November 2022 Real Estate Wrap Up
We have officially entered the holiday season and temperatures have become chilly. May the holiday season and the coming New Year bring happiness and health to you and your family. We wish you a prosperous New Year. Inventory in the Austin Metropolitan area continues to increase, and we are now at around 8,480 active homes, condos, and townhomes, 3,984 under contract or pending, and 1,751 sold properties (for the last 30 days). We are at 4.84 months of inventory. If you have been thinking of buying it still makes sense to buy in Austin as you can see by one of the news articles that we discuss later in this newsletter. These programs allow buyers to make a lower mortgage payment for the first year or years, depending on the type of program the buyers choose. Sellers have been more willing to give concessions to assist buyers in the current market. Lenders have come up with many programs that can assist buyers with the higher interest rates. There is a 3/2/1 program, 2/1 program, 1/1 program and 1/0 program. We can discuss these programs in more detail with you. Also many homebuilders are giving allowances to buyers and offering lower interest rates through their own lending company or their preferred lenders.
Home Sales – Units Sold in November 2022
Home sales have decreased in November 2022 by 37.28% across the five-county area, whereas Travis County has had a 48.20% decrease and Williamson County a 34.10% decrease. Dr. Jessica Lautz, Deputy Chief Economist and Vice President of Research at the National Association of Realtors ® was recently at the Austin Board of Realtors® annual meeting and she mentioned that we should expect home sales to decline 7% in 2023. She also mentioned that this market is different than the one we experienced in 2008 since lending standards are tighter, borrowers are expected to have reserves, good credit, and high enough income to qualify for their new home. Also, something that we have been experiencing recently is that local and out of town buyers, including foreign buyers are actively looking for homes and many of them are attending public open houses.
Average Sold Price in November 2022
The market saw a sold price decrease of 1.91% this November when compared with the same time last year. The average sold price went from $598,808 in November of 2021 to $587,381 in the month just completed. Williamson County saw a price decrease of 2.16% from $502,547 at this time last year to $491,702. Travis County saw a 3.15% increase from $708,640 to $730,990 in November 2022. We also saw the sold to list price ration come in at 95.74% in the five-county area and 96.25% in Williamson County. Regarding sold price, Dr. Lautz mentioned we should expect to see a 1% increase in 2023.
Average List Price in November 2022
The overall market also saw an 3.36% increase in list price from this same time last year. The average list price went from $593,573 in November 2021 to $613,516 in November 2022. Travis County led the way with a 8.99% list price increase, from $704,289 in November 2021 to $767,577 in November 2022. Williamson County had an 3.09% increase going from $495,570 to $510,880
See the below chart for additional information and feel free to ask for more detailed information on particular areas.
Austin News
Looking for a great Christmas activity for the family. Join Black Barn Alpaca ranch for some Christmas activities. The ranch has two weekends schedule for Christmas fun, the weekend of December 10th and the weekend of December 17th. The farm will have a host of unique craft vendors and local food and beverage purveyors on site, as well as plenty of family-friendly activities. Kids will have a chance to decorate their wagons or bikes for a special parade with the winner taking home a gift card.
Austin has been named the 4th best housing market for homebuyers in a recent study by home finance technology company, Knock. The index considered the following data points; ratio of average sale to asking price, number of homes sold, number of active listings, median days on market, median sales price and the rolling supply of homes in a given month. Knock also predicted this year that the Austin market would have one of the most dramatic swings by summer 2023 from a seller’s market to one that favors buyers.
Austin rent prices have dropped for the 1st time since the pandemic. Overall rent is still up by 24.7% but in November prices decreased by about 1.2%. Warnock stated that the decrease may be because of a broader macro-policy that the Federal Reserve has been implementing and he stated that the market could cool off more.
The housing market is local, every submarket is different, and activity varies by neighborhood. If you need any additional help, feel free to reach out.
If you are looking to start the process of purchasing a home in 2023. The 1st step is to apply for a home loan. Click on the mortgage application on our homepage to get started
Happy Holidays!!!