Southwest Austin's median home price shoots up to record $600K in April

Data from the Austin Board of Realtors shows sales in Community Impact Newspaper’s Southwest Austin distribution area had a median price of $600,000—a new record for the area, which topped $500,000 for the first time in March. For the year to date, the median price is $525,000.

The April median home price in Southwest Austin increased more than $200,000 from 2020 to 2021. Last year, April marked a slowdown for Austin’s residential real estate market as stay-at-home orders associated with the COVID-19 pandemic minimized the number of homes on the market. Austin Realtors closed 315 sales in the Southwest Austin area with a median price of $399,750; 432 sales were closed in April 2021.

“One year ago, shelter-in-place orders effectively ground real estate transactions to a halt, leaving uncertainty in the market,” ABoR President Susan Horton said in a news release. “Last month’s housing market activity demonstrates not only a strong recovery since last spring but significant growth beyond that recovery.”

Across the Austin metro, median prices are also at an all-time high of $460,000 with a median of $550,562 in the city proper. Austin's quantity of sales has also increased, up 51.4% year over year to 1,167 sales in April.

The record-busting months of late 2020 and 2021 have been fueled by critically low inventory with active listings decreasing by 57.2% in Austin over the past year. Texas currently has 1.3 months worth of housing stock available, and Austin has 0.6 months.

Luis Torres, a research economist for Texas A&M University’s Texas Real Estate Research Center, said restricted inventory may be reaching the point of unsustainability.

“While Texas housing sales may recover to January peak levels, we do not expect activity to maintain its double-digit annual rate of increase in the long term,” Torres said in a news release.

Still, inventory in the Austin area was slightly higher in April than March, which ABoR said may be an early sign of a stabilizing market. In Southwest Austin, inventory moved from 0.3 months to 0.5 months in that time.

“While the homebuying process continues to be complex, and it’s common to submit several offers before one is accepted, there is hope and optimism for the months ahead,” Horton said.