Southwest Austin housing market sees significant year-over-year decrease in April

Southwest Austin home sales saw a sharp drop in numbers for the month of April due to economic effects of COVID-19 on the real estate industry, according to the most recent data from the Austin Board of Realtors.

Austin realtors closed 315 sales in the Southwest Austin area during April, a 22.8% decrease from April of 2019, according to the report. Similarly the Austin metropolitan statistical area at large experienced a 21.6% decrease in sales.

Additionally, average home prices in Southwest Austin came out to $444,365, a year over year decrease of 2.3%—compared to a 4.3% increase in average prices throughout the Austin MSA.

According to ABoR President Romeo Manzanilla, these effects were expected, due to changes ushered in by the pandemic.

“We anticipated a sharp decline in April home sales activity, as it directly correlates with the decline in listings activity recorded in March due to government stay-at-home orders,” Manzanilla said in a statement with the report.

However, Manzanilla also said that demand for homes in the Austin area remains strong.

“Even with the impact on home sales, homes still spent less time on the market and sold at higher prices than last April. Austin’s housing demand is undeterred, and possibly strengthened by declining inventory.”