Austin median home price surges to $420K

The median cost of buying a single-family home in the city of Austin has risen 10.9 percent, to $420,000, in the past year, according to an Austin Board of Realtors report released Wednesday.

The median price of homes in the larger Austin-Round Rock metro area—which includes a number of growing cities and parts of five counties around Austin—was $334,702 and rose 3.2 percent during the same period.

ABoR’s report also found that sales within city limits declined 2.3 percent in June, with 985 homes sold, while sales in the metro area increased 0.5% year over year, to 3,349 sales.

The shift from buying in the central city can be attributed to a combination of a decrease in inventory in the city and the accompanying rise in asking prices, as well as to increased development in other parts of the metro area, according to the report.

“Austin’s limited housing inventory—which dropped below two months in June—and increasing home prices have resulted in fewer sales over time,” said ABoR’s president, Kevin P. Scanlan. “As Austin continues to be one of the most desired cities to live in the United States, the suburbs are benefiting from this demand.” Scanlan also said that the sustained decrease in sales “could be indicative of a larger trend.”