our region’s strong economic and population growth as foundations of a healthy market and indicators that those claims are not true. The 110 people who the City of Austin says move to Austin every day need homes to live in, and the real issue at hand is whether those people can afford those homes.”

September 2014 Statistics

2,524 – Single-family homes sold, 10 percent more than September 2013.

$240,000 – Median price for single-family homes, eight percent more than September 2013.

$308,514 – Average price for single-family homes, seven percent more than September 2013.

44 – Average number of days single-family homes spent on the market, unchanged from September 2013.

2,586 – New single-family home listings on the market, four percent more than September 2013.

6,469 – Active single-family home listings on the market, eight percent more than September 2013.

2,201 – Pending sales for single-family homes, 11 percent more than September 2013.

2.8 – Months of inventory* of single-family homes, 0.1 months more than September 2013.

$778,689,336 – Total dollar volume of single-family properties sold, 18 percent more than September 2013.

The following sections describe trends in other sectors of the Austin-area real estate market.

Townhouses & Condominiums

The volume of townhouses and condominiums (condos) purchased in the Austin area in September 2014 was 245, which is four percent less than September 2013. In the same time period, the median price for condos was $205,500, which is one percent more than the same month last year. These properties spent an average of 41 days on the market, two days fewer than September 2013.

Leasing

In September 2014, a total of 1,444 properties were leased in Austin, which is eight percent more than September 2013. The median price for Austin-area leases was $1,480, which is 10 percent more than the same month last year.