May 2023 has come and gone and the numbers are in. I have mentioned previously that based on MLS data, May 2022 recorded the highest median sold price for Austin residential real estate (single family homes): $730,000. And May 2023? Based on MLS data: ~635,000.
It is interesting that 2023 numbers are tracking very closely with 2021. Certainly not the same as 2022, but still a significant growth rate compared to 2019, the last “normal” year.
New Listings:
In 2023, the number of new listings through the end of May is roughly the the same as 2022, though May was down nearly 8% vs. May 2022.
Pending Transactions:
Buyer activity has steadily increased this year, though lagging previous recent years. But in May 2023 the number of new pendings actually dropped from April 2023. It is possible that the gradual increase in interest rates in May impacted buyer activity. Rates at the beginning of May averaged 6.39%, and by the end of May were close to 6.8%
The general trend line of pending transactions is very similar to 2022, but down about 15%.
Months of Inventory:
The Austin market overall has seen some tightening in inventory overall. There are of course price ranges where inventory is tighter than others, but overall this is bad news for buyers and good news for sellers. Less inventory provides support for prices in the face of persistent demand.
In price ranges above $2M, there is roughly 10 months of inventory in the core Austin area and ~8 months of inventory in Austin overall.
In the Central Austin market, we ended May with roughly 4 months of inventory, down from ~5 months in the previous month of April, but still up substantially over May 2022, which had 1.7 months of inventory.
The market shifts toward a buyer’s market over 2M price points, and is even more extreme above 4M, where the inventory currently can be measure in years instead of months.
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