Despite the arrival of new developments, the demand for housing in the Lake Travis-Westlake region and Greater Austin area is at an all-time high, according to the Austin Board of Realtors' January 2021 Central Texas housing report.
That report released Feb. 6 reflected a 34% year-over-year increase in residential home sales throughout the Lake Travis-Westlake area in western Travis County, which includes cities such Lakeway, Bee Cave, West Lake Hills and Rollingwood.
The region is seeing a near-zero level of housing inventory—a factor that can drive up home prices, according to ABoR’s previous reports.
Since December, the Lake Travis-Westlake region has held onto less than one month of housing inventory. From December to January that number dipped from 0.7 months to 0.6 months of inventory.
Developers are moving quickly to keep up with the heightened demand throughout the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The Lake Travis-Westlake region is home to a number of upcoming and expanding housing developments—The Addie at Westlake, Provence and Rough Hollow, to name a few.
Still, ABoR’s report indicates that homes will continue to sell rapidly, according to Vaike O’Grady, a regional director with Zonda, a housing market research company.
“Despite developers building as quickly as they can throughout the region and more than 6,000 homesites projected to come online within the next six months, the overall number of lots in development is only just able to keep up with current demand,” O’Grady said.
The Lake Travis-Westlake region also saw an increase in total dollar volume, which represents the month’s total sale prices.
In January, that figure rose 86.6% compared to the same period last year. This spike was also higher than the 53.5% increase seen across the five-county MSA.
The average sale price in the Lake Travis-Westlake area increased 39.2% year-over-year, and homes spent an average of 39 days on the market, according to the ABoR’s analysis.
As the Central Texas region continues to face challenges associated with Winter Storm Uri, ABoR predicts the unprecedented event will likely increase housing demand.
“While it will be weeks before we know the full impact of the winter storms on our communities, the disruption in transactions and the high demand for repair services will further complicate an already complex housing market,” 2021 ABoR President Susan Horton said.
