Austin Business Journal reports - Central Texas home sales still slow, but prices keep rising
It is a rather strange phenomenon. The area's home sales decline doesn't seem to be slowing down yet prices continue to rise. Sales of existing homes fell a whopping 21%, 1,832 homes in March, the 9th consecutive month to show a decline, according to figures from the Austin Board of Realtors. Meanwhile, pending sales are also down a record 54 percent to 1,349, an indication that sales are unlikely to pick up any time soon.
The strange part is that the median sales price for Central Texas homes increased 5 percent in the last year to $186,680. But the total dollar volume of properties sold in the region fell 23 percent compared with March 2007 to $434.6 million.
Austin Board of Realtors Chairman Socar Chatmon-Thomas says the number of active listings locally represents about five months of housing inventory. While that figure could be lower, she points out that it is far better than the national average of close to 10 months.