Austin Market Report - May 2025

[David Ivy]

The May 2025 report from the Austin Board of REALTORS® (ABoR) shows prices holding mostly steady as we continue through the summer season, with stable buyer demand and inventory continuing to grow. Here are some key highlights from the report, which compares May 2025 with May 2024:

• The median sales price for the greater Austin metro was down 3.8% at $449,900, while the City of Austin dropped 2% to $595,000. This continues the stable pricing pattern we’ve seen for some time now, despite steadily increasing inventory.
• Total closed sales in the metro fell 3.8%, with the city itself seeing a 5.8% decrease in closed sales. This indicates slightly softer demand in summer 2025 compared to last year, at least so far.
• Pending sales were up substantially, with Austin having 21.2% more listings under contract and the greater metro up 16.1%. Total closed sales is a backward-looking statistic, while pending sales is forward-looking. This significant increase in pending sales suggests resilient buyer demand as summer progresses.
• Listing inventory increased around 17% in both the City of Austin and the greater metro. With current demand, that puts the market at around 5-6 months of available housing inventory. So, there are significantly more homes on the market now compared to last year, when we were at around 4 months of inventory in the metro.
• According to the Texas A&M Real Estate Center, a balanced real estate market has around 6.5 months of inventory. The Austin area had 5-6 months of inventory for most of the past year.

Here are the May 2025 stats for Austin and the greater metro:

Here’s a chart showing the median sales price of a single-family home in the City of Austin in over the past year:

The median sales price for a single-family home in May 2025 was practically unchanged from a year ago in Austin, with a year-over-year decrease of 1.5%.

For some broader context, here’s a chart of the median sales price of a single-family home in Austin over the past 10 years:

Compared to the recent price peak in May 2022, the median single-family home price in Austin is down approximately 12%. However, pricing in Austin is still substantially above pre-pandemic levels. In fact, the median sales price of a single-family home in the Austin metro is about 57% higher than it was at the start of 2020. For the 10 year period spanning, May 2015-2025, the median single-family home price rose at an annualized rate of 7.7%.

I’m now also sharing leasing stats in my monthly updates. Here are the numbers for the City of Austin and the greater Austin metro area:

A 30-year fixed rate mortgage is at around 6.8% interest, which is very slightly down from the 7.3% high seen over the past year:

For some broader context, here’s a chart for 30-year fixed mortgage rates over the past 5 years:

What if I’m a buyer? In a number of ways, this is the best market for buyers in Austin in many years. There are more listings to choose from now than any other time in nearly a decade. Listings are selling for roughly 95% of their list price on average. Multiple offers situations are the rare exception, not the norm. Buyers have significantly more negotiating power. They can take time with their search and be more selective about a property’s location and condition. So, if interest rates are a buyer’s primary roadblock, then I recommend negotiating a seller-paid interest rate buy-down or looking at new construction, where builders are offering rate reductions and other substantial incentives. You will face more competition from fellow buyers as we continue through the summer, compared to the slower fall and winter months. So far, though, summer buyer demand isn’t matching the increase we’re seeing in inventory.

What if I’m a seller? There is still strong demand for Austin area housing and pricing has been stable. Unless you bought in the past few years, you are likely sitting on good, or maybe even substantial, equity in your home. However, it’s important to price competitively and be prepared for buyers to request concessions. Days on market are averaging around 76 days in the greater metro. Many listings are adjusting their asking price at least once while on the market. But properties priced and marketed appropriately can still go under contract in a matter of days. Now is not the time to “test the market” with an ambitious price to “see what happens.” Overpricing your property in current conditions will cost you valuable time and money. With the increased competition among sellers, it’s crucial to prepare your property to stand out and work to address obvious buyer objections prior to going on market.