News

News Flash -Austin and San Antonio MSA Real Estate Markets

October 2017

 

Hello everyone,

Austin MSA Real Estate Market

Single family home sales declined slightly in the Austin real estate market in September 2017, by 4.3% year over year to 2,433 sales.

The Austin Housing Market:

  1. Single family home sales declined across the Austin MSA in September by 4.3% year over year, according to the September 2017 Central Texas Housing Market Report.
  2. Brandy Guthrie, 2017 President of the Austin Board of REALTORS®, commented: “Despite last month’s dip in home sales activity, it’s important to remember that we’re comparing our current figures to the record-breaking housing market activity in 2016 and it’s not indicative of a downturn.”
  3. Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Research at the National Association of REALTORS®, agreed: “Austin has had one of the fastest job growth rates in the country over the past decade and consequently one of the strongest housing markets with rising sales. But steady depletion of housing inventory is resulting in a fast rise in home prices and affordability challenges. The construction of single-family homes as well as condominiums needs to ramp up higher in order to fully satisfy housing demand and maintain housing affordability.”
  4. In the City of Austin, the median home price for September rose to $355,000, an increase of 4.0% year over year.
  5. The monthly housing inventory for single-family homes in the Austin-Rock MSA continued to rise for the ninth consecutive month increasing 0.3 months to 3.0 months, while the inventory for the city of Austin remained unchanged at 2.4 months inventory. The increase in housing inventory has led to a recent spike in new and active listings. An inventory level of 6.0 months is a balanced market in which the supply and demand for homes is in equilibrium.

 

The Austin Economy:

  1. The Austin MSA reported 23,500 net new jobs in the 12 months ending August 2017, a steady increase of 2.1% year over year.
  2. According to the Texas Workforce Commission, unemployment in the Austin – Round Rock MSA increased slightly from 3.2% in July 2017 to 3.4% in August 2017, which is extremely tight and well below the state and national unemployment average of 4.5% and 4.5%, respectively.

 

San Antonio MSA Real Estate Market

The San Antonio area housing market reported September sales of 2,587, a decrease of 1% year over year as the summer buying frenzy began to cool. Despite the slight decline, the average sales prices increased 2% year over year while the median sales price increased to $213,500, a 5% increase year over year. Demand for new housing remains sound with tight inventories, and the housing market remains fundamentally sound as we move out of the summer buying season.

The San Antonio Area Housing Market:

  1. September 2017 had a total of 2,587 sales vs 2,618 in September 2016, a slight decrease of 1%.
  2. The average home price increased 2% year over year in September, reaching $247,058 vs $241,757 in September 2016.
  3. “It is not unusual for sales to taper off once the summer season winds down. Kids are returning to school so families want to remain in one place, and many buyers and sellers like to be settled for the coming holiday season as well,” said Yvette Allen, SABOR’s 2017 Chairman of the Board. “This has still been a busy year for real estate in the San Antonio area. In fact, since January, a total of 23,414 homes have been sold, which is three percent more than this time period last year.”
  4. The median price of a home sold was $213,500 vs $203,700 in September 2016, a 5% increase year over year.
  5. Homes priced between $200,000 and $500,000 made up 50.3% of the homes sold in September and homes priced under $200,000 made up 45% of the month’s sales. Homes priced over $500,000 accounted for 4.8 % of September’s sales, with 12 of those priced over $1 million.
  6. Total single-family home months of inventory increased by 0.3 months in August to 3.9 months in September. Anything below 6.0 months’ supply is considered a tight market.
  7. “In San Antonio, months of inventory have remained below 4 months for about two years making it a tight market that favors sellers,” said Gilbert Gonzalez, SABOR’s interim CEO. “This means that those looking to buy need to be ready to act fast.

 

The San Antonio MSA Economy:

  1. The San Antonio MSA reported a robust 23,000 net new jobs in the 12 months ending August 2017, a healthy increase of 2.3% year over year.
  2. According to the Texas Workforce Commission, unemployment in the San Antonio MSA decreased to 3.7% in August 2017 from 4.0% a year earlier, still well below the state and national unemployment average of 4.5% and 4.5%, respectively.

 

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office at (713) 535-2250.

Regards,

Paul Connor , Hydie McAlister and Jim McAlister, Sr.
Principals, McAlister Investment Real Estate

Sharon Beach
Vice President, McAlister Investment Real Estate