Reports show high demand, low inventory for Austin homes

The Austin housing market is hot. That's because inventory is at historically low levels according to recent reports.

AUSTIN, Texas - It didn't take long for Jeff Koch’s neighbor to sell his house in South Austin, just a few days, according to Koch.

"Austin is up and coming, so I’m not surprised at all, I thought it would go within two weeks," Koch said. "Your neighbor sold fast, making you think, it's time? You know, yeah the stuff is churning in my head.”

The Austin housing market is hot. That's because inventory is at historically low levels, according to recent reports.

"It’s really tricky because we have the most lots that have ever been put on the ground last year in Austin, so in theory, we should be increasing our supply and demand met,” said Vaike O’Grady with Metro Study.

Meeting that demand, according to O'Grady, is not happening. O’Grady said builders just can’t keep pace with those moving to town. It’s why she wants city hall to move forward with a new development policy.

"I think Austin needs to start thinking of itself as a metropolitan area as opposed to just a city, so yeah we are running out of supply in the city and it’s a real concern, I hope the Land Use Code we are looking at adopting will add some density in the city, but it’s not going to be cheap,” warned O’Grady.

Based on sales reports, a lot of the new construction appears to be less expensive than existing homes. The catch is: you have to go farther out of town to get that lower price.

"A few years ago you would not have thought about Manor as a major housing market, but it is today, and same thing is for Del Valle,” said O’Grady.

The homes at one new subdivision just north of Manor start in the $200,000 range. It's an example of how the high demand-low inventory situation has an interesting twist to it.

Last year central Texas realtors sold more homes than any year on record: 33,084 homes, according to the Austin Board of Realtors. That number generated more than $13 billion in sales volume. The ABoR also estimates that between 2010 and 2019, the median home price in the Austin market went from $193,520 to $318,000.

That kind of growth is something Bernie Tappan said he can't ignore.

"It feels like, I should be going to Vegas, right now, you know, because we are probably double depending on what number I throw out there, who can do that,” said Tappan.

To maximize his potential profit, Tappan plans to cut cost by using social media to market his house. If that doesn't work, Tappan says he'll go the traditional route and get a real estate agent.