More residences on market in September
Houses sold last month in Taylor and Hutto experienced a sharp drop in price as more dwellings became available on the market, according to the latest statistics from Unlock MLS and the Austin Board of Realtors.
The median sales price for 23 houses sold in September in the 76574 ZIP code that includes Taylor dropped 16% to $285,000.
The average number of days on the market for houses sold in Taylor was about three and a half months, but the number of active listings was up and the number of months of inventory rose to 5.3 months compared to the 4.5 months the same month last year.
That is considered close to a balanced market that doesn’t overly favor either buyer or seller.
In the 78634 ZIP code that includes Hutto, the median price of September home sales declined 10.6% to $344,320. The 60 houses sold last month were snatched up after just 66 days on the market.
Months of housing inventory, excluding rentals, grew to 5.9 months compared to 3.3 months for September 2024, according to Unlock MLS statistics.
“The numbers we’re seeing in September match the trends we expected to see this time of year. As we wrap up the third quarter, the market is mirroring typical seasonality trends, pointing to a sign of continued adjustment and balance,” said Vaike O’Grady, research advisor at Unlock MLS.
The market was steady and sustainable with consistency during the summer and put the housing market in a good position for the rest of the year, analysts said.
“Buyer enthusiasm has picked up slightly as we saw the first interest-rate cut in nine months, and steady pricing from sellers continues to support that confidence. What we’re seeing in the market now is a healthy level of stability,” O’Grady said. “Homes may be taking a bit longer to sell, but they’re still selling, and buyers are meeting sellers where they are.”
For all of Williamson County, median prices were more in line with last September, down just 2.8% to $406,722 on 808 sales.
The month ended with the 4,301 active listings across the county, up 18.8% from the same time last year.
The median sales price for the entire five-county Austin-Round-Rock-San Marcos Metropolitan Statistical Area dipped just 1.8% to $420,000.
Travis County, as usual, remained at the top for sales prices with a median of $485,000, a decline of 3.6%. The median sales price inside the city limits of Austin was $550,000 in September.
Mortgage interest rates double what they were in the early 2020s slowed the market considerably because buyers were unable to afford as much house because of higher monthly payments, analysts said.
While more interest rate cuts are expected before the end of the year, they take some time to impact mortgage rates, which have recently come down from a national average of nearly 7% in June to 6.36% in mid-October, according to BankRate.com.
“It’s enough of a decrease already to get people off of the sidelines,” said Brandy Wuensch, president of the Austin Board of Realtors.
