July brought an increase in Southwest Austin median home prices both year over year and compared to June numbers, according to data released by the Austin Board of Realtors on Aug. 19.

With a median home price of $430,250 in Southwest Austin, the market saw 13.2% growth year over year in July and saw its highest value during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, increasing from $416,000 in June, according to the ABoR data. There were 601 home sales in Southwest Austin in July, compared to 450 in June. Like June, the July sales showed year-over-year growth after two months of sharp declines in April and May due to the pandemic. Housing inventory in Southwest Austin remains below 1.5 months, continuing a trend that had been in place prior to pandemic. In July, Southwest Austin had 1.2 months of active housing inventory for sale, down from 1.3 months in June and 1.4 months in May, according to ABoR.

Across the Austin metropolitan area, the ABoR reported a 21.5% year-over-year jump in sales as well as a 10.7% increase in median home price. The median home price in the metro area in July was $353,000.

"July was a very encouraging month for the Central Texas housing market,” 2020 ABoR President Romeo Manzanilla said in the release. “Strong home sales, combined with an increase in new listings and pending sales, are important benchmarks when analyzing the health of our market. A healthy housing marketing is vital to the overall economic recovery in the region, and with two consecutive months of positive numbers, we are growing more confident that this is sustainable and can help be the spark that gets our economy back on track.”