Austin home listings surge, topping nation

(iStock, Illustration by The Real Deal)
(iStock, Illustration by The Real Deal)

Housing inventory in the U.S. jumped dramatically in June, and Texas’ capital city leaped the highest.

Active listings in Austin are up 144.5 percent over June of last year — the largest increase in the 50 largest U.S. metros by a long shot — according to Realtor.com’s June housing trends report. The number of active listings nationwide has increased 30 percent since the same time last year.

The June median listed home price for the Austin metro was $660,000 in June, up 18 percent over the same period last year, but those high asks are now less likely to hold.

A whopping 32 percent of homes for sale in June were reduced from their original ask — a 24.7 percent increase in the discount share since the same period last year. Nationwide, the reduced-price share of homes on the market year-over-year increased 8 percent.

May figures from the Austin Board of Realtors tell a similar story for the Austin-Round Rock area. Its report found a similar inventory increase — 146 percent year-over-year. Residential sales declined 6.7 percent since May 2021, to 3,633 closed sales, but median price rose 19.6 percent and sales dollar volume grew 9 percent since the same time period last year. The median sales price for May was $550,000 — as it was in April 2022, when it set a new all-time record for the area.

The city’s housing supply has been perilously low for several years. So even the huge jump in listings meant available inventory increased from enough supply for less than three weeks to just over two months.

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The recent rise in mortgage interest rates combined with record-breaking listing prices could mean there are fewer buyers on the red-hot Austin residential market, particularly in the central city. But that doesn’t necessarily mean affordable listings on the horizon.

Realtor.com’s Danielle Hale

Realtor.com’s Danielle Hale (Realtor)

“While we anticipate that more inventory will eventually cool the feverish pace of competition, the typical buyer has yet to see meaningful relief from quick-selling homes and record-high asking prices,” said Realtor.com’s Danielle Hale.

The number of available listings year-over-year also more than doubled in Phoenix, Arizona — second on the Realtor.com list with a 113 percent increase — and Raleigh, North Carolina, where it jumped 111 percent over last year.