Austin Area Housing Market Data For April Still Shows Prices Rising, Sales Trending Upward
There are lots of different ways to look at the Austin housing market. Some make it look frightening, some are much more optimistic. To me there are three things that present a meaningful indicator of the overall health of the Austin, Lake Travis, Cedar Park, Leander, Round Rock and Georgetown.
1. The very low unemployment rate--Austin has one of the lowest in the country and it continues to decline.
2. The continued, steady growth of jobs in the Austin metro area--Austin has one of the highest rates in the country and has widely been cited as THE fastest growing metro in the U.S.
3. The number of sold residential units in a given month.
As you can see from the chart below, we're doing somewhat better than 2004, about the same as 2005 and not quite as well as 2006 and 2007 (two of the best years on record in Austin). Of course, all of this could change as the buying season, which traditionally start the second week in May (like now) and full force when schools get out for the summer. We'll know more when May statistics are complete and as we enter the month of June.
Although statistically the inventory of homes is relatively high, but steady, and the number of pending (under contract) properties has dipped recently, the average price of homes in Austin continues to rise. That, coupled with the generally expected trend upward of residential sales spells for a healthier than average market. The chart below shows the monthly number of closed residential sales for the last five years and for 2008 through the end of April. As mentioned above, the real telling factor will be where the little dot on the line representing May of 2008 ends up.
Stay tuned for more!
