In the last few weeks it has felt like the market has shifted. And it reflects in the numbers.
May has seen the biggest jump in months of inventory in a while, more than a 100% increase to 1.2 months. This goes along with a big jump in active listings (up 146%) and signals a market beginning to normalize. The median sale price in May 2022 is 19% above the median sales price in May 2021 but has remained stable compared to April 2022. The steep month over month increase in sales price of the previous months has not continued in May, though it is important to note that prices have remained stable.
More available inventory paired with increased interest rates means more houses and less buyers in the market. This can be an opportunity for buyers to not have to enter into bidding wars and be prepared to go 20% over asking price to secure a house. Yes, interest rates are higher in average than they were a few months ago. We have written a blog post about higher interest rates here that looks at historic interest rates over the last 40 years and offers some options to get the rate down as much as possible.
We often get asked the question whether we are in a real estate bubble and this is the beginning of a collapse. There is no need to panic, as what we see is rather a normalization to a more balanced market. Sellers may have gotten used to getting multiple offers over asking price on the first weekend, and this is now less likely to happen. One thing to remember is that Austin has and continues to get an influx of companies and individuals moving into the area. This is driving actual and real demand for housing (over speculations driving higher prices).
