The dollar volume this year versus last year dropped by more than 50% to $1.515 million, and while the average price is also down 2.7% in the same time period, the median home price for the nine ZIP codes in the Lake Travis-Westlake market rose 1.7%.
The ABoR report shows the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are far-reaching, as the Greater Austin area’s housing inventory dropped to critically low levels of less than two months of inventory in Austin and Travis and Williamson counties.
Compared to May 2019, residential sales in the five-county metropolitan statistical area, or MSA, decreased 29.2% to 2,697 sales, while sales dollar volume dropped 30.8% to $1,092,374,935, the report states. Just like in western Travis County, the median sales price for the entire MSA increased 0.7% to $329,893, and homes spent three fewer days on the market, at an average of 47 days.
"We're seeing home sales drop because we simply don't have enough inventory on the market," 2020 ABoR President Romeo Manzanilla said. "We recognize there’s still an element of discomfort with listing one’s home during the pandemic, and Austin realtors are taking every precaution to ensure safe and efficient practices across the market. There’s a lot of opportunity for sellers who are ready—new listings have increased visibility, and homes are spending less time on the market."
Of note to the Lake Travis-Westlake market is that the ABoR report shows the median price for residential homes of $604,000 to be highest of any May on record, but homes actually spent less time on the market than last May, taking 55 days on average to sell versus 64 days last May.
Mark Sprague, state director of information capital at Independence Title, said that although real estate was deemed an essential business, it was significantly impacted by the slowing economy.
"If you compare Austin's home sales to the majority of large cities in the U.S., you'll find Austin's market has remained strong," Sprague said. "But because sales numbers have a one-to-three-month lag time, it was no surprise May sales declined and we'll likely see the same in June and July. The solution is increased housing stock. Until more homes are put on the market, we won't see home sales recover anytime soon."
