Housing market in Austin could be moving from seller to buyer

Austin's housing market might be cooling off

A new real estate forecast predicts a large shift for the market by next summer

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin’s once red-hot housing market might be cooling off. New real estate projections point to a large shift in the market by next summer.

"We haven't seen this much inventory since 2012," said Ryan Rodenbeck, owner of Spyglass Realty. "Basically, you had buyers under contract for new builds, interest rates went up, and they couldn't qualify, so they had to bail, and a big stock of these properties that were almost ready or ready was put on the market,"

Increasing supply and decreasing demand, due to high prices and rising interest rates, have been swinging the pendulum from a sellers’ market toward more of a buyers’ market, according to Rodenbeck. A buyers’ market - if you can afford it.

According to the Austin Board of Realtors, in October 2021, the median home price in Austin was $455,000. In July 2022 it was $515,000, and in August it was $496,000.

Austin 2nd most overvalued housing market in U.S., study finds

Libbi Farrow spoke with the ABoR president, Cord Shiflet, about the Austin housing market.

According to a real estate forecast released by Knock, the median home price in Austin is projected to be close to $595,000 by July 2023.

But within a buyers’ market, those seeking to purchase a home have more negotiation power, and homes may sell lower than the listing price. Over the last couple of years, homebuyers in the Austin area have typically been up against multiple bidders who could be offering more than the listing price.

"I basically put down two offers that got rejected, and my second offer that got rejected someone bought it using cash," said Samantha Kwan, who purchased an Austin condo in July. "There were actually seven other people including myself who bid for it."

In a recent study conducted by the Consumer Affairs website, 33% of participants said Austin would be the first to experience a housing crash among the 50 most populated cities in the country.

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However, Rodenbeck strongly disagreed.

"I think that we're going to see a return to a normal market in spring, and what I mean by that is, a real normal market where we don't have sellers that are putting properties on the market and getting 50 offers," he said. "I would say that this is no time to be panicking."

Adding to the mix, the federal government raised interest rates once again on Wednesday. They are now at the highest level since 2008.