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"For several months, the Austin-area housing market has been balancing as REALTORS continue to help clients on both sides of the transaction navigate this market effectively," Ashley Jackson, 2023 ABoR president, said. "This is still a market that is seeing lots of activity, just not at a record-setting pace, and that is to be expected given broader economic trends. Home prices are moderating, pending sales are holding strong and homes on the market last month are selling closer to list price. These are all signs of a market that is still balancing and doing so in a healthy way."

Dr. Clare Losey, housing economist for ABoR, provided an analysis of how economic factors are impacting the housing market.

"Inflation, the near doubling of mortgage rates, fear of a recession, and, most recently, stress in the banking system have all contributed to declines in home prices nationally. In Austin, robust job and population growth have mitigated these effects on homebuyer demand, favorably indicating that our region's economy and housing market continue to outperform national economic trends. Austin remains resilient and able to withstand broader economic turbulence more effectively."

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• I'm currently working on a listing in south Austin. The house was on the market for a total of 2 days before being under contract and we got over asking! We are expected to close later this May. If you price the house right, it will sell.
• We also saw this past month that listings are only getting around 92% of their asking price. My client receiving over asking is definitely a win here!
• Bastrop County saw the only single digit decrease in median sales prices while all the surrounding counties had double digit drops. Hays County had the biggest drop with 16%!
• We are now at 3.2 months of inventory for the region. We are now just under 2 buyers to every listing. It's still considered a seller's market but many sellers are using incentives due to the increase in active listings.
• Active listings are up 206% in the region so it's extremely important to work with a realtor that knows the market. There's a lot of competition now between listings.

• Days on market has increased slightly to 105 days on average but we are still moving along at a solid pace as interest rates continue to hold steady.
• We are seeing homes in between the $200-700K range have tons of demand and buyers receiving limited concessions. Best example was one of my clients losing a bid to buy a house that was on the market for less than 1 day. They offered over slightly over ask but the winning bid offered 5% over ask. The purchase price was slightly under the $700K for reference.
• Houses above $700K seem to be sitting longer, noticeably so. I think the why stems from the interest rates for loans above conventional levels ( aka jumbo loans or mortgages above $726K) needing some extra help.
• Don't forget today is the last day (May 15th) to protest your property values from the CAD!

Pluralizes Everythings said:

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Denver is going to break at some point.

I'm working on a pre foreclosure assignment for a client, and just finished up defining market trends...nothing changed. There was a seasonal decline, however inventory had remained low, days on market are ranging around 1 - 12, median sale prices have increased slightly over this time last year, the rest is micro analysis that aren't important. The data are for a specific region, and do not represent the universe of properties within the entirety of Metro Denver.

Seller concessions are often around 10k-30k, and appraisal gaps are still being advertised as most appraisers are subtracting the large concessions. So we have sellers offering 20k in concessions, the appraisal will come in 20k low, and then they offer an appraisal gap of 20k it's just nuts.

If home prices increase here the wheels are coming off this summer...I have no idea what's coming.

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• This market is crazy. I'm representing mostly buyers, and inventory is very low. A lot of my deals are still seeing multiple offers and above-asking price contracts. But I need to be clear that that isn't everything. The good stuff continues to trade and the stuff that needs work or is overpriced is just sitting.
• Interest rates are hovering around the low 6% range but this all depends on the buyer's profile (credit, downpayment amount, etc.)
• I still have a couple of clients who are struggling. Hopefully "good deals" will be plentiful soon.
• I do feel like our economy is at an inflection point but only time, inflation data, and employment numbers will tell.
• In the span of last week or so and this week, I will have closed six deals. I want to dive into a couple of those:
• Deal #1: This is probably one of my favorite deals of the last year or so. Located in a nice suburb of Houston. House was going to multiple offer situation and we headed that off. Listed at X, put under contract at 1.1X, appraised at 1.15X, I ran comps and suggested a market value of 1.27X, and the same builder is selling new homes of this floor plan a few communities over for 1.33X. Outstanding deal for my buyer client and shows that no matter what market you are in, there are good deals to be had.
• Deal #2: This was another outstanding deal for my buyer client. House had multiple offers (including one cash), and we beat out the competition with an attractive offer. Listed at X, went under contract at 1.02X, appraised at 1.05X, and I know in my soul that I could sell this house today for 1.15X (easy). Houses like this one do not come up often, and I had just had an intro call with my buyer client the day before when we found this one the following morning. Crazy how that worked out.
• Deal #3: I helped a buyer and seller (both long-time friends of ours) coordinate an off-market deal in Timbergrove. After dealing with so much **** from sellers treating my buyer clients like dog poo over the last three years, this was really a good experience for everyone. Nice to know that people can do a deal and treat each other like human beings at the same time.
• Deal #4: Set to close soon. I represented the seller, we had multiple offers (I can't remember exactly but at least 5?), and it will trade above our asking price.
• For the most part, the only people who are selling are those who are moving for work, getting divorced, or selling estates.

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The road back to market "normalcy," still lined with mortgage rate volatility, led to an April that showed signs of market resiliency, but remained down when compared to April 2022. April became the 13th straight month in which sales volume trailed the previous year and the third consecutive month in which prices failed to top the previous year's levels.

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"The housing market turnaround was never going to happen overnight, especially with interest rates still fluctuating, uncertainty about inflation and speculation about a recession," said HAR Chair Cathy Treviño with Side, Inc. "Anecdotally, we have many Realtors reporting that their sub-markets are performing well, which underscores the fact that real estate is local. We are still hopeful that the Houston housing market as a whole will strengthen later this year."

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Months of inventory continued to improve in April, growing to a 2.7-months supply. Housing inventory nationally stands at a 2.6-months supply, according to the latest report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). A 4.0- to 6.0-months supply is commonly regarded as a "balanced market" in which neither the buyer nor the seller has an advantage.

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htxag09 said:

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Well we're now 0 for 5 w/ our offers in the Houston area.....4 we were outbid. 1 the seller just didn't accept our offer, that house is still sitting...

Hard to not be a little discouraged and want to take a bit of a pause....

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