After a whirlwind of rising costs and sharply spiking demand for housing in smaller cities, the housing market is cooling down to pre-pandemic levels.
With mortgage rates rising sharply and pandemic migration potentially settling down, the hot housing market in Austin, Texas finally shows signs of slowing and returning to “pre-COVID normalcy,” reports Hannah Ortega for KVUE. “The Austin-Round Rock MSA saw a 20.3% year-over-year decrease in residential home sales last month for a total of 3,441 closed sales.” Housing inventory grew by 217.8 percent in June.
However, “Median price experienced a 13% increase, "setting a record of $537,475 for the month of June," according to [the Austin Board of REALTORS (ABoR)].” This is partly due to the growth of luxury home sales in the region, which rose “significantly” since before the pandemic, according to the Texas A&M Real Estate Research Center.
“The shift signals welcome news for more buyers who may be ready to embrace a post-pandemic reality and take advantage of more inventory. This increase in supply combined with cooling demand indicates the beginning of a more sustainable housing market,” says George Ratiu, economic research manager for Realtor.com.
Similar trends are happening around the country as housing prices have apparently peaked in many cities.
FULL STORY: Austin-Round Rock housing market returning to pre-COVID normalcy
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