By LYNETTE HAALAND, Four Points News
Home sales in the Four Points area continue to decline, while the median sale price increases year over year, reflective of very high demand and low inventory.
Last year in the Four Points area, the median price increased 25.6% year over year to $840,000. Residential home sales decreased 22% to 365 sales. New listings decreased 22% to 386 listings.
“With limitations on new home construction sites, new construction is not keeping pace with demand. Limited turnover of resale homes and the rising cost of homes are perpetuating this classic seller’s market,” said Tom Radack, owner of Bartlett Real Estate, Keller Williams Realty in River Place and a longtime resident of River Place.
“The high influx of new buyers coming in to fill the many high-tech jobs being created in the area, the movement of population out of the high tax states, and rising mortgage rates are creating an increasing demand for more housing,” Radack added.
In December, home sales in the Four Points area decreased 30% to 20 sales. The median home price increased 17.5% year over year to $845,000.
“It is expected that this trend will continue,” Radack said. “Central Texas is beginning to develop as did the high-priced areas in California, Oregon, Washington, and other high-tech areas.”
He thinks, like others, that housing, particularly affordable housing, will continue to be a problem.
Austin-Round Rock
More homes were sold in the Austin-Round Rock MSA in 2021 than ever before, with residential home sales rising 2.5% year over year to 41,316 homes sold last year, according to the Year-End 2021 Central Texas Housing Market Report released by the Austin Board of REALTORS.
“In 2021, we lived through the most exciting, complicated, fast-paced and record-setting housing market in Austin’s history,” Cord Shiflet, 2022 ABoR president, said. “With all the new jobs across the region from exciting companies like Tesla and Samsung, Austin was put on the world’s stage and captured the hearts and attention of so many. We are lucky to call Austin our home when it has so much to offer from a great quality of life to a wonderful destination for innovation and opportunity.”
In addition to an annual record for closed sales, the median price for a home across the MSA set a record in 2021, rising 30.8% over 2020 to $450,000. Sales dollar volume jumped 32.6% to yield a $23,374,102,226 impact on the Austin- area economy in 2021.
Additionally more homes hit the market in 2021 than ever before, with new listings increasing 5.9% to 46,449 homes.
“As we look back on the record-setting year, the numbers show that while the number of homes on the market at any given time is much smaller, there are still more homes being built and sold across our area than ever before,” Shiflet said.
Mark Sprague, state director of information capital at Independence Title, reinforced that housing records were set due to high demand combined with limited supply, and provided a glimpse into what to expect in the
coming year.
“In 2021, the record number of homes sold were demand-driven transactions and that demand was influenced greatly by companies continuing to target the region for job creation and expansion. Even though more homes are being built, listed and sold than ever before, our region is still nowhere close to having a comfortable amount of supply to meet the demand, which is why home prices continue to rise steadily.”
When looking ahead to 2022, Sprague identified a lack of inventory and supply chain disruptions as variables that could impact Austin’s housing market.
“Lack of inventory and global supply chain issues may lead to a 5-7% decline in closed sales across the region in 2022, but rising home values will ensure the housing market’s economic impact remains steady. In short, 2022 will see a robust market for home sales and property values, but the region must do more to address inventory.”
With 2022 being an election year, ABOR’s Shiflet emphasized the importance of local leaders prioritizing housing.
“Affordable homes at all price points continue to be a challenge in our market. This is something we’re all working to address. As we move closer to the election, ABoR encourages candidates for our local offices to put housing policies designed around streamlining the development process at the top of their list. It’s important that everyone who wants to own a home be able to find, afford and enjoy something regardless of their budget.”
City of Austin
In 2021, residential home sales in the City of Austin increased 4.6% to 13,351 sales, an annual record. The median sales price for residential homes rose 27.7% year over year to $536,331 this past year, also an annual record.
Travis County
During 2021, residential home sales increased 2.3% to 20,586 sales. The median price for residential homes increased 28.4% year over year to $520,000.
Williamson County
In 2021 in Williamson County, home sales increased 2% to 13,871 sales. The median price for homes increased 38.8% to $425,680.