This trend locally mirrors that of the larger Austin metro area, where median home prices for 2023 were down 10.2% compared to 2022, ABoR's year-end market report shows. The Austin metro area saw December median prices dip by 1.4% year over year.
“The single biggest factor constraining the Central Texas housing market in 2023 was the gradual rise in mortgage rates, which peaked in late October," ABoR housing economist Clare Losey said in a news release. "While we have seen some leveling off in home prices, the Central Texas region still lacks a sufficient inventory of affordable homes for sale, especially those homes priced below $300,000, which is keeping many would-be first-time homebuyers on the sidelines.”
Digging in deeper
Located southeast of the intersection of SH 45 and US 183, ZIP code 78713 was the only Cedar Park, Leander, Far Northwest Austin ZIP code to see median home price rise.
However, despite seeing the median sales price decline by more than $100,000 in December 2023 compared to December 2022, Austin ZIP code 78726, which stretches along RM 620 toward Lake Travis, maintained the highest median sales price.Furthermore, throughout the area, each ZIP code saw the most homes sell for between $300,000-$499,999.
What else?
Leander ZIP code 78641 saw the most homes sold by far with 154 homes sold in December 2023. This was a slight uptick year over year from 150 homes sold in December 2022.
Meanwhile, Cedar Park ZIP code 78613 saw a nearly 55% decline in homes sold year over year, going from 71 in December 2022 to 32 in December 2023.
The number of days homes spent on the market varied across the region with ZIP code 78641 seeing homes sitting the longest in December 2023 at 78 days.
Homes in ZIP code 78613, however, were on the market for less than a month on average—a nearly 60% decline from December 2022.
