News

News Flash - Austin & San Antonio MSA Real Estate Markets

August 2016

Hello Everyone,

Austin MSA Real Estate Market

The Austin real estate market maintained robust demand for housing with limited inventory. Population growth continues to push the Austin/Central Texas economy. The Austin Board of Realtors reported single family home sales in the five-county MSA rose 5.3% year over year with 2,985 home sales in August.

The Austin Housing Market:

1.Austin Board of Realtors President, Aaron Farmer said, “Austin, and now the Central Texas region at large, continuesto be a magnet for jobs and new businesses across multiple industries. This continues to keep housing demand at anall-time high and inventory at near-record lows despite strong housing development and a greater number of listings on the market.”
2.The median home price for August rose to $289,900, a strong increase of 9.4% year over year.
3.Total single-family home inventory remained statistically unchanged from the year prior at 2.8 months’ supply. Aninventory 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 a loss of 4,700 jobs from July to August 2016; however, despite these monthly losses, thearea’s annual growth rate was a healthy 3.2%, representing the addition of 30,900 jobs since August 2015.
2.According to the Texas Workforce Commission, unemployment in the Austin – Round Rock MSA dropped by 0.1% to3.5% from July 2016 to August 2016, well below the national unemployment average of 5.0%. The Texas WorkforceCommission reported the largest decrease of payroll employment was in the education and health services sector(-1.4%) followed by government (-1.1%) and leisure and hospitality (-1.1%). Mining, Logging & Constructioncontinues to experience the greatest regional job growth with an annual increase of 12.3%.
3.The Austin Business Journal3 reported that Austin's suburbs have been the focus of tremendous growth since theend of the Great Recession. Since 2010, the entire Austin metro area population has grown by 15.8 percent, withmuch of that activity coming from the suburbs, particularly north and south of Austin along I-35.

 

San Antonio MSA Real Estate Market

The San Antonio area housing market experienced a resounding jump in August home sales following a lackluster July. The San Antonio job market continues to tread water in the summer months but is up 1.9% on an annual basis. Demand for new housing remains consistent with constrained inventories and the housing market remains fundamentally sound. The San Antonio Board of Realtors reported home sales in August increased by 13% year over year.

The San Antonio Area Housing Market:

  1. August 2016 had a total of 2,900 sales vs 2,561 in August 2015, a strong annual increase of 13%.
  2. The average home price in August 2016 reached $246,515 vs $236,259 in August 2015, an increase of 4% yearover year.
  3. 49% of the homes sold in August were priced between $200,000 - $500,000, while homes priced under$200,000 made up 46% of the market. Homes priced over $500,000 made up 5% of the sales, up 0.5% fromJuly. Overall, San Antonio continues to be able to offer affordable and moderately priced housing.
  4. Total single-family home inventory remained below 4.0 months’ supply for the twelfth consecutive monthcausing prices to continue their moderate increases. Anything below 6.0 months’ supply is considered a tightmarket.

 

The San Antonio MSA Economy:

  1. The San Antonio MSA reported a loss of 1,200 jobs in August. The area’s annual growth rate was 1.9%,representing the addition of 18,100 jobs since August 2015. The Texas Workforce Commission reported thelargest decrease of payroll employment was in the leisure and hospitality sector (-2.4%), manufacturing (-1.3%)and education and health services (-0.9%) with the strongest growth in construction (+6.2%) and other services(+10.7%).
  2. Unemployment in August 2016 was 4.1%, a .02% decrease from July, and well below the State and nationalunemployment average of 5.0%.5
  3. July ended with over 2,400 transactions still pending which created a boost in August sales,” said Bob Jacobs,SABOR’s 2016 Chairman of the Board.” ”We expect the rest of the year to continue that trend. In fact, alreadyto date over 1,200 more homes have sold this year than last, that’s a seven percent increase.”

 

Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office at (713) 535-2250. For more information on our company, please visit our website at www.mcalisterinv.com .

Regards,

Paul Connor
Principal

Hydie McAlister
Principal

Jim McAlister, Sr.
Principal