Since March, I have been tracking Austin real estate activity for single family residential homes to see the impact of the pandemic on activity. By comparing on a weekly basis with 2019, it is possible to see the typical trends and how the pandemic has impacted activity, either limiting or shifting it around in the year.
In terms of transactions overall, July was the best month peaking the week of July 5-11 and then again July 26 – Aug 1, and has been tailing off since then, though it is possible that this is driven not by the typical seasonality where things slow down due to school starting, but rather due to a lack of inventory.
If I define luxury sales as those priced 750K and above, and look at those separately, it tells an interesting story about the non-luxury market, with sales down significantly in the early days of the pandemic and gradually coming back to follow the 2019 trends. Sales are down -5% vs. 2019 YTD, but are actually up almost 6% in the period from July through November:
Since June, active listings in the sub-750K price range have been down roughly 50% or more vs. the same months in 2019, with November setting a new record, down nearly -65%.
It is a different story in the luxury market, where transactions have skyrocketed and far exceed 2019 numbers. In fact, the total number of transactions in 2020 in the 750K+ price range is up roughly +34% vs. 2019.
And the luxury market continues to be more resilient with active listings. On average luxury listings have been down roughly -11% June through October vs. the same time in 2019, but in October the gap increased and lagged 2019 by nearly -25%.
So 2020 is making a remarkable recovery in terms of overall activity, though it is held back by the lack of available homes for sale. If you are thinking about selling, or need help navigating the process of selling or buying a home in Central Texas, please don’t hesitate to contact me and I can help!
Note: All data comes from the Austin Board of Realtors’ MLS report, reflecting activity through November 30, 2020.
About The Author
