Home sales in Cedar Park and Leander decreased 1.4 percent in October compared with the same time in 2016, according to the latest numbers released this week by the Austin Board of Realtors. Each month, ABoR releases its Central Texas Housing Market Report to analyze housing trends in the Austin area. In addition to the decreased homes sales, median home prices in the Cedar Park and Leander area rose 1.2 percent year-over-year to $293,000. According to the news release, the number of single-family homes sold throughout most of the Austin-Round Rock Metropolitan Statistical Area, which consists of Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson counties, increased by 2.2 percent in October compared with October 2016. Meanwhile, the city of Austin saw a decline in single-family home sales by 1.7 percent. Vaike O’Grady, the Austin regional director for Metrostudy, which provides data on residential construction and the housing market, said new home starts are at a 10-year high. According to a press release from ABOR, a majority of housing development activity is concentrated in local markets surrounding Austin, such as Pflugerville and the west side of Cedar Park and Leander. “Developers and builders are beginning to experiment with lower-cost, higher-density products between $200,000 and $300,000 in suburban markets, where products like townhomes and smaller single-family homes can be built more easily,” O’Grady said.  “Shortages of vacant developed lots and regulatory hurdles in Austin make it difficult for meaningful housing development activity to occur within Austin’s city limits.” For more information on the October 2017 Central Texas Housing Market Report, go to ABoR.com/statsoct17.