Data: Central Austin home prices continue to rise in February

Home prices in Central Austin continue to shoot up year over year, according to Austin Board of Realtor data released March 15.

The ABoR figures detail a housing market that continues to see rising home prices in the city, while the pace of sales may be slowing. Among ZIP codes within Community Impact Newspaper's Central Austin coverage area, all saw median home sales price increases from February 2021 to February 2022.

“February was a very active month for our housing market as sales price records continue to be broken,” ABoR President Cord Shiflet said in a release about February data in the Austin area. “We’re hearing from economists that last month’s numbers are a potential harbinger of a big year ahead even as our market continues to deal with insufficient supply compared to demand resulting in the steady cycle of home price increases.”

The north central 78756 ZIP code saw the greatest change with prices rising from $520,000 last February to $784,500 last month—a more than 50% jump. To the west, 78703 was the only ZIP code to see prices eclipse $1 million with a more than 40% annual increase. Central Austin ZIP codes saw their homes sold last month spend an average of 11-47 days on the market.

Across the entire area, the median price hit $682,000, a nearly 14% increase since last year. That figure is also well above the median home sales price for the entire city of Austin, which reached $565,000 last month—a 15% jump from last February and a new city record for the month.

A total of 262 home sales were closed last month, and 501 closed in January and February combined. Those totals represent both a 25% decrease in activity from February 2021 to February 2022 and a more than 25% dip in year-to-date figures from 2021 to 2022.

Mark Sprague, director of information capital at Independence Title, noted in the ABoR's report that rising inflation and construction material costs will likely continue to affect local home prices and inventory. However, he said those factors are unlikely to significantly alter the Austin-area market's trajectory.

"Strong housing demand and Austin’s diverse economy will ensure the housing market’s economic impact remains steady. This places our region in a better place than most globally," Sprague said.