Austin-area home sales hit six-year high
2012 ends with increased sales volume, stable prices, strong demand
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By Shonda Novak
American-Statesman Staff
Central Texas home sales closed out 2012 at their highest level since 2007, marking the strongest year for the local housing market since the recession, the Austin Board of Realtors said Friday.
A 17 percent bump in December pushed the year-end tally to 22,946 single-family home sales, a 19 percent increase from 2011 and the highest volume since the 25,245 sales recorded in 2007. The median home price for 2012 rose 6 percent to $205,000.
“This is the strongest year for the Austin housing market we’ve seen since the recession,” said Cathy Coneway, chair of the Austin Board of Realtors.
Each month of 2012 brought double-digit increases in home sales and double-digit decreases in active listings, Coneway said.
The local housing market is being buoyed by the region’s job and population growth, low mortgage interest rates, escalating apartment rents and rising home prices, the latter of which are making consumers more confident about making a home purchase, experts say.
Across the country, housing market conditions also are improving, according to Metrostudy, with demand for new homes picking up in most of the 40 metros the firm tracks nationwide.
Last month, the Austin area logged 1,828 sales — the highest level for a December since 2006. December also marked the 19th month in a row of sales increases in Central Texas, and Coneway and other industry experts said the year-end figures point to momentum continuing steadily into 2013.
“The Austin area housing market improved dramatically in 2012,” said D’Ann Petersen, a business economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. “Strong employment growth in December and throughout the year boosted home sales to the highest level we’ve seen in some time. Austin’s economy continues to expand at a healthy pace, even though Texas growth has moderated somewhat in recent months. Strong demand and very low inventories suggest continued increases in home prices in coming months.”
Last month’s median sales price rose 11 percent, to $210,000, the Austin Board of Realtors said. The median price was $188,450 in December 2011.
Home prices have been creeping up amid heightened demand for housing and a shrinking supply of both resale and new homes, experts say. The local market had 2.7 months of inventory in December 2012 — the lowest inventory figure seen in Austin in the past decade, the board said.
In December, there were 5,129 listings, 22 percent fewer than in December 2011. Pending sales were up 24 percent, signaling another strong month for sales when January’s numbers come in.
Local real estate agents say the market kept up steam in the final months of the year, bucking the traditional seasonal lull.
Bradley Pounds, an agent with Watters International, an Austin-based residential real estate brokerage, said the market is putting a squeeze on people trying to buy their first homes.
“First-time buyers are definitely feeling some intense competition from all-cash and high down payment offers,” Pounds said.
In some of the more sought-after neighborhoods —such as Central Austin, Southwest Austin and areas near Brodie Lane between William Cannon and Slaughter Lane — “we’re seeing homes that 12 months ago would have taken 60, 90 or more days to sell go in a few days, and sometimes with multiple offers,” Pounds said.
Cyndy Stewart, a buyers’ agent who heads up the Austin Redfin brokerage, said about 90 percent of the sales contracts she’s been writing are for houses that received multiple offers. In one case, Stewart said she met with a seller in Rosedale to list his property, and 30 minutes later “it was under contract, without ever having made it into MLS.”
“January has just been insane,” Stewart said, noting that the market is seeing an influx of cash buyers from both the east and west coasts.
On average, homes spent 71 days on the market in December compared with 88 days the prior December, the board said.
The decreasing days on market, low inventory, accelerating prices, stronger sales volume and increase in pending sales all point to continued strong housing market conditions in the Austin area this year, experts say.
